Employer Branding Applied to SMEs: A Pioneering Model Proposal for Attracting and Retaining Talent

Abstract

Most business enterprises are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and many of them are without a human resource and recruitment department. Thus, one of the challenges that organizations currently face is to find a strategy to retain and attract talent. To overcome this difficulty, enterprises must invest in employer branding policies and be aware of the factors that differentiate them from others when attracting employees. This study aims to develop an employer branding model applicable to SMEs, to increase and enhance the attraction and retention of talents. An exploratory approach based on a quantitative perspective was adopted to develop an employer branding model applied to SMEs, with two major reference employer branding models and frameworks used as the main support. The model of employer branding was applied to SMEs regarding four dimensions, whereby essential questions are asked, namely (1) organizational culture (e.g., do employees have a job description aligned with the corporate culture?), (2) company strategy (e.g., what is the strategy if business volume decreases?), (3) company reputation (e.g., how do you perceive and treat negative feedback?), and (4) reward systems (e.g., do you feel that your employees are motivated intrinsically or extrinsically or both?), ordered by layers based on a logical sequence. The new proposed model is expected to serve as a useful strategic tool and as a basis for attracting, retaining and managing talent, specifically in the SMEs context. This new model provides a set of strategic and competitiveness benefits for SMEs, while contributing to making enterprises more profitable. The model also contributes to SMEs having a better image and reputation, enabling them to stand out from others in the war for talent.

Boosters of satisfaction, performance and employee loyalty: application to a recruitment and outsourcing information technology organization

“…An organizational culture should be based on three levels of depth, namely, underlying assumptions, norms and values and artifacts and behavior. Organizational culture is a union of habits and beliefs, defined through norms, values, attitudes and expectations shared by all members of the organization (Monteiro et al , 2020).…”

“…For Monteiro et al (2020), there are three main assets (value proposition, organization identity and organizational culture), namely brand loyalty, brand identity and brand associations. Creating this model, the authors presented a conceptual framework to help understand all the dynamics associated with the concept of employer branding and the relationship between marketing and human resources.…”

“…To allow companies to grow sustainably through the defined strategy, the human resources department must motivate and give conditions to workers to be able to achieve the best results. One of the potential dangers in questioning HR practices is that the emphasis tends to be on human resource management as a set of practices and not as a more general process that incorporates human resource decisions at the strategic level (Monteiro et al , 2020).…”

“…In general, labels are associated with human resources management practices whose purpose is to encourage employee competence and commitment. According to Monteiro et al (2020), currently, corporate budgets are under pressure, and it is now that human resources departments, traditionally seen as a cost center, justify the return on investment for the employer's brand. To overcome this challenge, human resources departments need to be in tune with other departments in the company and impress the organization with the long-term benefits of the employer's good brand and the significant impact on overall efficiency.…”

“…Some researchers have also shown that job satisfaction is one of the best predictors of employee loyalty (Eskildsen and Nussler, 2000; Fosam et al ., 1998; Hsu and Wang, 2008; Martensen and Gronholdt, 2001; Monteiro et al , 2020; Schiesinger and Heskett, 1991). Heskett et al .…”