Problem: Companies are facing problems concerning the attraction and retention of talented employees, due to the shortage of individuals with competence. Employer Branding is a relatively new concept that can function as an instrument for firms to position themselves as an employer, in order to attract and retain wanted employees. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to examine the field of Employer Branding in the context of recruitment and retaining. The study examines the questions of how and why Employer Branding is implemented in firms and what role such implementation plays in Human Resource Management, in the context of recruitment and retaining processes. Methodology: This study has been made with a qualitative approach, with a descriptive and exploratory purpose a case study approach. Data has primarily been collected through interviews at five different companies with knowledge within the area of Employer Branding. Findings: Employer Branding can be utilized both externally to attract potential employees, and internally to increase commitment and loyalty among current employees. In the context of recruitment, Employer Branding can make the process more effective. For the Employer Brand to be trustworthy and successful the consistency between the internal values and the external image is vital.

This thesis investigated how information on a firm’s website presented with richmedia employee testimonials differs compared to a poor media descriptioncommunicating the same content in its ability to positively influence potential jobseekersperceptions about a firms employer brand values, in particular social valuedue to its potential in differentiation. A problem was identified being that firms areexperiencing difficulties with communicating social value of the firm to potential jobseekers. The authors used a mixed-method research design containing explorativeexpert interviews, an explanatory experiment where potential job-seekers wereexposed to two different versions of a firms’ website (one containing rich mediaemployee testimonial, and one containing a written text description of the samecontent), and a number of focus groups with the aim to further explain the findingsfrom the experiment. The findings indicate that rich media employee testimonials embedded in afirm's website increase potential job-seekers perceptions about a firm in terms of bothsocial value and identification with the firm. These findings suggest that firms shouldconsider using rich media employee testimonials on their career websites as analternative to the more commonly used poor media written descriptions.

“The War for talent” – the fight for talented people, that can improve an organisation’s performance – is getting tougher every day. This study focuses on the topic of employer branding, which is becoming a popular “weapon” in this battle. Private organisations, being used to applying marketing principles, have already discovered this tool. However, the public sector, with a lack of marketing experience, is perceived to have a weaker employer brand. This is why this study has been conducted with regards to public administrations. The aim of this paper has been to uncover potentials within a public organisation, that could be used to highlight the advantages of a public employer.In order to build a framework for the problem, a literature review, considering theoretical concepts about the “War for talent”, the employee value proposition and employer branding has been carried out. To gain a deeper understanding of the matter, qualitative research in the form of semi-structural interviews has been executed using the case of a Swedish municipality. Further empirical ascertainment has been achieved by reviewing recently used job advertisements.The analysis of the data has shown that the municipality’s employer brand image is perceived as rather weak, however, there are strong indicators for potential within the organisation. It is possible to say that the conveyed employer brand image is not congruent with the brand identity.Moreover the analysis of the employee value proposition has shown factors that can help to narrow the target group of applicants. One significant result considering this issue is the highlighting of social responsibility as one of the more prominent potentials.Keywords: The war for talent, employer branding, employee value proposition, public administration, recruitment

Konkurrensen om kompetent personal ökar och flertalet faktorer används därför för attattrahera och rekrytera kvalificerad arbetskraft. Företag lägger idag stort fokus på corporatesocial recponsibility (CSR) och studier har visat att CSR spelar stor roll för potentiellamedarbetare i sökandet efter arbetsgivare. Syftet med denna uppsats är således att undersöka,beskriva och analysera huruvida studenter på avancerad nivå vid ett svenskt universitet,värderar CSR som en attraktiv faktor hos en framtida arbetsgivare. Den teoretiskareferensramen utgår från tre områden vilka berör CSR, employer branding samt social identitytheory (SIT). Uppsatsen baseras på en kvantitativ metod i form av en enkätundersökningbland 230 studenter på avancerad nivå vid ett av Sveriges största universitet. Resultaten ochslutsatserna visar, till skillnad från tidigare studier, att CSR inte ses som en attraktiv faktorhos en framtida arbetsgivare samt att andra faktorer överlag ses som både mer attraktiva ochviktiga än CSR.

Title: Employer Branding – Medias Influence on Vattenfall’s Employer Brand (Employer Branding – Medias påverkan på Vattenfalls arbetsgivarvarumärke) Purpose/Aim: The aim of this study is to examine how a negative media image influences the Employer Brand of the Swedish company Vattenfall. First of all I will examine if Vattenfall have a strong Employer Brand and then if the media image have any influence over the Employer Brand. My hypothesis is that Vattenfall’s Corporate Culture is a big part of the Employer Brand and because of that negative media images has no power to influence on Vattenfall’s Employer Brand. The second aim is therefore to examine if the hypothesis is correct. Material/Method: The methods used in the study are two interviews with employees of Vattenfall and three group discussions with possible future employees to Vattenfall – students who are studying in the field of energy. Main results: The study has three main results. First, the visible structures of Vattenfall’s Employer Brand are strong among the students. Second, a negative media image does not influence the Employer Brand of Vattenfall because the students have a lot of knowledge in this particular field and that makes them a well-aware audience. Third, the hypothesis is correct. The corporate culture is a big part of the Employer Brand, mainly the artifacts of the company and the students underlying assumptions of the employer.

Sammanfattning "Employer branding på Q-Med – En fallstudie i hur företagsspecifika värden förmedlas till potentiella och befintliga medarbetare" Datum: 19 januari, 2011 Nivå: Kandidatuppsats i företagsekonomi, 15 ECTS Institution: Akademin för hållbar samhälls‐ och teknikutveckling, HST, Mälardalens Högskola Författare: Erik Ljungmark 29 januari 1980, Stina Nilsson 25 april 1983 Titel: Employer branding på Q-Med – En fallstudie i hur företagsspecifika värden förmedlas till potentiella och befintliga medarbetare Handledare: Sara Melén Nyckelord: Employer branding, arbetsgivarvarumärke, företagsspecifika värden Frågeställning: Vilka företagsspecifika värden avser Q-Med att förmedla till potentiella och befintliga medarbetare? Vilka strategier använder Q-Med i sitt arbete med employer branding? Syfte: Uppsatsens syfte är att beskriva hur det medicintekniska företaget Q-Med arbetar med employer branding, både internt och externt, samt beskriva hur deras employer branding-process ser ut. Metod: Undersökningen består av en kvalitativ fallstudie baserad på sekundära och primära källor. Insamlad primärdata utgörs av intervjuer med representanter från fallföretaget. Utöver fallstudien har sakkunniga inom området employer branding intervjuats. Slutsats: Studien visar att Q-Med avser att förmedla värdeorden affärsmässighet, enkelhet och nytänkande till potentiella och befintliga medarbetare. Dessa värdeord ska återspegla Q-Meds företagsspecifika värden. Q-Med använder inga uttalade strategier för employer branding, dock använder företaget många strategier som bidrar till en lyckad employer branding, främst genom nöjda medarbetare och ett framgångsrikt ledarskap. Vad gäller extern employer branding finns utrymme för förbättring. / Abstract  – Date: January 19th 2011 Level: Bachelor thesis in business administration, 15 ECTS Institution: School of Sustainable development of society and technology, Mälardalen University Authors: Erik Ljungmark 29th January 1980, Stina Nilsson 25th April 1983 Title: Employer branding at Q-Med – A case study of how employer value propositions are conveyed to potential and existing employees Tutor: Sara Melén Keywords: Employer branding, employer brand, employer value propositions. Research questions: Which employer value propositions do Q-Med indent to convey to potential and existing employees? Which strategies do Q-Med use in their employer branding efforts? Purpose: The purpose of this chapter is to describe how Q-Med, a medical device company, implement employer branding within the company as well as externally. The purpose is also to describe the company’s employer branding process. Method: The study is a qualitative case study based on secondary and primary sources. The primary data collected consists of interviews with case company representatives. In addition to the case study, experts in the field of employer branding has been interviewed. Conclusion: The study shows that Q-Med intends to convey the value words: business sense, simplicity and innovation to their potential and existing employees. These value words are intended to reflect Q-Med’s employer value propositions. Q-Med does not use any set strategies when working with employer branding, even though the company uses a number of strategies which contributes to a successful employer branding. This applies especially to areas such as employee satisfaction and leadership. Regarding the external employer branding there is still opportunities for improvement.

Abstract Equal opportunities from an employer brand perspective - What does the future manpower inquire? Authors: Erik Frick & Niklas Halldén Instructor: Karin Jonnergård Examiner: Sarah Philipson Background We are living in a society that originates from a patriarchy founded many thousand years ago. This has put women in an inferior position in the labour market. To promote equal opportunities we argue for that companies can utilise employer brand. Employer brand is a new theoretic concept that is being used more frequently among scholars and companies. Presentation of the problem  Which role do equal opportunities play to attract potential manpower from an employer brand perspective? Method Our method has a quantitative approach and we have choosen to carry out a survey. In order to catch the students thoughts we choose to work with closed questions in a likert scale. We received 300 query responses from students at the universities of Lund, Linköping and Växjö. Literature Employer Brand is marketing made to recruit manpower. A strong employer brand may be a good way to receive a competitive advantage in the attraction of manpower. The theory on Equal opportunities focus on a structural and a process perspective. Our contribution to the equal opportunities of business We have found some gaps in the employer brand theories. Therefore we have created a model, figure 5.1, based on theories of equal Research question  Which role does the factors of equal opportunities play to attract the future manpower regarding their choice of workplace? Conclusion Equal opportunities are of significance for attraction of the future manpower. Our EM-model can be used to divide the different factors that play an important role in attracting future manpower. Among others, the future manpower appreciates when companies encourage to parental leave of different kinds. It is positive for a workplace when both men and women have the same opportunities for vocational training, promotion and career development. Employees also think that it should be the same wage for the same tasks, and they mean that group heterogeneity is an advantage. / Sammanfattning Jämställdhet ur ett employer brand perspektiv – Vad efterfrågar framtidens arbetskraft? Författare: Erik Frick & Niklas Halldén Handledare: Karin Jonnergård Examinator: Sarah Philipson Bakgrund Kvinnor har historiskt sett alltid haft sämre utgångspunkt på arbetsmarknaden. Än idag råder en segregering bland män och kvinnor vilken bottnar i ett svenskt näringsliv som inte är jämställt. För att gynna jämställdheten anser vi att man kan nyttja employer brand. Problemformulering  Vilken roll spelar jämställdhet för att attrahera potentiell arbetskraft ur ett employer brand perspektiv? Metod Vår metod tar en kvantitativ ansats då vi väljer att genomföra en enkätundersökning. För att fånga attityden hos ekonomi- och teknikstuderande så väljer vi att arbeta med fasta svarsalternativ i likertskala. Efter vårt flerstegsurval får vi in totalt 300 korrekt ifyllda enkäter från Lund, Linköping samt Växjö universitet. Litteratur Employer brand är företagets metod för att marknadsföra sig mot potentiell arbetskraft. Ett starkt employer brand kan vara en klar konkurrensfördel för företag då de vill vinna mark i jakten på kompetent personal. Jämställdhetslitteraturen kan anses ta fokus ur ett strukturellt och ett processuellt perspektiv. Vårt bidrag till den företagsekonomiska jämställdheten Vi finner att litteraturen har vissa luckor då den går igenom employer brand. Därför har vi, med Forskningsfråga  Vilken roll spelar jämställdhetsfaktorerna för att attrahera den framtida arbetskraften vid val av arbetsplats? Slutsats Jämställdhet har betydelse för att attrahera den framtida arbetskraften. Vår JA-modell kan användas till att spalta upp de faktorer som är viktiga att belysa för att attrahera arbetskraft. Den framtida arbetskraften uppskattar bl.a. att företag uppmuntrar till föräldraledighet och vård av sjukt barn. De ser positivt på en arbetsplats där både män och kvinnor får lika möjligheter för utbildning, befordran och i det långa loppet samma karriärutveckling. Vidare anser de att det ska vara lika lön för lika arbetsuppgifter och att en gruppheterogen arbetsplats är att föredra.

Titel: Arbetsgivarvarumärke - en kvantitativ undersökning av sambandet mellan ett arbetsgivarvarumärke och motivation Kurs: Pedagogik med inriktning mot vuxna och arbetsliv C Författare: Kristoffer Fredriksson och Emilie Runnegård Handledare: Gunilla Roos Nyckelord: Arbetsgivarvarumärke, employer branding, employer brand, motivation, motivationsfaktorer, motivationsområden, lön, feedback, arbetsuppgifter, utveckling och omgivning. Syfte: Vårt syfte är att undersöka om arbetsgivarvarumärket kan utgöra en motivationsfaktor samt om det finns andra motivationsområden som de anställda på ett företag anser är viktiga för att de skall motiveras. Metod: Uppsatsen baserar sig på en kvantitativ studie i form av en enkätundersökning på ett företag. Slutsats/resultat: De viktigaste motivationsområdena för våra respondenter var: Arbetsuppgifter, relationen till chef och kollegor samt feedback och utvecklingsmöjligheter. Lön, fysisk arbetsmiljö och arbetsgivarvarumärket har mindre inflytande på deras motivation.

The purpose of this study is mainly to discuss the relationship between employer brand, perceived external prestige and word-of-mouth referral. Most of the previous studies about employer brand focus on its recruitment function and also word-of-mouth are mostly applied on the product decision-making. Therefore, this study is seeking to discover the influence of employer brand on triggering employees¡¦ perceived external prestige. By the process of identifying the organization, employees will further have word-of-mouth referral toward public and find the proper potential employees who will be the human capital and further be the competitive advantages for organization. This study uses two questionnaires to collect data from two levels. One of the objects of this study is human resource managers or human resource staffs who have recruitment experiences. Another one is the employee in the firm. There are 34 valid questionnaires of organizational- level and 311 valid questionnaires of individual-level. By adapting the hierarchical linear model to analyze the data and get the result: the employer brand has partially positively influence on word-of-mouth referral, the employer brand has positively influence on the perceived external prestige, the perceived external prestige has positively influence on word-of-mouth referral and the perceived external prestige has partially mediate the positively influence on the relationship between employer brand and word-of-mouth referral.

Under the global background, more and more companies realize that if want to acquire outstanding talent, must set up unique employer brand in the specific area of the human resources market to be able to effectively attract, motivate and retain talented and obtain sustainable competitive advantage. Therefore, raise ¡§employer brand concept¡¨ for the potential job applicant to attractiveness and employee stay. It is meaning the employer brand to attract, motivate and retain of competency of employee. To combine of human resource management system to explore of the establishment and implement of human resource management system for enterprises to retained sustainable competitive advantage of the impact.