Behind the Scenes of an Attractive Employer Brand
(2017) SKOM12 20171Department of Strategic Communication
- Abstract
- The aim with this research is to contribute to a holistic understanding of employer
branding as a co-created process between the employer and the employees. This is
done via capturing employees’ stories about an attractive employer. Theories of
culture, sensemaking and storytelling are used as a theoretical starting point. A
qualitative approach is chosen for gathering empirical data from interviews and a
narrative analysis is used as a basis for constructing three typical stories about the
employer brand. The result of this research gives an example of an employer that
emphasize recruitment based on personality before competency, which seem to
become more important in employer branding strategies. This research also gains
insight... (More) - The aim with this research is to contribute to a holistic understanding of employer
branding as a co-created process between the employer and the employees. This is
done via capturing employees’ stories about an attractive employer. Theories of
culture, sensemaking and storytelling are used as a theoretical starting point. A
qualitative approach is chosen for gathering empirical data from interviews and a
narrative analysis is used as a basis for constructing three typical stories about the
employer brand. The result of this research gives an example of an employer that
emphasize recruitment based on personality before competency, which seem to
become more important in employer branding strategies. This research also gains
insight into an employer brand built on family and friends and what possible implications
that might come with this. (Less) - Popular Abstract
- Since When Did Personality Mean More than Competency?
Today’s organisations do not only compete about goods, but also about human
capital. At work-places today there is no guarantee for a long-lasting relationship
with a company, and employees must come to the insight that no employee owns
their place in a company. There is only one way to survive in this competitive environment,
by showing the company that you have an unusual and unique trait of
personality.
A study on the organisation Nudie Jeans exemplifies this phenomenon. They
have a history of emphasising employees’ social ability and personality as this is
an important factor to fit into the organisational culture. Based on this, a company
of friends and family has... (More) - Since When Did Personality Mean More than Competency?
Today’s organisations do not only compete about goods, but also about human
capital. At work-places today there is no guarantee for a long-lasting relationship
with a company, and employees must come to the insight that no employee owns
their place in a company. There is only one way to survive in this competitive environment,
by showing the company that you have an unusual and unique trait of
personality.
A study on the organisation Nudie Jeans exemplifies this phenomenon. They
have a history of emphasising employees’ social ability and personality as this is
an important factor to fit into the organisational culture. Based on this, a company
of friends and family has been created, where employees’ role as ambassadors has
become the company’s primary source of communicating the employer brand.
Nudie Jeans is a company that outward ways have been perceived as both successful
and attractive. Job applications keep coming in and the image of the company
seems to stay intact, this is a place that you want to get access to. The question
is if the company’s success is dependent on their talent for recruiting the right
employees or due to some other underlying factors?
Results of the study show possible implications with building an employer
brand in this way. The positive aspects are that in this climate, employees are given
the opportunity to flourish and show their knowledge based on other factors
than competency. The drawback is that this might create a homogenous workplace
based on strong aspirations and norms, where it is hard to fit in.
The study of Nudie Jeans is an important contribution to the field of employer
branding, since more research of employee’s co-creating role is requested. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8917335
- author
- Elfving, Elin LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- A Qualitative Study of Employer Branding as a Co-Created Process Between the Employer and the Employees
- course
- SKOM12 20171
- year
- 2017
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- organisational culture, sensemaking, storytelling, employer branding
- language
- English
- id
- 8917335
- date added to LUP
- 2017-06-27 10:03:46
- date last changed
- 2017-06-27 10:03:46
@misc{8917335,
abstract = {{The aim with this research is to contribute to a holistic understanding of employer
branding as a co-created process between the employer and the employees. This is
done via capturing employees’ stories about an attractive employer. Theories of
culture, sensemaking and storytelling are used as a theoretical starting point. A
qualitative approach is chosen for gathering empirical data from interviews and a
narrative analysis is used as a basis for constructing three typical stories about the
employer brand. The result of this research gives an example of an employer that
emphasize recruitment based on personality before competency, which seem to
become more important in employer branding strategies. This research also gains
insight into an employer brand built on family and friends and what possible implications
that might come with this.}},
author = {{Elfving, Elin}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Behind the Scenes of an Attractive Employer Brand}},
year = {{2017}},
}