Serbian

Serbian Journal of Management 18 (1) (2023) 59 - 69 Journal

of
Management
www.sjm06.com

THE IMPACT OF CORPORATE IDENTITY ON REPUTATION AND

EMPLOYER’S BRAND

Jana Charvát Janechová* and Jaroslav Bednárik

The Faculty of Mass Media Communication, University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in
Trnava, Nám. J. Herdu 2, 917 01 Trnava, Slovakia

(Received 17 May 2022; accepted 14 February 2023)

Abstract

The study focuses on the area of corporate identity and its correlation to reputation and
employer’s brand. As competition in the labor market grows, more companies, in particular, are
investing their efforts and resources in employer brand development that would be attractive to both
current and potential employees. If the organization wants to be perceived as a desirable place for
work and the employer as ideal, consistent corporate communication and harmonization of internal,
employee-to-employee and external-employee-to-employee communications are required. The
purpose of the paper is investigate the impact of corporate identity on good reputation and an
attractive employer branding and thus gain a competitive advantage on the labor market. The
intention is to find out the individual components of corporate identity that contribute to the solid
reputation that could become a source of competitive advantage and a suitable foundation for
achieving an attractive employer brand.

Keywords: Corporate identity, Employer branding, Employer, Employees, Reputation

1. INTRODUCTION achieving the company’s goals has ceased to

be underestimated and the influence of
The concept of human resources or corporate identity on the employer’s
human capital has an entirely different reputation and employer’s brand is also
meaning nowadays than in the past. This discussed. Currently, we see more and more
shift can be seen in the context of the companies in the labor market, which do not
importance of human resources as an leave the creation and communication of the
intangible asset. The role of employees in employer brand to happen somehow, but
* Corresponding author: charvat.janechova1@ucm.sk

DOI: 10.5937/sjm18-37903
60 J.C. Janechová / SJM 18 (1) (2023) 59 - 69
with their activities supporting an attractive corporate brand and gains a reputation over
employer brand, try to differentiate time, strong brands and reputations are rare
themselves from the competition and and cannot be imitated. (Abratt & Kleyn,
improve their reputation and image. With a 2012). From this statement, we conclude that
targeted personnel strategy, they create the reputation is not static; it changes over time
image of an employer for whom it is great to and is influenced by several factors entering
work. These activities also occur in the into its formation. Current and potential
context of the involvement of the corporate employees are also one of the target groups
identity because the identity enters the value (stakeholders) playing a crucial role in the
offer for the potential employee and affects reputation assessment. In this context, it is
the current ones. The aim of the paper is to necessary to point out the importance of
investigate the impact of corporate identity identifying current employees with the
on the reputation and employer brand. Our company’s corporate identity. It is essential
intention is to find out which specific to know and adequately manage all the
prerequisites and attributes of the corporate dimensions of reputation that contribute to
identity must be fulfilled if the goal of the the desired status. Pointing out the
company is an attractive employer branding importance of firm identification of
with a good reputation. employees with the company, we find the
same opinion of Balmer, claiming that the
deficit of insufficient identification with the
2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND company can not be replaced by anything
(Balmer, 2008). This statement identifies the
In the last decade, corporate identity has need for systematic work with employees,
been the subject of many studies, with particularly through corporate
research focusing on various concepts, communication, which should be
research methodology and analytical tools, coordinated across the company’s
or responding to the practical application of organizational units to deliver brand
knowledge in this area by public and private experience and build the company’s good
sector managers. We consider Balmer as one reputation as an employer. Melewar et al.
of the pioneers in corporate identity (2006) – with their knowledge –
connected with the organization’s reputation. implemented this issue by pointing out that
He defines it as the central platform on employees feel motivated if they identify
which the rules of corporate communication with the company they work for and if that
are based and form the pillars for corporate company has a strong image and reputation.
reputation and corporate image. He According to the authors, a highly
considers this to be the basis for identifying motivating work environment is valuable
target groups with society (Balmer, 2008). and increases productivity and profitability
The importance of researching this area is (Melewar et al., 2006). In this context we
stressed out by the fact that very few need to underline the role of a team spirit, as
organizations have a strong brand and, at the an important corporate identity component,
same time, a good reputation and a quality that makes a team stronger than a simple set
employer brand. According to Abratt and of individuals. Good guidance of the team
Kleyn, even though every company has a towards the objective with constant
 J.C. Janechová / SJM 18 (1) (2023) 59 - 69 61
adjustment through retrospectives resulted in the core of the company’s mission and
high productivity (Stojković et al., 2021). vision, values and suitable corporate culture.
We should add that the identification of Considering all these aspects, it is possible to
employees with a company while promoting create and define the visual identity, the
a strong image and reputation is only one promise of the brand, brand personality, as
factor affecting employees’ overall well as the way and rules of communication
motivation. Research done by Ganta across all target groups. In other words, we
confirms the relationship state it is necessary to define how we express
betweensmotivation in work and employee and deliver the company’s corporate identity
performance; based on his study, he states to all target groups.
that each employee has his path to Based on the schematic illustration, which
motivation and it is the manager’s job to mainly expresses the complexity of the issue,
understand why the employee works and to we agree with the authors Abratt and Kleyn,
provide the reward that the employee would stating that building a strong reputation
find as satisfying (Ganta, 2014). requires strategic decisions of the
A graphical representation of the organization in aligning strategy, culture and
corporate identity integration, corporate corporate communication (Abratt & Kleyn,
brand and company reputation is 2012). If the organization succeeds, a strong
summarized in Figure 1. The process begins reputation becomes a source of competitive
by creating a corporate identity, deciding and advantage and is essential for managing an
defining who we are, what our company is attractive employer brand. The study’s
like and what it would like to become in the authors discussed reputation on a theoretical
future. The definition of these issues forms level and did not support their findings using

Source: own processing as per the authors of Abratt and Kleyn (2012)
Figure 1. Strategic integration of corporate identity, corporate brand and company reputation
62 J.C. Janechová / SJM 18 (1) (2023) 59 - 69

empirical research that otherwise could be create the image of an attractive employer. At
helpful in the practical application of present, social networks are very beneficial
knowledge. in this process. We consider social networks
In the labor market, we often observe a as an important channel for brand
situation where companies compete by job communication and for attracting talented
offers designed for the same jobs to reach candidates. We anticipate that their
and attract potential employees. One of the importance will grow in both the private and
ways to differentiate an organization from its professional spheres. Employers should
competition for potential employees is therefore take the opportunity to deepen their
through the employer’s brand (Verčič & relationship with potential candidates and
Sinčić Ćorić, 2018). However, the communicate brand values to create an
employer’s brand and reputation and image of a great place to work (Bednárik &
corporate identity are transformed into the Charvát Janechová, 2021). Contact with the
employer’s value. An internal brand involves target group via social networks enables two-
recruiting employees, with people being way communication in real-time as well as
most conveniently recruited if their values the clear and simple expression of the
are similar to the company’s (Kaplan, 2017). employer’s attitude. However, social
The employer’s brand represents the part of networks should not be the only channel for
the offer that makes the company unique and employer brand communication. Employer
distinguishable. According to Armstrong, branding should be seen in a broader context
creating an employer’s brand requires to: as a strategic issue with a long-term
• analyze what the best job seekers perspective and should not be seen as a
want and need, tactical issue or a communication exercise
• find out to what extent the basic (Bellou et al., 2015). The research focused
values of the organization’s brand support on the employer’s attractive brand concludes
the attractive brand and ensure that they are that the employer’s attractiveness depends
part of its presentation, mainly on the company’s holistic approach
• define the features of the employer’s to its corporate image. Potential candidates
brand, based on which people perceive the combine information with their own
organization as a great place to work, impression and knowledge of the corporate
whether it is a fair approach, development brand. They create a specific impression of
opportunities, work-life balance, leadership the company as an employer, which directly
style and quality, level of cooperation or impacts its attractiveness (Kissel & Büttgen,
success of the organization, 2015).
• compare their approach with An important target group that affects the
competing organizations, such as those with employer’s attractiveness is the employees
the best employers, and seek inspiration themselves because the brand’s performance
(Armstrong, 2015). depends on each employee’s behavior and
approach. Research into brand performance
Based on the above, we can conclude that through employee involvement has shown
the employer’s brand is a set of tangible and that employees are linked to the employer’s
intangible values designed for current and brand and create “pro-brand” behavior that
potential employees, while the goal is to affects brand performance, especially
 J.C. Janechová / SJM 18 (1) (2023) 59 - 69 63
through employee openness (Bieńkowska et and coherence of internal and external
al., 2020). As mentioned above, to connect communication. Many authors agree that a
employees with the employer’s brand, it is strong corporate identity can be a source of
necessary to select employees whose values competitive advantage. It is often also the
are close to the company’s values. While motive for rebranding companies. A
aligned, the risk of insufficient identification company that can create an inimitable image
of employees with a corporate identity is and stands out from the competition allows
reduced and it is possible to achieve a closer itself to differentiate itself in a competitive
connection with the employer’s brand. environment (Melewar et al., 2006).
The figure illustrates the organization’s However, to create a strong reputation and an
efforts to adapt the corporate brand towards attractive employer brand through corporate
the inside and relies on employees who identity, a strategic approach of the
contact customers to deliver the brand’s organization in a harmonized corporate
promise to potential and current customers. culture and corporate communication is
For this process to be successful, the right needed to achieve, among other things, the
people need to be hired. While the internal identification of employees with corporate
brand is concentrated inwards, the identity. Employees who feel needed, heard,
employer’s brand focuses on external and involved in the organization's
audiences, specifically potential employees functioning can bring future profits and
who may also be customers (Foster et al., contribute to the company's prosperity,
2010). Employees identified with a corporate helping to build a better image of the
identity also encourage certain confidence in company. This also increases the interest of
the customers they are in contact with. The potential employees in the possible job
prerequisite for success is the consistency position (Augustinova, 2020).

Source: own processing as per Foster et al. (2010)

Figure 2. Relationship between internal brand, corporate brand and employer brand
64 J.C. Janechová / SJM 18 (1) (2023) 59 - 69

3. METHODOLOGY Construction category, compiled once a year

based on the results of a survey in the
3.1. Research design university environment on a sample of 12008
students, and which is to indicate to
Theoretical ideas were consistently employers how to become a preferred
chosen due to their relevance to the chosen employer in their category. We addressed the
area of research, topicality and expertise. first 10 employers in the construction
The primary sources were scientific studies category with a questionnaire with five
focused on corporate identity and questions; the main question is the
professional literature focused mainly on expression of attitudes to the 18 attributes
human resource management. The study's necessary to create a strong employer brand.
research focused on the impact of corporate Anonymous answers were collected via
identity on a reputation and employer's the Survio application during September
brand. The intention was to find out the 2021, and out of the 10 construction
respondents' preferences and opinions on the employers contacted, we received 8
individual components of corporate identity complete answers to all questions. These
that contribute to the creation of the were companies that ranked first to tenth in
employer's brand and good reputation. We the construction category. We contacted the
focused on the area of employee engagement management of the companies with a
and motivation, work organization, questionnaire, and all the respondents
delegation of competencies, skills and mentioned the area of construction when
knowledge constatnt improvement, the asked about the control question, which
importance of employees for the company, concerned the selection of the area. None of
the definition of ethical principles that guide the completed questionnaires were excluded
the actions of employees, corporate values, from the research sample.
the strength of corporate culture, definition
of the mission and the importance of
employer's brand and reputation for the 4. RESULTS
company.
The research results were compiled based
3.2. Sample and data collection on the opinion of 8 respondents out of 10
respondents representing the management of
Considering the goal of the research, we large companies active in the field of
created an online questionnaire in the second construction. They expressed their attitude to
half of 2021, in which representatives of the the individual statements on a five-point
largest construction companies in the Czech scale with the possibilities I definitely agree,
Republic were to express their views on agree, Neutral, disagree, and disagree. No
individual attributes related to the role of respondent used the option I definitely
corporate identity in building a strong disagree. 75% (6) were positive and 25% (2)
employer with a positive reputation. The disagreed on whether they were convinced
selection of subjects was not random. To that they could positively impact the
determine the research sample, we used the organization’s operations. More than half of
TOP Employers’ Ranking in the the respondents agreed that information is
 J.C. Janechová / SJM 18 (1) (2023) 59 - 69 65
shared in such a way that everyone can respondents agreed with a clearly defined
access it when they need it -62,5% (5), the mission that makes sense and direction
others preferred a neutral opinion of 25% (2) agreed, one (12.5%) expressed a neutral
and some of them did not agree (1) – 12,5%. attitude. On the issue of harmonizing
When asked whether strategic planning in objectives at different levels of management,
the organization is ongoing, 75% of 37.5% (3) of respondents agreed, 50% (4)
respondents agreed with the current effort to took a neutral and one (12.5%) disagreed.
involve all employees, one (12.5%) took a 50% (4) of the respondents agreed that it was
neutral position and one (12.5%) disagreed clear to their employees what needed to be
with this particular statement. Teamwork is done to reach the organization's long-term
used to perform and achieve the results in success, 50% (4) of the respondents were in
50% (4) companies, 37.5% (3) of a neutral position. 37.5% (3) of respondents
respondents took a neutral position on agreed on the question if the vision creates
teamwork and one respondent (12.5%) enthusiasm and motivation for employees,
disagreed. According to the respondents, the 50% (4) took a neutral position and one
teams are the cornerstone for 62.5% (5) of (12.5%) disagreed. 75% (6) of companies
companies, 37.5% (3) took a neutral position agreed with the statement that the company’s
on their importance. On the statement: the efforts to create an attractive employer brand
way work is organized so that each employee are sufficient; one (12.5%) took a neutral
is aware of the connection between their position. 87.5% (7) of companies stated that
work and the company’s goals, 75% (6) of a good reputation is crucial for their
company representatives agreed, one company; one company (12.5%) took a
(12.5%) took a neutral position and one neutral position on this issue.
(12.5%) disagreed. The issue of delegating
powers to make decisions and work
independently was agreed upon by 62.5% (5) 5. GENERAL DISCUSSION
of respondents and 37.5% (3) stayed neutral.
All companies were 100% positive (8) that 5.1. Theoretical contributions
employees’ skills and knowledge are
constantly improving, while 62.5% (5) of The study focused on corporate identity
respondents agreed that employees’ skills and its impact on employer reputation and
serve as a source of competitive advantage. brand. It has introduced the issue of
37.5% (3) of respondents took a neutral identifying employees with brand values, its
position. A 100% agreement (8) occurred on impact on employee motivation and
the issue of the company’s fixed values, discussed the obstacles to the strong
which determine the way of doing business. integration of corporate identity and the
87.5% (7) of companies and one (12.5%) prerequisites needed to build a strong
took a neutral position on the issue of well- reputation and employer brand. A well-
defined ethical principles that guide the chosen corporate identity, firmly integrated
behavior of employees. 62.5% (5) of into the corporate strategy, is, according to
respondents support a strong corporate the authors, advantageous for the company
culture, 25% (2) took a neutral opinion and from many points of view. When a company
one (12.5%) disagreed. 87.5% (7) of communicates a strong image and strives for
66 J.C. Janechová / SJM 18 (1) (2023) 59 - 69

Table 1. Please assess and decide the following statements concerning the company you
represent

Source: authors based on own analysis (2021)

a good reputation, employees feel motivated instances, brand performance depends on the
and identify themselves more easily with the behavior and attitude of each employee. This
company (Melewar et al., 2006). In this may be because employee behavior affects
context, it should be added that in some how the corporate brand is perceived from
 J.C. Janechová / SJM 18 (1) (2023) 59 - 69 67
the external environment. If a company principles that guide the actions of
strives for a highly motivating work employees, appears to be a managerial
environment, it is an appropriate strategy to priority, in order to create an attractive
increase growth, productivity and employer brand and good reputation.
profitability. We believe that a strong
corporate brand is a navigator for all target 5.3. Limitations and future research
groups, but especially customers, current and agenda
potential employees, and it is essential that
each employee understands the values of the The research lacks include that we
brand through an intellectual and emotional researched only a selected market segment in
connection with the brand itself. This is a the local market and the individually
prerequisite for accepting brand values and researched attributes may differ depending
identifying employees with a corporate on the industry in which the employer
identity. operates. Several target groups are also
involved in creating the employer’s brand,
5.2. Practical implication and further research could be aimed at
confronting the employer’s efforts to create
Complementing the theoretical an employer’s brand with potential and
implication, the present findings also provide current employees.
insights for human resource managers, brand The strong integration of corporate
managers as well as managers responsible identity into the company’s strategy brings
for corporate identity and employer undeniable benefits, especially in terms of
branding. However, the research findings human resource management, so we think
highlight the importance of employees' why there are so few companies with a solid
conviction about their positive influence on corporate identity and positive reputation.
the organization's operation. Information The question remains when we can consider
flow should be shared in such a way that a corporate strategy appropriately chosen
everyone can access it in case of need. and when it brings the desired results such as
Managers should organize the work in such a a positive reputation and an attractive
way that each employee is aware of the employer brand. These issues could also be
connection between their work and the further researched.
company’s goals and powers are delegated
so that employees can make their own
decisions. Moreover, the skills and 6. CONCLUSION
knowledge of employees should be
constantly improving and should be We are currently experiencing a lack of
perceived as a source of competitive certain professions in the labor market and
advantage. By doing so, fixed values of the are increasingly encountering employers’
company should be set to determine the way efforts to reach potential employees with a
of doing business and acting. In addition, a unique and competitive offer. Potential
strong corporate culture, a clearly defined employees, especially senior and middle
mission that provides work with meaning management, can orient themselves very
and direction, together with ethical well in employers' offers and evaluate them
68 J.C. Janechová / SJM 18 (1) (2023) 59 - 69
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УТИЦАЈ КОРПОРАТИВНОГ ИДЕНТИТЕТА НА РЕПУТАЦИЈУ И

БРЕНД ПОСЛОДАВЦА

Jana Charvát Janechová, Jaroslav Bednárik

Извод

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