The human resource is a key resource available to an organisation and as such, recruitment and selection of the right candidates to join the organisation is a key factor in the success of the organisation. All possible strategies should therefore be applied to ensure that the organisation attracts, recruits and retains quality human resource. One strategy that employers can use is effective branding. This research proposal focuses on the perception of employer brand and the extent to which it can be used to enhance the recruitment and selection process. The important factors identified are the identification of “perception of employer brand”, the evaluation of the Impact on prospective employees of the organisation, and the extent to which the “brand” can be used to enhance the recruitment and of the right candidates to join the organisation.

Research Objectives

The general objective of the study is to determine the effect that employer branding has on recruitment and selection of employees.

The specific objectives are;

• To establish the perception of Employer Brand among Employees and Potential Recruits.
• To determine the effect of employer brand on employees and potential recruits.
• To establish the strategies that employers can use to ensure that their brand enhances recruitment and selection.

Literature Review

Employer Brand

Armstrong (2008) defines employer branding as the creation of a brand image of the organization for prospective employees. Armstrong (2008) thus suggests that employer branding implies employer’s reputation, image of the organization, employer value proposition and internal marketing. On their part, Barrow and Mosley (2005) view employer branding as the package of functional, economic and psychological benefits provided by employment and identified with the employing company. The main role of the employer brand therefore is to provide a coherent framework for management to simplify and focus priorities, increase productivity and improve recruitment, retention and commitment. Barrow and Mosley (2005) list the constituents of the employer brand as; the need for recognition of individual talents and capabilities, work-life balance, remuneration inequalities and inclusive culture.

According to Martin et al., (2005) the employer brand is the image of the company seen through the eyes of its associates and potential hires, and is intimately linked to the “employment experience” of what it is like to work for the said organisations. The employment experience is a combination of tangible factors like remuneration and benefits and intangible factors like company values and culture (Martin et al., 2005). A complementary perspective to employer branding is documented in Pinkess (2008) as an organisation’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) agenda. From this perspective, organisations seen to engage in environment degrading activities, or dealing in products that are known to be harmful such as cigarette manufacturers face challenges of ethical concerns from potential recruits.

Effect of employer brand on employees and potential recruits

In the highly connected Global Village that is today’s marketplace, people join brands and leave managers. Rosethorn and Mensink, 2007 argue that a brand offers a promise, and a customer buys that promise and if satisfied, continues to buy the product and speaks well about it. A good Brand delivers distinctively and consistently on this promise and the same would ext