An Analysis of Branding HR Department Activities For Strategic Va

Journal of Business & Leadership: Research, Practice, and Teaching 2005-2012 Volume 3 1-1-2007 An Analysis of Branding HR Department Activities For Strategic Value Creation Catherine

Journal of Business & Leadership: Research, Practice, and

Teaching (2005-2012)

Volume 3

1-1-2007

An Analysis of Branding HR Department Activities For Strategic Value Creation

Catherine Giunta

Seton Hill University

Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.fhsu.edu/jbl

Part of the Business Commons , and the Education Commons

Recommended Citation

Giunta, Catherine (2007) "An Analysis of Branding HR Department Activities For Strategic Value Creation," Journal of Business & Leadership: Research, Practice, and Teaching (2005-2012): Vol 3 : No 1 , Article

20

Available at: https://scholars.fhsu.edu/jbl/vol3/iss1/20

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Peer-Reviewed Journals at FHSU Scholars Repository

It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Business & Leadership: Research, Practice, and Teaching

(2005-2012) by an authorized editor of FHSU Scholars Repository

G iunta J urn(l l r 13uSlll~a d SS L eade r c h r S hip P R esea ra ti Ce Cl lld T c3C hlll g_

2007 Vol 3 No I 6 -168

CREATION

Catherine Giunta, Seton Hill Univers y

This s tudy explored Human Resource Executives' (H REs) pe rceptions of H R branding a ctio s all(/ found th at branding

human reso ur ces creates organizational A a dditional( y th e co valu e )', mp and human r esource alignm e nt appeared to

affec t human resource branding Ill any participants described H R programs and services th at were impl _ e~~t e nt e d i~t

th r companies !11ost exampl es provided though, did not in clude branding per se, of those II R ac ttl ' tll es Tlus

finding stron l y suggests that l111m an resource branding is in a1 ear(J ' stage of d e velopme nt The aled that s tud1 • reFe

HREs perce ive that branding is a benefic ial toni to facilitat e the demonstration of 1111111an resource strateg i c 1 ·alue

creation

Ulrich and Brockbank note that "ideally a firm sh uld be

responsive to differe ces in individual ustomer prefere ces

(regarding the numbe a d type o contact points) HR

prac ces should retlect and rein rce target customer valu

propositio s" (2005: 65) T ey also commend tllilt companies

"create e substa ce o th br·and then communicate it" (2005:

17) Yet, do I-IR companies accomplish this fo the I-IR brand

it elf? Do they create th substace of the brand of IIR

practices and communicate it? If they do do they then follow

Ulrich and Brockbank's next recommendation to "communicate

th brand image a d then wmk to sustain it"? (2005: 127) The

authors later su gest tha companies sh uld "develop the most

powerful identity in the minds of consumers" (2005: 58) Yet,

do the 1-1 R de ar1ment implement this strategy fo th 1-1 R

practices brand and for the companies' brand as an employer f

choice?

This study expes lor· Human Resource Executives' (I-IREs)

p rceptions in th branding of the· ir d partment There is little

to no empirical research today cog nccmin these issues

Spcitically this study focused upon these issues ad p nially

filled this research gap A qualitative research d sign and

exploratory ethod were used in orde to prform this study In

th absence of crnpirl r·irch in ca esea this area no hyp th eses

were offered The !'oinllow ques o s guided the study: I)

What

,

if a y actio s docs your IIR function complete to

faci I itate brandin your 1-1 R act i\ it ics'l 2) Wh:rt ~ u · m eg r c

contributions arc made by your I-IR departm? 3) entIs there a

valu proposition offered by )O· HR ur department'/

Literature Review

Martin, Beaumont Doig :md Pate (2005) conted tha

employer branding offers an opportunity for th human

resource func or1 to create organizational alue Indeed, Ulrich

and Brockbank d fine this branding as e development of the

"most power ul identity in the minds o th consumers" (2005:

158) Funhermore Sart in (as cited in Losey Meisinger

Ulrich) describes that "the brand a achs meanin th

lifestyle, th trasformatio , the potential and the fulfillment

of th product T e message engages and compels the

custome to give th product a chnce "(2005: 1 1 ) Yet, this

latter depiction does n t refe to th II R department's brandi!lg

o its products Thi study concentrates on that perspective It

uses branding to d n te the identity of I-IR and its programs

including wh t actio s it conducts how it impleme ts them,

why it conducts them, nd how these progr:u ns and services

ben fit its c ents

1\.antm describes th impact of a com pantem rewa\ \ rd s;.s upor1 its value pmposition a d its subsequent brand in the talent

ma ,e

t

(as c ed in U!'ron, G:llldossy Gold s mith 2003: 66)

Additio al research d mo strates the sig ifica ce of branding

as one of th m n sources of competitive advantage (Ulrich &

Brockb nk, 2005 ) U I ch and Brod.bant n ted tha "the best

brand is o e tha works b th inside and outside the compa y,

sending consistent messages about wh t the company stands for The quality o employee and custome communicatio s

may be measured by th p rcentage of b th employees and

customers "ho feel that the compa y hears and resp nds to

their needs" (2005: 64) HREs need to be inhvod in these

value creating branding actio s th<H incorporate marketing strategies T ese acti ities conside customcincrg ·s' ludin

i ll e rn ~ l c entsneeds (Ulrich & Brockbank, 2 05)

Sart in maintains that "IIR cathn be orTOI\ lessons and

principles fr m product branding to extend their branding cf'tortras g internnlly 13 ndin h lpeep s 1-.e math) parts [o

II R' movin smoothly, bur it lso gives II a wa) to tic our

pr·ugrt!ar) mming di ec to th business lntcml ;g d brandin wil

e

the 11a1 \'OU desigrl, eliver and R ommunicate II

pr d~ c t s and s~ n (2005: 182 3 ) Tosti and Sices" totz define

internal branding as occurring when "dercision rnal-.e·s algn e

br·a

nd by coordinati

ng mart e

11n

g e

i't

o s '' ith the prins c iple of

chanmege ntI: man:1" ge (200 30) Given the change agent role

of II R in the twerst tintng e) y m-fi centur impl en II R bramlrng

t ec

lm iques becomes a needeeted comp c: for II 1\ success in

the twent y-fi r ~ centur)

Clll'isesrn en (2006) starpones fsthr Fat s IIR ar·e ·es ible or

g inte

rn

al customer needs '' ith busrr1css ar str eg) and

organizatio al goals Moreover· R nIIeeds to tr·eat emplo)ees lit e internal lients and include a custome service elemt in en

its actio s ( Witch er, 2005 ) This ient-o entation necessitates

HREs incorporating th branding p ragm di into their

compete cy base and contin o sly d monsrr, ring a custome

cons io sness (Cabrera & Cabrera 2003 ) !\ deficie cy in this necessity is no lo ger tolerated in many companies yet HR has

tr<Jditio ally been seen lacking a custome service mindset

Giunta: An Analysis of Branding HR Department Activities For Strategic Va

Utu tH

(Chrisnte2se lte006) ryahn Co & D:JVis (2004) observe that

II 's intern:-tel nts liay find othe providers of H services if

the intl ern:-tfunction IIR does 110 promote itself These authors

~ee I IREs' visible business alignment as an essential ingredient

in I IREs' value cretio Consequently, it is essential that f-IREs

recognize th need for branding and infuse tll;:tt Stl·ategy into th

IIR orga

ni7 mi

o Few r e e~1rc h r s have surveyed R II Es about their

perceptio s of' rekv<tnt issues !"he doced ument literature 1111es g<ttel/::tls ciUwurrenilithoal t t r galt 1 ss u ~ interviewin the erIIR s dccisiOil mal \1 ho \1 ill OVelelm·sentec atiimpon or branding ~tr a t egies

R f'un

c o U

ntil this occur there

will o\\' be ete lincoe ge mpl ! n about II REs p rceptions of this

value creation ncti ity

Research Methodology This study ascertains "what i s" thro gh resenrch questio s

tha asked th snmple wll <tt their perceptio s arc of Human

Resource Execut ivcs' (II R Cs) brnndin related to strategic

value creatio Althoiews gh intween re th primary element

of the research obsen aion :ut document review were also conducted Therefore this study's findings interpreted th

inf

orm::ttion

g<t

ined th

mu h phenomeol

og

i

c;:t

l

inquiry of human resource execut ivcs in their wor~places T e research

1·esult nwas nd narrJtive interpretive, ~ 1nd the findings discussed

wh ther th rescnultn rs ch of thires s stud) cn be t1·a sfced 1T to

theory ' aboUut III -:s p rceptions abo11t branding and value creatio

For conte11t y, validita ~oc i al science proicss(lr who is

luniliah inttth 1erqu;:tlitative wi research stu 1cs uml r esea·c ess, revie,~ed

the inte r\ ic\\' queStionp1lnt s 1\ te~t "a ' conducted to

assess th ques' :.ctionltl;s es' g th md mt ,,·c:ll .1 s th <tbilll) ol·

tile int erv

i c1

1 ques ons

10 ohtdlll the c onLcp t ~ 1 1eccs~a r ) 111

ponse

to

the rcsc:

ti'C

h ques 11

ons

Validit

y and Reliability

Usin til Maxwell and Loomis (cited in Tasho kk, Teddli

c, 2003) d finitions fOI' these types of validity, this study offered validity thro gh rich desniptio s o sellings in which

the research occurre Additio ally, this study offered valid

st:Hements about the parti·ceipantd s repo1 p rceptio s

Mernam (:2002) that flit) nextes ibil in this research approach

suggests that d deve.emhe erldgop sign "t \\' ill e: 1n during data

collcctton." Althoug

h

the des1en e lanned, was pr th usc of

semi-structured intcd ervthncceit:ie11s e ss il need fo the d sign proces~ to emerge durn JIRI':s·ing data cullcctio of interviews

Sample

"An earlmiisgn dios y n dcoesn ec ce th popuion lat fr m

11 h1ch th sample of respondent is to be drawn" (Ro son

2002: 2 S40) 111ce this deci'<iutt t.ovci~ med by th 1·esc:nch

ques

tio s and the ava ilable

reso ur

ces, this

study's p pulati011

" ' t s hum<:111 resource e:o.ecuti \c:nS otes J~othat bsun it would be unusual to deal'' ith <t·e n pentpul11atio so a saa mplei that s,

rom the p pu

latio , must

be

L kl1nca

tcd !"his autho al'<u ~tales

that th sa

mpl

i

11

g 1'1

·ame

is the "the soour ct:: th

Journal o r IJusincss and Leadership: Research Prac ce, and Teaching

2007 Vol 3, No I , 11-168

e li

g

ibl

e population

from which the survey sample is drawn"

(2002: 240)

Qu litative research implemented purposeful

sampling (Maxwell & Loomis, c ed in Tash kkori, Teddlie,

2003) because judgment used to achieve a specific purpose (Robso , 2002 o gaining more knowledge about f-IREs'

p1·ccptio s o marketing acti ns necessary for success and

v<iluc neat ion within 2 51

century organizatio s

The h rc1ea·c population was I Iuman Resource Executives ( II I ~s ) director level and above of mid-and large-sized firms

with rC\et nu$5cos 0 n ill leas milli in the manufacturing and

service secto This sample frame was ch sen because th

organizatio s that h use these IIREs will develop strategic

plas T e samplove was regio al It foll ;s tha since there are few studies about 1-IREs p rceptions o branding actions and

how they influe ce value creatio , this sample group was appropriate

Data Collection

Data triagulation were utilized to offset threats to validity (Robso 200:2) and to build a coh rent substantiation for

themes (C1·eswe, 2003) ll Therefore this study implemented th

three traditio al sources of data collec on in qualitative

research (Merriam, 2002): interviews; o servatio ; and document re' ew from the companies tha employ the 1-IREs sample group Semi-structured interviews were conducte The

p rso al qualit

ati

ve interview is optim<tl fo gathering reason

fo n indi<t vidual's p rceptio s a11d actio s (Paoll, 2002)

lnt erv

i c11

'

questio s were reviewed ad revised by a small focus group Intervg iewin was accompanied by observation and

followed hy docume nt review Doc

ument 1·ev ic:

w

included primary a d secondary ate al

Con~r,tcnt ''

·c re se

arch

fe edback was

so ght from the: 111furm:tntwe'< of tude g ll yeC rtillIs <, mplem ntin th es

o se

r

va tion

s,

th res

en

rchcr completed field

notes

on the behavio a d acti ities of th I e IR s ntth research

s e tivc h The appquar lit <t o<tc combines observation of bchavim with o servation ofnttitudes and perceptio s

Data Analysis

Since this study limpemcntcd the phenomeological

reseais rch datl n anays process, n tatio s o signif~cant

stats ementled at to the genration of me;:tnin units a d the developm

ent o "'e sse

nce"' descriptio s were made (Moustal , ns994, c ed in Creswell: 91 ) Qualittive research

res ative oarc n rr interpretive and descriptive (Merriam, :2002; , 1e Cres1 ll 2003) Th codin of this data is quas

i-dd c ve or induc ve <ts weas ll selec ve a d an lyilc (M es

& llubcrmar ch , h1e 994)r esea used the followin data

an<tlysis procedures: o en coding closed coding, and axial

co di

n

g /\s Mille ::tnd 2 Salkind (2 00 observe, p n codin can

be used to idcntil'y themes found in the data Closed coding was

used to reline themes Axial coding was used to facilitate cont

ent

anal)~is Th

e

informati

on was grouped usin the

syntactic oacctapical lh and th tlCi pr es (Coop r & Schindler,

200

3) :or more

complex ques o s, stemming was allowed

11

h n that occt~rred durin

g this study's interview process As an

analc ) 11a procedu -c, contrastcompa son feedback loop

Journal of Business & Leadership: Research, Practice, and Teaching (2005-2012), Vol 3 [2007], No 1, Art 20

G iunl<l

between the research r and the p rticipants (also tenned

determine if the participants b lieved the dta was accurate

Subsequent descriptive statis cal aalysis was conducted

Findings

The research questio s addressed were: I) What, if a y,

actions does your HR function complete to facilitate branding

your HR activities? 2) Wha strategic contributions are mae

by your HR d prtment? 3) Is ere a value proposition offered

by your 1-1 R d partment?

Finding I: When p ricip nt were as ed what, if a y

action their human resource func o s completed to facilitate

branding their human resomce acti ities? Ma y p rticipants

described human resource program and services tha were

implemented in their companies Most examples tho g , did

n t include branding, p r se, of those human resource activities

The results appeared to reveal tha whn brading is

implemented - even to a limited degree - he actio s led to

favorable outcomes fm the humcaon n resOLII'Ce !'un ad their

employers T ese outcomes included employees s<Jticstf'aio

tale nt retentio nJ respect Co the alwmn r p nrnesoeur·ce de nt

by employees Additioy, 39% <JII of the paniciparH remarked

that the d livery on fin ncial objectives was a bec nc i;-tl

outcome ofhurnan resource utilization o the marketing mix

As one par·ti ipant re o ed, "HR has to be the first to get

things in order" tha d mo strate an alignment within the

organization An the 1-1 R lead r lso c ed beeficial impacts,

"We have created demand fo our services." From an

organizational tandpoint, that particip nt continued by stating

"We're doing the ri ht things; we're h lping ma agers to be

better ma agers Tha will tra slate into more efficient a d a

more effective workforce A n t of that will be the execution of

the strategy of the business."

This finding was stro gly suppo ed by document review

Organizatio al mate als such as annual re o s, compa y

brochures, memos and business performa ce summa es

In a alyzing the p rticipants r·esp nses it appearrs th;n th ee

diff

erent typs of' branding wer·e p rceived Fir·st, some

resp ndents discussed branding their companies' actio s to

external lients; secon , some discused branding 1-1 R actio s

to external lients; and thi, recJrs th discussed brag dR in I-I

d partmental actio s to internal c ents/ernployees and

maagers In no insta ce did the prticipant arti ulate a

deliberate categorization of diffnt er·e branding actio s

Branding of 1-fR actio s may occur indir·ec y thro gh the

1-1 R department's act i ns rather than thro gh a deliberate

branding campaig As o e 1-fR director reo ed, "I g ess our

branding has happened as we h ve kind of become tha

J rnal o r B u in ess a d a Lea : m d R li c r s _ hip ese Pr ce a d T eac hin g

2007 Vo l 3 No 1 1 1 - 1 8

d mo strated a limited use of the full scope of branding tools

implementatio Human resource materials tha fully utilized branding techniques were n t evident in the p rticipants

workplaces

In summary of this finding there was a general

underutilization of the full scope of bra ding by the sample f-IREs The findings infe a lack of conscio s and

knowle geable implement ion of bra ding techniques

Branding Methods

Wh n as ed wh t, if a y, actions the human resource

d partment completes to facilitate branding the human resource

acti ities, the most equent goal tated was at I-IR must ave

common themes with the mission and vision of the

organizatio One human resource executive n ted tha "When

you look at the compa y vision a d the compay philosophy

associated with the 1-fR programs How the Compa y behves

is the compay and 1-fR is a major influece on how people

b have in the compa y It includes p li ies that are

establish d trainings a are offered the communication and

wh t the compa y d sir·es fo b havior"

Re o ed metho s of Human Resource brading were numemus T e varia ce of responses was stati ti ally

talent development programs, total rewards, training actio s, publication of an HR brochure use of an IIR logo, implementation of a recruiting package, utilization of email,

use of an 1-f R bulletin board on s e and employee engagement

and alignment ac o s Branding actio s were prceived to be

bn fi ial fo the organizatio 's employee relations One 1-fR

"identification with the company [ad tha influe ces the

culture." Additio ally, a other par-ticipa me ti nd th t, s a

result o branding, "the team building with the middle manager

cul" llll·e

busir1ess p rtne but it is still doing those difficult functio s a d

is sometimes loot-ed at as the prson who is terminating

time

"

T erefore 1-fR Drtmepae ts need to be aware of the

brar1d image tha they convey, even if it is n t n inte tio al

actio

d mo strate the value uted ea by HR practices Despite limited utilization of hum·ce an resour branding there was a favorable

p rcep on of the impact o these efo s upon the human

resource func on by 38% of the p nicipants One I-IR o fl~ ce r

who h d utilized human resource logos in the past, oted tha

Giunta: An Analysis of Branding HR Department Activities For Strategic Va

Giunta

"the effect o some kind or bt·andins g s 3y that there's strategy behind all of this that keeps it together; we're not jus doing things But tha we have an integrated strategy_ And peopl sec

th overall peo." ople procther e ss An rep ndent projected improved IIR processing and results when stating, "This will make things easier for HR in a lo or ways Peopll le wi know

they can contact IIR becaue they have il need and they h ve

heard ora program and they think that it may be h lprul to

their emploll yeeIt s wi make the recruiting process a lo eas

ie r"

_

These remark s ow th p rticipants commitmcrll to

makin strategic contributio s to the organiLati n there y

creating value_ Moreov r, the stratuegs ic o foc llurnan Resources was

emphasized by a number or participantne ector· Ill dir

n ted, "I hilcl a voice in rn jor decisio s that impact our

business ! c ntinue to be seen as resource and continue to add valu a d cre ibility to th ps onrganindeti nza." A ll :s nt

re orted that they create or a y slaeat pa rti ll create value for

J urnal or 11usincss and Leadership: Reearch Prac ce and Teaching

2007 Vo 3No_ I , 11-168

their corpora o s One HRE obsrved that Human Resources

needs to be c arged with th mission and nee s of employees,

includin

g

how they c a ge and the s eed of ch nges occurring

The results o this questi n were statisy ca ll significant When drilling clown into th data, the me n of whether the HREs

p rceived that they created valu was significant at th 00001

level The variance amo g the variables was significant to the .000 I level ror the Levene tet (variance of th abs lute diff

ere ce or the t11e n) (See exhibit 2 b low.) Thi appears to

support tha mo t re p ndents b lieved that creating valu was

mcaninl fgorur IIR d p rtments Correspondingly all p:Jrti

ant b li

eved

that their IIR departments made strategic contributio s to their org niL ti ns The re ponses to h w this

is accomplis ed were stay s call significant This v ril~ e clthat

the HR d pentrtma acti n need to be link d to corporate strategy This supports th need for increased H R branding to

promote to c ent th strategic value created by HR

acti n

Exhibit 2: Rc~pon ses to a esearch Question

l'c'l I' Va l11 on cr c l catr 'rov rd '1 (Yc' or no)

2 7175

•p - o os "p ~ o oo1 '**po ooo1

Therefor e, th findings revealed that to be effec, tihurvem rn

resource bra ding needs to re ect organitizan l vision,

missio , and branding alegntnm As one p rticipant state ,

"th (human reource) branding lt> with the overall branding

for the compa y So we havt.: n con istent messR ageo II is tryin to support the straitegc rnissiu , til gmtile tls, <1rtcl

mission c!Tcctiven ss." Antthhat er cxec ~c ni or utr vc not ed Ill ~ brandin

g is "about Ille cinnflug."

ep ndin

gl

;, ~ rr 1ot h u Ill ~

of" l icc

r rc

rt

wr ke , "

f"

lm

n ti n is how we c:rn <rlign <rll ol· ur kt.:\ inrtrnd a rativc aror

on thc lllt.:

, so

tli

,t there

rs ~o rn connvccr) tr < rrtd

." All irn p ~ r c t

n r br

a rr

ding a tion

s

I S nwrwcrgcrn ll irnpr-ove

mcnt and a fo us on th interna as well as m:e c:-.te rl

c stomer The p rti:crrllrnnritrnips ent co to a c/ccrslltomer

roc us as demon tn ccl (sec exli ibit J b lo w) The mean a d

the variance were stay 5 c ll signific nt This appears to

s pport tliJt mo t resp n ent b li ved tha a c stomer tll'ienta on was mcanin f"uis l Th might innue ce how, with

I rn i ted time, umld aeam gers wo ph as ize or d mo st r·ate this

loc s a thoe wmlace gh kp thr brandin a ti n "IIR has to be providing a high rlevl veicc of" se to our interna c ent our

r n ; rrt<~ gc r ~ <rn our employeesc ," rc.:mind cl o e IIR officer

I his pcr ee

i vt.:d cortrr

ce tr

on

b tween interna c ent

ignrnc

nt

w rth

the

m i ~s i o n

and

subs quent employee

produ tr ity w<rs supportcnt ed by doc ull\ review Speccifill y, 77",, or th corporate lntern t we s cs dis layed a

connect ion b t wt.:cn t.:rnploa cc oyee pt.:rf rm and organiz ti n l

sccess f:xhibil 3: Re s pon se ~ to a Research Qucsliou

Sr,:11ili· cancc • · 'p IJ O'i 'p ()()()I • " IY 0 000 I

An emerg·ing inlved thedme that evo ur this study was til impa

an reso

urct.: brandin

g coul of"f'c.:

r bus ir1esse'>

llowcvc

r, this rc.:quircd y lkxibilit by th human resource stal

to n::visc their br-andin to erts r-c it was a li n d with

orgAd nitis zanl l h n e s cxcmpific.: by o e p ~ rrti e ip a nt , 1"'

we have evolved we.: ecdr1d to be <twawre horf' re -e we.: we

g in as a busin ess,

artd

to chan· ge etirtartdinourg rmrrl g and br

ategies

to link up with thd cthithips It aat." w;rs wa' er ve if acco mp l ~ e d , it c uy's ld lrnp;irnenhthagc <ance rs 'rn e< rrt

loyer

or 'hed icerec"\ tor A· rt tIll di tt that, "/\s p rt of'

\ tr

a sfo rm

atio

this is ~ o rll t.: th irt g we arc wog rkinor 1."

rrtivc st rt

c

cl

th:

rt

, "

Th

e or g<

rtli /.,lti

on '>

h uld he able

to tnLikc nt aricosoI mpn a d say, 'l)o wa to go outside and get

better service than m wh t t our IIR ea is bringing to th

c rnpa y?'"

An

l

ea

d r re orted tha "Som

other func o s

want to leverage s n1 o th gs thin we've (II Ro) e cl We've (I m) made progress, but we're n t there yet." Therefore, th

l:ck or c!Tccti c bra ding could inhibit human rcsourc.:c's rull v;rluc rc li atio This co

ve

ly impa t rganizati n l

a tt

<tirtment

or key talent <tn subsquent revenue gen ra o As

stettd by orrc resp ndent, "We talk a out building this mutua

work I(Hcc let\ ry s< we lay out th plan, th pieces, a d let's -;

h ow how our staf'lincomg az d titan plenlat :tnd n a utili ll es

Journal of Business & Leadership: Research, Practice, and Teaching (2005-2012), Vol 3 [2007], No 1, Art 20

Giunta

together Unless we do it fm they em thw ill no get it AllCeI thn

they will not leverage the tools as they would erwiosthe I

g ess I'm saying that HR is beginning to think about it tha

way, but we e n t there."

Additionally, due to a lack of these efforts, n entire HR

d partment or one prticular HR program may be underutilized

by the workforce due to ineffective branding actions Indeed,

one executive remarke , "Without the ri ht o entation, without

the right approach, you are unde prforming this is negative

momentum that's hrd to overcome." As aoth r articipant

observed, a successful human resource program could have

been even more effective

The workforce is pro ably n t as knowledgeable of

everything that is available at this time There's n t an

immediate recognitio Som program everyb dy knows

what it is But there are othe p1·ogram out there tha we talk

about them, and we mention the n me The associates or the

maagers would n t know wht it is T ey wouldn't readily

say, 'I know wht it is HR would have mme value or impact

if we did that HR is losin that impact ecause we haven't

d ne a very goodjob (ofb1anding)

Finding 3: Results indicate tha there is <lll evolutio ary

nature of HR branding A11t 0ent thememte ·ge th w:-~ s ha

branding human resources ::tppe< S to be an ·y evolutiom11

element of th human resource l"unc o11 Idnd ee 13% o the

resp ndent n ted that their HR d partments do n t b1·a11d th1

actions to oth r mployees As stated by o e HR d ector, "I

don't think we do a very good job o do a lo o acti ities p r se

in the true sense of branding." This was sen as an area fo

development by th H REs, wh n an H R maager note , "There

is an opportunity for m to articulate ore wh t we d , ow we

do it, and how we add value." An the p nicipant credited the

HR depanment with branding th technical aspects of HR

programming, but not the strategic aspect A resp n ent

showed concern when stating "Until we get them truly aware

of what is available, we're offering until we brand those in s

th program didn't take off as quickly as it pro a ly coul

have The peopl didn't know wh t was available to them

thro gh HR We try, but I think we didn't o as good a job as

we could have at this An ther reson for the lack of branding

was re o11ed as a lim ired H staff

Therefore since branding is evolvin in 1-1 R de aertmnts

th outcomes vary When implemelntye, ed ff'ec ve branding

provides an opportunity for HREs to d mo strate valu

creatio However, th lacsck ourvoe cc heumalle n 1 ·e

branding impe es n n-hum;m 1·esource employees' awaere11 ss

and possible utilization of human 1pr·eogsourarce 111

Additionally, One ghtl-RE highli ed a distinc on b tween

stages o human resource branding conducte Specillcall) this

executive observed tha "I think we brad d th technical id ;

we haven't branded necessarily the sll·aitc eg side still thinJ.:

we can do a b tt r jo " As observed by a other maager "But

as we had evolved, we ne ed to be aware o wh re we were

goin as a busines, nd to ch nge our (human resource's)

marketing and branding strategies to link up with that."

Another participant felt that human resources want the n

n-human resource profesio als "to see us as a positive, o as

J o urn a or Bu s in d T c e c a c ss n hin d a g L ~a d r s llip : RePs c ~ c ra ti 11 ea

negative 1nindset B1n·:.tng di n e s to be more eningful, with

more substa ce than just symbol." If this does n t ccur, ir

was stated tha p·oduc v y and employee morale may be

lowere

An HRE also saw a connec on b tween human resource

branding and the compa y's image This panicipant state , "I think tha when you look at the compa y vision and the

compay philosophy, culture, the environment, a lo o pople

see that they are associated with the H R pro rams How th

compay b haves is th compa y, nd HR is major influece

on how people b have in the compa y'' Altho gh it was n t a

research questio it was n ted by 23% of the p rticipants that

wh reas eir human resource branding was lmite , they also

prceived that their corporations hd not clo e en u h branding

of their corporate images Therefore effecti e human reso rce

branding appers to enha ce the organizatio 's image Yet the findings su g st that, in contrast to wh n effecti e corporate

branding exists in an organizatio wh n limited corporate

branding exists, it may be more d ifl~ c ult fo the human

resource func on to effecti ely brand human resource

initiatives

Whe11 used most ffecti ely, 1·andinag n Hum Reso rces miiTOI"S the emes and lo os of corp rat marketing In several

org nizatio s human resources wo·ks with COI"rkpertiante g m:.t

nme nt

s to develop human

resource related ma·keting

plas, but 1nt ifulng l b·:.t campaig s, p r se This appers

as an opponunity for HR s to wmk more with their

ma·keting counterp rts to expand hum::tn resource's brading

effo s

Document review of company brochures, newsp p rs a d

we s es stro gly support d this finding ab ut branding One

prticipant sh red an award card tha is dist1·ibuted to

employees wh n they display exemplary p rforma ce This

card includ d a sp cial nme for the program tha appeared to

be th bra d nme for th program Additio ally, alth u h all

org nizatio s h d Interne sites, and most h d a human

resource link, th l-e was variation o use of this medium as an

information s e rathr than as an informative marketing site

tl" 't created an eoyemplr bra d image F w webs es

d mo strated human resource brand id ntification on their lnteme s e It is interesting tho g , thali f h::t o the s es

linked employee p rforma ce to organizatio al g al etting and

results attainment L :.tership a d talent d velopment were

discussed on 4 ~o of these web s es F ll' s es emphasized

employee vnlu-aclded as a compo ent of human rcsou1-ce

bl-anding Observation moderatcl) support d th<tl human

1·es

o

ur

cc b1

·

:1

nding

is minim::tlly imp Olnee me ted p rticipant

displayhumed aan n :tniact delnatin how resources could

assist employees Oth ile mlittif ·isean le ::t ) hum resource

bra11di11g 11' :\S visible

In summry, <l this f~nd in g sto gly suggests tha human

resource branding is in :.111 emly s w ge of d velopment It eds

to be alig ed with corp rate branding tha 1-eflects

mgnizatio al mission a d go ls If huma1 resource branding

increases, it could lead to a favorable outcom as organizatio s

market themselves as good working environments This could

lead to increased employee revenue gen ration and the

acquisition of qualit human capital

Giunta: An Analysis of Branding HR Department Activities For Strategic Va

Conclusio s and Recommendatio s This study explored Human Reso rce Executives' (HREs)

prceptio s of branding their d p rtment's actions There is

little to no empirical research today concerning these issues

fi led this research gap

A knowlege g<~ p regarding brading techniques became

brandino-related commentd s revol ve around implementation o

se, of those actio s o offerin g ~ Thi ad peat·e to be innueced

implementation o these methods T at defi it corresponded

with limited sop is cation ofbt·a ding actio s

Cot-resp ndingly, a numbe or the reseah t·c prticipants

branding hum<Jn resource programming and contributio s The

stre gth to a company's p rtfolio Thi study's findings

branding compete cy Participant in this research stated tha

good place to worl

able to work more ectily eff ve with n n-human resource

campaign This would include a human resource bran ing

to work, and possibly even as an meoyer e mplf ch ice It b eca

assista ce ol thcit· mari cting d c pa nm c nt ~ o il n1a1·keting

(2005 ), if b siness value is to be offered, the II and g marketin

Therefore, it appt ears tha it would ben fit human reso rce executives if they strive to effectily ve bra d the human

bra ded H products and services (compesatio , b n fits, career opponunities, learning exp ri nces, internal

communicatio s), branded processes (hiring o -boardmg, promotion, ex it ing), nd bt·anded infrastructure (selfservice,

II R 1 S) to support the exp" e_ ri(2005nce: 185) _1 f th human

outside of their orgtioniza, tlte I IR s need to also brad these delriveEs ablcI s IR need to assess, and as necessary, increase

tio

's

image

as an "Employer f Ch i

ce"-"'Sev

s

1·esour ces b ing seen as <111 impo ant dtfferenttator 111 the

marketp lace This h ighte ed the corp rate cxpectatton ot the

J o urna l o r B u s i n ss a d L d · ea r hip R e se a r c , Pr ti ce and Tea c hin g

2007 V o l 3 No I , 68 1-1

that H REs need to provide ta gible, branded evidence of the

value of their strategic contribution to the organizatio ,

including their ability to develop the organizati n's human

capital for maximum business value and goal attainment

In this study the p rticipants had a p rception that they did

create value for their organizatio s Most of the participants

by the reali ation tha the importance of human capital is now

p ramount to an organizatio 's success This was often

planning and other key decision making endeavors It is n t

surprising tha it was prceived tha this recognition o human

resource's value-add d enha ced their p rforma ce

Clearly there is a high expectation that Human Resources facilitate the development o a value proposition (Martin &

value propos ion offered by their H R depat1ments T ey c ed

their individual growth and with overall corporate

fo n t d mo strating "how they create value fo their

the lack of sophis cated branding actio s can inhibit HREs'

employers

There is very limited research tha distinguishes the three

types of branding, i.e., branding the corporatio , randing the

<Jc o s, yet these e comp <~ sse d bra ding to the exteornl

fo

the comnpay, branding HR actio s to entice

talented recruits a d brading II actio s internally fo

maagers and employees As T sti ad Stotz propose, the

Marketing Department C<lll work with m a <~ge r s who focus

ma aget ·s a d employees], sta li h the brand ch racter that

and bhavioral practices - both fo compa y lead rs and the company as a wh le, a alyze current practices (inclu ng human capital systems) to d termine their compatibility wtth

bra d HR practices as p<~ rt of the corporate brand

Suggesti ns fo Future Research

I Do the Society fo Human Resource Ma agement

(SIIR 1)/ Human Resource Certifie ca(HRtioCn I) Institut Journal of Business & Leadership: Research, Practice, and Teaching (2005-2012), Vol 3 [2007], No 1, Art 20

Giunta

certification preparation materials, SHRM and othet-HR

public seminars and workshops provide sufficient branding

coverage to prepare H RE to succeed in the 2 I'' cemury'l

2 Correspondingly do human resource undergraduate and

graduate curricula clude branding instruc o ?

3 If asked, would corporate mats kg eetindepa rtm nt be

receptive to assisting HRE in th marketing of their

departments? Branding Competencies

I How can HREs innuence companies to develop training

programs to enhance H REs' possession of a customer and

market focus that would inn uence future branding expertise and implementa o ?

2 How can HREs build a greater knowledge base of

branding techniques?

3 How can HREs articulate th different branding they need

to develop to accentuate strategic valu creatio ?

4 How can the findings of this research be extrap lated to

other support departments')

Conclusions

A purpose of this work \\'U S to explore human ,-esout-ce executives' (HRE) perception of bran ing as related to value creation in th 21 '' century Thet·e is a deartarc,h h or -cse addressing how resoahum1 utu11 exec uti es' pet·ccpotihow s of

branding innuences their ability tu create organizatio al value This study uncovered several ossible human resource-related

relationships and innuencer Thmue gosh thn inve tig;Jti of

these issues, human resource executives delineated how th

manifestation of branding f11 orably innuences human

resource's ability to create mganizatio al value This study's

participants voiced that internal c ents may n t perceive

human resource's full quaylit-offered to the business if limited

HR branding occurs

By researching th percept io s of H REs towards bt·anding

this study may facilitate human resource profes io als

improving their value added As is evident thro gh these

research findings, th stud 's participants were involved in

value de very and there was a stro g all'areness of client needs

and a conscious interac on with intemal clients llowever th

participants did n t appear to consistently implement strategic

branding actions to cnh::11e ce e th valu creation of the human

resource func o This study may provide valuable insights fon-1101-1 RE

who interact with human resource executi1 es These resuls

may offer chief executi1e officers useful insight lor directing

HR activities development educatio a11d a tre ning_ In tim of

growing H E oblilft goatie neo;mtios ergen thanbce of it ou

hum

issues establishes a founda on for future cva0luahum11 aof n

resource executives' value creaotin in the 21 '' centur)

Becker, B., Huselid M., & Ulrich D 2001 The 1 - IR

scorecard: Linking people, strategy, and performance

Jo urn a l o f a nu nd s in ~ss Lea e r hip : es~arc Pr a g nd T ea cl11n

2007 V o l J N o I 6 1-1 68

Boston MA: Harvard Business School Press

abrera A & Cabrera, E 003 Strategic HR evalua o HR

Plannin , 1I4 -5

Christensen R 006 Roadmap to strategic HR: Turning a great idea into a business reality New York: American

Management Associatio

TD, 58 28-36

Bosto , MA: McGraw-Hill Irwin

quantitative, and mixed methods approaches Tho sand

Oaks, CA: Sage Publicatio s

Effro , M., Gandossy, R., & Goldsmith, M 2003 Human

resources in the 21" century Hoboken John Wiley &

Sons

Losey M., Meisinger, S., & Ulrich D 2005 The future of

HR management Hoboken John Wiley & Sons_

Martin_ G Bcmlln, P O Doig, R., & Pate J 005 Branding: A

nc11 peltonn:Jtce discourse for HR:) European Management

Journal, 23: 76-88

management: Exploring leaderhip in times of paradox and

complex it) Corporate Governance, 5 82-95

Me rri S :-~ m , , & Associates 2002 Qualitative research in

practice: Examples for discussion and analysis San

Ft-atl

cisco:

Jossey-Bass

Miles M., & Hubernwn A 99-1 Qualitative data analysis:

An expanded sourcebook Th usand Oal-,s CA: Sage Publi

catio

s

M ill

et

·, D & SackL tin N 200:2 Handbook of research design and social me surement Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Pub I icat io s

Patto M :200:2 Qualitative research and evaluation

met hods Tho Oas<1nd ks, C i\ : Sage Pub I icatio s

R o ~o n _ C 2002 Real world research: A resource for social

scientists and practitioner- esearchers Malden MA:

13ad;ll ePub I ill shet ·s

gement,

I J :

39-43

Tashakkori A & Teddlic C 2003 Handbook of mixed

methods in social & behavioral research Tho sand

Oaks, C : Sage Publicatio s

Tosti, D., Stotz, R 200 I_ Building your brand from the insid

out Marketing Management, 1:27-33

Giunta: An Analysis of Branding HR Department Activities For Strategic Va

Giu nt

Ulrich D., & Brockbank, W 005 Focusing on customers

I-IR Magazine, 0 62-66

Journal f Business and Leadership: Research Prac ce, and Teach ina

2007 Vo

3

No 11-16S

Witsch er, J 2005 Know thy customer Supervision, 66:

9-1

Catherine Giunta is an associate professor in th b siness program at Seton Hill U vers y Her areas of specialization include human reources, marketing and busines management She has made presenta o s at the Academy of Business Educatio , The

Ins tute of Behavioral and Applied Management, and the Business and Leadership Symposium

Journal of Business & Leadership: Research, Practice, and Teaching (2005-2012), Vol 3 [2007], No 1, Art 20