Talent Management is one of the most challenging aspects of modern day Human Resource Management (HRM). Effective Talent Management determines an organisation’s success to a great extent. Challenges of attraction, engagement and retention of employees require innovative, proven and effective methods of approach and communication.

The first recorded paper on Employer brand concept is said to have originated more than a decade and a half back (1996).The concept was originated by Simon Barrow (Chairman of People in Business) and first researched in partnership with Tim Ambler, a senior fellow of the London Business School. This academic paper was the first published attempt to test the application of brand management techniques to human resource management.

Employer branding (EB) is the sum total of efforts made by the Employer organisation to its existing employees, prospective employees, stake holders and the outside world at large explaining how desirable a work place, the organisation is. It conveys the company’s thought process, value systems and culture, and finally makes the brand promise to its customers whether internal or external. It conveys the organisation’s value proposition in the market place. This truly defines the art and science of Human Resources Marketing and has emerged as a global concept. EB as a concept in India is evolving.

Introduction

In today’s world, quality of human resource or human capital is acquiring significance in determining an organisation’s image and growth. While on one hand the opportunities for the work force is increasing and they experiment options in employment, on the other, organisations struggle to attract the best talent. Attrition rates are ever increasing and to communicate to the market place about its Value Proposition which includes the ethos, culture, value systems and growth.

Talent Management describes and defines the art of Talent Acquisition and Retention which are critical aspects of HRM in an organisation. There are various tools that are used in attracting and engaging talent which can be seen more as a Push strategy. Many a time, these strategies or efforts are short lived and organisations find itself challenged in attracting the desired quality and some time the desired quantity of manpower. Two most important factors for attrition are dissatisfaction of the employees and the ever increasing opportunities which lure them. The right tool and the long term strategy for effective TM can therefore be achieved to a great extent through the right Employer Branding Process. EB can be developed as the long term pull strategy for Talent Management.

Barrow and Ambler (1996) defined the employer brand as” the package of functional, economic, and psychological benefits provided by employment and identified with the employing company”. As explained by Richard W. Mosely (2007) the primary focus until recently has been on the use of employer branding to develop a distinctive external reputation, with only limited application of the term to describe internal efforts to drive positive employee engagement or culture change. The challenge is integration of employer branding as an umbrella which takes care of Talent management in its full life cycle from pre-employment to employment period.ie attracting, engaging and retaining the employees.

Employer branding is emerging to be the most important tool in Talent Management in its full cycle for pre-employment to employment period in today’s corporate world. Company’s image in the market place does serve the prospective employee’s decision a great deal on employment. EB not only defines the company’s image externally but also helps in retention and satisfaction of stake holders especially employees who are an internal and integral part in its forward march.

While building an employer brand externally for its prospective employees, the company aims at communicating the reasons which make the company as a preferred place to work in. This process of communication is very critical as it must align company’s business objectives with that of its people engaged or being engaged. The challenge is to live the brand promise within the organisation and the existing employees experiencing it.

There has been work done globally on the concept of Employer Branding. Though there is some work done, there exists a gap and scope for research and application of the concept in the Indian context especially since the dynamics of employment market in India is fast changing for the past decade or so. India is emerging as one of the fastest growing economies with increasing multinational foot print and employment opportunities.