The role of employer brand equity in employee attraction and retention: a unified framework

The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual framework for employer brand equity (EBE) that combines both perspectives of employer brand customers into a unified framework for employee attraction and retention.

This paper extends previous conceptual work on EBE by identifying the role of EBE antecedents in internal and external employer branding. In addition, it recognizes the interactive nature of employer-employee relationship.

The framework incorporates employee experience with the employer, which relates to the interaction between employee and employer and recognizes the internal and external perspectives simultaneously. Further, the unified framework helps to develop a four-cell typology for the strategic management of an employer brand.

Existing research has failed to integrate the two perspectives of employment customers in a clear model and, thus, offered limited applicability to an employment setting. The EBE framework goes beyond existing models by providing a conceptualization that aims to reflect the employer-brand relationship from the perspective of existing and potential employees. Further, it provides theoretical and empirical rationale for a set of propositions that can empirically be examined in future research.