This is my Master’s Thesis which was published in December 2016.
The topic is “The use of social media in enhancing the Employer Brand“
Abstract of the thesis
The current knowledge of economy emphasizes the critical role of human resources in the success of an organization. “The war for talent” has brought challenges to many organizations. Organizations need to focus more on branding their employer image to attract talented and skillful workforces in order to stay competitive in the market. Furthermore, social media have become an important marketing and communication channels for organizations and employees, thus, they create new areas and challenges for employers to manage their image and reputation in public. Practicing the employer brand involves a collaboration between the human resources department and the marketing department of an organization. In other words, it is a combination of a strong workplace culture within a company with a good image to external audiences. Therefore, building a successful employer brand requires a positive organizational culture and the effective performance of social media.
The main objective of this thesis is twofold. The first objective is to construct the Employee Value Proposition (EVP) and analyze the use of social media to enhance the employer brand by creating new opportunities for recruitment. The second objective is to identify the influential factors to increase the visibility of the employer brand of a medium-sized technological firm, Eatech Oy. In this thesis, the Eatech Oy has been used as a case study.
From a methodological standpoint, a qualitative research method has been used in the current thesis as a methodological lens to investigate the case study (i.e. Eatech Oy). The data have been collected in two phases: (1) by conducting several interviews with the employer representative as well as with some of the employees currently working in the Eatech Oy, (2) and by analysing quantitative data collected from social media platforms and by benchmarking against other competing brands operating in the same domain as the case study.
The main findings of this thesis support the previous results presented in the literature and correspond with the research questions. This thesis has constructed a set of Employee Value Propositions that would help to improve the employee engagement which is considered as a foundation for employee advocacy programme and the organizational culture. Furthermore, the measurement of the effectiveness of different social media channels shows the need for a better communication strategy on social media platforms. Additionally, continuous monitoring of social media channels is highly recommended to measure efforts of the company and to develop the marketing plan. Moreover, new technologies are being constantly developed, so adopting a more accurate measurement method would be beneficial for the case company.
Overall, the research objectives of this thesis are achieved. The findings and the new insights provided in this thesis can be considered beneficial reference for further research on the same topic. In future, a generalization of this topic in a broader scope would be a considerable contribution to the Information Technology and Services industry.
