Employer Brand Knowledge (EBK), Sustainability Practices and Employer Attractiveness: A Perspective of Millennial Employees
Abstract
Employer attractiveness is crucial in talent management as it helps attract, retain, and engage top talent, thereby ensuring a competitive edge and long-term organizational success. This study aims to determine the relationship between Employer Brand Knowledge (EBK) and various dimensions of sustainability practices on employer attractiveness, particularly among Millennial employees. A quantitative research method was employed, with 90 questionnaires collected from Millennial employees in a publicly listed company in Malaysia. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 25.0 to test the hypotheses. The findings reveal that only one dimension of EBK namely employer image has a significant positive relationship with employer attractiveness. Contrary to our expectations, none of the sustainability practices was found to be related to employer attractiveness. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of how EBK influences the perception of employer attractiveness as it not only broadens the theoretical understanding but also provides practical insights for employers seeking to improve their attractiveness to the Millennial workforce. It is also suggested that employers who are more familiar with employees, have a positive reputation, and maintain a strong image are more likely to be attractive to millennials. Implications and recommendations for future research are also discussed in the study.
Downloads
References
Azevedo, S. G., Carvalho, H., & Machado, V. C. (2011). The influence of green practices on supply chain performance: A case study approach. Transportation research part E: logistics and transportation review, 47(6), 850-871.
Backhaus, K. B., Stone, B. A., & Heiner, K. (2002). Exploring the relationship between corporate social performance and employer attractiveness. Business & Society, 41(3), 292-318.
Backhaus, K., & Tikoo, S. (2004). Conceptualizing and researching employer branding. Career Development International, 9(5), 501-517.
Bakanauskiene, I., Bendaraviciene, R., Krikstolaitis, R., & Lydeka, Z. (2011). Discovering an employer branding: identifying dimensions of employer’s attractiveness in university. Management of Organizations: Systematic Research, 59(1), 7-22.
Barber, N., Taylor, D. C., & Dodd, T. (2009). The importance of wine bottle closures in retail purchase decisions of consumers. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 18(6), 597-614.
Becker, K. L., Richards, M. B., & Stollings, J. (2022). Better together? Examining benefits and tensions of generational diversity and team performance. Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 20(4), 442-463.
Behrend, T. S., Baker, B. A., & Thompson, L. F. (2009). Effects of pro-environmental recruiting messages: The role of organizational reputation. Journal of Business and Psychology, 24, 341-350.
Bergstrom, A., Blumenthal, D., & Crothers, S. (2002). Why internal branding matters: The case of Saab. Corporate reputation review, 5, 133-142.
Bouckaert, G. (2001). Pride and performance in public service: Some patterns of analysis. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 67(1), 15-27.
Brundtland, G. H. (1987). Our common future world commission on environment and development.
Cable, D. M., & Turban, D. B. (2001). Establishing the dimensions, sources and value of job seekers' employer knowledge during recruitment. In Research in personnel and human resources management (pp. 115-163). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Chapola, J. (2016). An empirical analysis of job seekers' perception of corporate social performance as a measure of organizational attractiveness (Doctoral dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Economic and Business Sciences).
Chatzopoulou, E., & de Kiewiet, A. (2021). Millennials' evaluation of corporate social responsibility: The wants and needs of the largest and most ethical generation. Journal of Consumer Behavior, 20(3), 521-534.
Collins, C. J. (2007). The interactive effects of recruitment practices and product awareness on job seekers' employer knowledge and application behaviors. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(1), 180.
Collins, C. J., & Han, J. (2004). Exploring applicant pool quantity and quality: The effects of early recruitment practice strategies, corporate advertising, and firm reputation. Personnel Psychology, 57(3), 685-717.
Collins, C. J., & Stevens, C. K. (2002). The relationship between early recruitment-related activities and the application decisions of new labor-market entrants: a brand equity approach to recruitment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(6), 1121.
Dabirian, A., Kietzmann, J., & Diba, H. (2017). A great place to work!? Understanding crowdsourced employer branding. Business Horizons, 60(2), 197-205.
Eastman, J. K., Iyer, R., & Thomas, S. P. (2013). The impact of status consumption on shopping styles: An exploratory look at the millennial generation. Marketing Management Journal, 23(1), 57-73.
Elkington, J. (1997). Cannibals with forks: The TBL of the 21st Century Business. Capstone.
Ewing, M. T., Pitt, L. F., De Bussy, N. M., & Berthon, P. (2002). Employment branding in the knowledge economy. International Journal of Advertising, 21(1), 3-22.
Goel, P. (2010). Triple Bottom Line Reporting: An Analytical Approach for Corporate Sustainability. Journal of Finance, Accounting & Management, 1(1).
Greening, D. W., & Turban, D. B. (2000). Corporate social performance as a competitive advantage in attracting a quality workforce. Business & Society, 39(3), 254-280.
Hall, J., & Lavrakas, P. (2008). Cross-sectional survey design. Encyclopedia of survey research methods, 2, 173-174.
Helm, S. (2013). A matter of reputation and pride: Associations between perceived external reputation, pride in membership, job satisfaction and turnover intentions. British journal of management, 24(4), 542-556.
Highhouse, S., Broadfoot, A., Yugo, J. E., & Devendorf, S. A. (2009). Examining corporate reputation judgments with generalizability theory. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(3), 782.
Janu, A., (2020). Relation between Fair HR Practices and Employee Engagement (Doctoral dissertation, Dublin, National College of Ireland).
Jensen, M. C. (2002). Value maximization, stakeholder theory, and the corporate objective function. Business Ethics Quarterly, 235-256.
Jerónimo, H. M., Henriques, P. L., de Lacerda, T. C., da Silva, F. P., & Vieira, P. R. (2020). Going green and sustainable: The influence of green HR practices on the organizational rationale for sustainability. Journal of Business Research, 112, 413-421.
Jones, D. A., Willness, C. R., & Madey, S. (2014). Why are job seekers attracted by corporate social performance? Experimental and field tests of three signal-based mechanisms. Academy of Management Journal, 57(2), 383-404.
Kashive, N., & Khanna, V. T. (2017). Study of early recruitment activities and employer brand knowledge and its effect on organization attractiveness and firm performance. Global Business Review, 18(3_suppl), S172-S190.
Khan, S.A.R., Razzaq, A., Yu, Z. and Miller, S., (2021). Retracted: Industry 4.0 and circular economy practices: A new era business strategies for environmental sustainability. Business Strategy and the Environment, 30(8), pp.4001-4014.
Kiel, J. (2020). An analysis of restructuring orientation to enhance nurse retention. The Health Care Manager, 39, 162-167.
Könsgen, R., Schaarschmidt, M., Ivens, S., & Munzel, A. (2018). Finding meaning in contradiction on employee review sites—effects of discrepant online reviews on job application intentions. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 43(1), 165-177.
Korzynski, P., Mazurek, G. and Haenlein, M., (2020). Leveraging employees as spokespeople in your HR strategy: How company-related employee posts on social media can help firms to attract new talent. European Management Journal, 38(1), 204-212.
Lievens, F., & Slaughter, J. E. (2016). Employer image and employer branding: What we know and what we need to know. Annual review of organizational psychology and organizational behavior, 3(1), 407-440.
Lim, W. M. (2023). The workforce revolution: Reimagining work, workers, and workplaces for the future. Global Business and Organizational Excellence, 42(4), 5-10.
Liu, R., Tao, Y., & Han, M. Q. (2016, August). The Research on Dimensions of Employer Attractiveness. In 3d International Conference on Applied Social Science Research (ICASSR 2015) (pp. 193-196). Atlantis Press.
Low, E. S. Z., & Woo, P. J. (2009). The effects of employer knowledge and product awareness on job seekers' application decision. Sunway Academic Journal, 6, 103-113.
Marston, C. (2010). Motivating the" What's in it for me?" workforce: Manage across the generational divide and increase profits. John Wiley & Sons.
Myrden, S. E., & Kelloway, E. K. (2014). Service guarantees: The impact of playing ‘hard to get ’ on perceptions of firm credibility and repurchase intent. Journal of Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction and Complaining Behavior, 27, 55-69.
Nadanyiova, M. and Das, S., (2020). Millennials as a target segment of socially responsible communication within the business strategy. Littera Scripta, 13(1), 19-134.
Nappi-Choulet, I., & Decamps, A. (2013). Can sustainability enhance business district attractiveness? A survey of corporate property decisions in France. Urban Studies, 50(16), 3283-3304.
Newbert, S. L. (2018). Achieving social and economic equality by unifying business and ethics: Adam Smith as the cause of and cure for the separation thesis. Journal of Management Studies, 55(3), 517-544.
Ng, E. S., & Johnson, J. M. (2015). Millennials: who are they, how are they different, and why should we care? In The multi-generational and aging workforce (pp. 121-137). Edward Elgar Publishing.
Goldman Sachs (2016, September). Investing in the Millennial Effect. https://www.gsam.com/content/dam/gsam/pdfs/common/en/public/articles/global-equity-outlook/investing-in-the-millennial-effect.pdf?sa=n&rd=n
Saini, G. K., Rai, P., & Chaudhary, M. K. (2014). What do best employer surveys reveal about employer branding and intention to apply? Journal of Brand Management, 21(2), 95-111.
Sardana, D., Gupta, N., Kumar, V., & Terziovski, M. (2020). CSR ‘sustainability practices and firm performance in an emerging economy. Journal of Cleaner Production, 258, 120766.
Schaarschmidt, M., Walsh, G., & Ivens, S. (2021). Digital war for talent: How to profile reputations on company rating platforms drive job seekers' application intentions. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 131, 103644.
Schawbel, D. (2015, January 20). The Millennial Consumer Study. http://workplaceintelligence.com/millennial-consumer-study/
Smidts, A., Pruyn, A. T. H., & Van Riel, C. B. (2001). The impact of employee communication and perceived external prestige on organizational identification. Academy of Management Journal, 44(5), 1051-1062.
Spangenberg, J. H. (2005). Economic sustainability of the economy: concepts and indicators. International journal of sustainable development, 8(1-2), 47-64.
Syal, G., (2021). Impact on employee satisfaction, brand commitment and employee turnover-Role of Employer Branding. The Journal of Contemporary Issues in Business and Government, 27(1), 2348-2357.
Park, G., Chen, F. and Cheng, L., (2021). A study on the millennial's usage behavior of social network services: Effects of motivation, density, and centrality on continuous intention to use. Sustainability, 13(5), 2680.
Perkasa, D.H. and Purwanto, S., (2024). Job Hopping Behavior in Millennials. International Journal of Accounting, Management, Economics and Social Sciences (IJAMESC), 2(3), 809-821.
Pingle, S. S., & Sharma, A. (2013). External Employer Attractiveness: A Study of Management Students in India. Journal of Contemporary Management Research, 7(1).
Presley, A., Presley, T., & Blum, M. (2018). Sustainability and company attractiveness: A study of American college students entering the job market. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 9(4), 470-489.
Ray Jr, J. R. (2006). Investigating relationships between corporate social responsibility orientation and employer attractiveness. The George Washington University.
Ritson, M. (2002), Marketing and HE Collaborate to Harness Employer Brand Power, Marketing, 24, 24.
Rotatori, D., Lee, E. J., & Sleeva, S. (2021). The evolution of the workforce during the fourth Industrial Revolution. Human Resource Development International, 24(1), 92-103.
Tulgan, B., & Martin, C. A. (2001). Managing Generation Y: Global citizens born in the late seventies and early eighties. Human Resource Development.
Turban, D. B., & Cable, D. M. (2003). Firm reputation and applicant pool characteristics. Journal of Organizational Behavior: The International Journal of Industrial, Occupational and Organizational Psychology and Behavior, 24(6), 733-751.
Wagner, B., & Hassel, A. (2015). Labor migration and the German meat processing industry: fundamental freedoms and the influx of cheap labor. South Atlantic Quarterly, 114(1), 204-214.
Waikar, A., Sweet, T., & Morgan, Y. C. (2016). Millennials and job hopping--myth or reality? Implications for organizational management. Leadership & Organizational Management Journal, 2016(1).
Yap, W. M., & Badri, S. K. Z. (2020). What makes millennials happy in their workplace? Asian Academy of Management Journal, 25(1).
Yu, K. Y. T. (2014). Person–organization fit effects on organizational attraction: A test of an expectations-based model. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 124(1), 75-94.
Copyright (c) 2024 Farizah Roslan, Nusrah Samat, Norashikin Hussein
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Author (s) should affirm that the material has not been published previously. It has not been submitted and it is not under consideration by any other journal. At the same time author (s) need to execute a publication permission agreement to assume the responsibility of the submitted content and any omissions and errors therein. After submission of revised paper in the light of suggestions of the reviewers, the editorial team edits and formats manuscripts to bring uniformity and standardization in published material.
This work will be licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) and under condition of the license, users are free to read, copy, remix, transform, redistribute, download, print, search or link to the full texts of articles and even build upon their work as long as they credit the author for the original work. Moreover, as per journal policy author (s) hold and retain copyrights without any restrictions.