EMPOWERING AN EMPLOYER BRAND THROUGH THE BRAND'S PERSONALITY CONCEPT

Abstract

In the age of globalization and increased competition, the concept of branding has found its application in many areas. Almost anything can be branded: products, services, events, places, destinations, institutions, personalities. The concept of branding was adopted by employers who saw positioning the company as a desirable place to work can attract, recruit and retain better and higher quality staff. The knowledge, abilities and skills of employees are in direct correlation with the level of satisfaction and loyalty achieved by consumers. For that reason, human capital is extremely important for every employer. In order to build an image of a desirable place to work, employers should provide both material and immaterial benefits. It is of utmost importance to provide desirable working conditions that involve adequate salaries and bonuses, workplace benefits, balance between private and business life, healthy work environment, fair relationship between employees and management, possibility of progress. The employer brand implies perceptions of working conditions by job applicants, employees and those leaving the company. Companies that have a strong employer brand reap multiple benefits: better image, lower marketing costs, greater profitability. Building an employer's brand is a strategic decision that involves defining the values an employer has in relation to competition, then placing those values with external stakeholders and ultimately, internal stakeholders. The basic principle of branding is to define a unique value – a source of differentiation. This principle is also applied in the process of branding the employer. To protect themselves from competition, employers are making an effort to find sources of differentiation in abstract elements of the brand. One of the abstract elements of the brand is the personality of the brand, which involves attributing human traits to the brand of the employer. The attractive personality of the employer brand attracts potential quality job applicants, while retaining employees by influencing a higher level of satisfaction and loyalty. Job applicants are more likely to opt for those organizations whose personality traits mirror their own. The more positive the personality of the employer brand, its reputation and image will improve, therefore, the organization will be more attractive to potential employees. The personality characteristics of the employer brand are passed on to the employees themselves, so they can feel proud and confident working for a company that has a good reputation and image in the labor market. The subject of work is the importance of building an employer's brand. By reviewing the previous literature findings, the aim of this paper is to make a theoretical distinction between the influence of the brand personality on the construction of the employer's brand. Papers on the application of the brand personality concept to the construction of the employer's brand are rare in both foreign and domestic literature, therefore the contribution of this paper will be to provide new information based on qualitative research, review and selection of available relevant literature. In addition to theoretical contributions, the work can have practical implications as it will provide information that can be useful for brand managers and human resources managers