Brands are among a firm's most
valuable assets and as a result, brand management is a key activity in many firms. Brand
is what the company is and what it does. It is more than the
mission statement and the essence of any organization. Although firms
commonly focus their branding efforts on developing product and
corporate brands, branding can also be used in the area of Human
Resource Management (HRM). The application of branding principles, with
a little variation to HRM, is termed as HR branding.
The sequence of HR branding starts with employment
branding, which is the brand an organization holds in the minds of future
employees, and the reason why people yearn to get associated
with these organizations. Subsequently, when they become employees,
the way the employer-employee relations get established in the
organization, is known as employer branding. This makes the
employers to stand by their promises and the employees to understand
and absorb the organizational culture. When these employees
communicate with people outside the organization, the manner in
which they project the image of the organization is termed as
employee branding. Hence, it is a continuous HRM process of
establishing these brands. This article highlights the importance,
awareness and existence of employer branding in Indian organizations.
Customers differentiate firms by their products (Product
Branding). Marketers have repeatedly used "The 4 Ps" (Product, Price,
Position and Promotion) to sell the products of their firm in the market.
Similarly, employees differentiate their jobs by HR branding. The 4 Ps
of HR are `People, Pay, Position and Prospects' (Figure 1). As the
functions of HR start spreading across the organization, the services
rendered by the HR department to the employees can be treated to be
same as selling goods or services to external customers. |
