Author(s): Anumeha Thakur
Customers' perception of a brand is critical and is shaped by organizational branding strategies, both external and internal. Over time, “Employee Branding”, an internal branding mechanism, has evolved as a vital concept that acknowledges the role of employees in building the reputation and trust of a brand. For a company to be successful in marketing, it is incredibly essential to align its company operations and workforce around its core values for greater accountability and clarity. Through employee branding, the organization aims to instil the brand's mission and values in the workforce, which is possible through the interventions of organizational culture and HRM practices so that employees personify the brand by acting as brand ambassadors and promoting the brand’s core value to attract customers and talent pool. The organization market their brand through employees’ behaviour to avail benefits in hiring, retaining, and engaging the workforce that upholds the brand reputation to attract and retain customers resulting in increased productivity. The brand experience is founded on the customers’ experiences driven by the employee’s experiences. As the global business landscape keeps on evolving, organizations must create competitive advantages through the branding of their employees. The article aims to analyze the concept of employee branding and the role organizational culture and human resource management play in achieving the goal of branding. Human resource managers help build the company's brand and prepare personnel, while organizational culture sets a precedent for how the company should "do things". For effective employee branding, organizational Culture and HRM needs to completely allign with brand value to insure a brand conducive environment to foster employee branding.