Employer branding at armed forces: current and potential employees’ perspective
European Journal of Training and Development
ISSN: 2046-9012
Article publication date: 14 June 2020
Issue publication date: 29 November 2022
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing from the instrumental and symbolic framework for employer branding, this study aims to explore the perception of the current and potential employees for the Indian armed forces’ employer brand.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is conducted as a mixed-method approach in the form of qualitative and quantitative phases. In the qualitative phase, online reviews of current employees were collected from glassdoor.com and analysis was conducted. While in the quantitative phase, data were collected through questionnaire from 200 potential candidates who were interested in joining the armed forces.[AQ1] Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for instrument validity and regression analysis, for finding significant factors, were used for data analysis.
Findings
The qualitative results indicate that the current employee's perception fits the instrumental and symbolic framework. Additionally, variables such as discrimination in positions, risk, stress, confidence and personality development were also identified. The CFA and regression analysis results were found to be significant on the instrumental dimensions – job security and task diversity and symbolic dimensions – competence.
Originality/value
The study emphasizes the important instrumental and symbolic attributes for both current and potential employees. Thus, the armed forces can use these as a base for strategy formulation regarding employer branding.
Keywords
Citation
Kaur, R. and Shah, R. (2022), "Employer branding at armed forces: current and potential employees’ perspective", European Journal of Training and Development, Vol. 46 No. 9, pp. 798-819. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJTD-03-2019-0043
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited