Analysing and developing internal and external employer brand of case company XXX Oy

In today’s highly competitive and talent-oriented business environment, companies are fighting to attract the best talents and skilled employees to work for them. In addition, due to the societal changes, employees are adapted to switch to another employer in case the company cannot support their values or career aspirations. This has increased the adaption of employer branding, concept of helping companies to find their uniqueness and differentiation and market this to potential as well as current employees. Employer branding originates from brand management and has many similarities which are applied to employee retention and attraction. This thesis research studies the current internal and external employer brand status of XXX Oy, and by surveying the company’s current employees as well as one of its potential employee target group, ICT students, aimed to provide analysis and suggestions for developing the employer brand process in the company. The thesis also aims to argue for the equal importance and linkage between internal and external employer branding by showing how improving internal employer brand can yield results in improving the external employer brand too. The results suggested company XXX Oy has strongly committed employees who share the company’s mission and vision. In addition, employees value the company atmosphere, and this is also one of the main reasons for retention. Possible areas for improvement were found to be in career development possibilities and salary level, as well as internal communication. ICT students of Haaga-Helia University of applied sciences do not have much knowledge of XXX Oy and increasing awareness of the target groups in adding attention in the social media and building attractive website for the potential job applicants. Suggestions for development for internal and external employer branding were provided by applying employer brand proposition theory developed by Barrow and Mosley, while also applying retention theory created by Bussin and strategic accountability approach theory created by Phillips and Connell. The findings from the data collected from surveys were applied to these theoretical foundations