Employee retention: the effects of internal branding and brand attitudes in sales organizations
| Date | 03 April 2018 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-06-2017-0193 |
| Pages | 675-693 |
| Published date | 03 April 2018 |
| Author | Decha Dechawatanapaisal |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Global HRM |
Employee retention: the effects of
internal branding and brand
attitudes in sales organizations
Decha Dechawatanapaisal
Chulalongkorn Business School, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships among internal branding, brand
orientation, brand identification, brand commitment, and employees’intention to stay. The paper also
examines the mediating roles played by brand identification and brand commitment on the relationship
between brand orientation and retention.
Design/methodology/approach –Data were collected from 702 business-to-business salespeople working
in 15 cement and building materials companies in Thailand. Hypotheses were tested and analyzed by means
of a confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modeling, and a bootstrapping procedure.
Findings –The results revealed that establishing an internal brand has a positive effect on brand
orientation, which has a positive impact on brand attitudes, namely brand commitment and brand
identification. Such attitudes in turn are positively related to employee retention. The direct relationship
between brand orientation and intention to stay was found to be partially mediated by brand identification.
Research limitations/implications –The current research took place among customer-facing staff
(e.g. salespeople), which can be extended to back-end employees in order to better reflect the overall internal
branding effort.
Practical implications –Organizations may improve employee retention through an internal branding
process, and internalization of brand attitudes. Such efforts are not only the job of brand managers, but a
shared responsibility of all employees at all levels. The collaboration between brand management and human
resource (HR) interventions is crucial to successfully implement these efforts.
Originality/value –This study extends the existing knowledge by investigating the relationships that have
rarely been discussed in the HR management and employee retention literatures. It shows the importance of a
brand-building mechanism at the cultural level, and the influential effect of brand attitudes on the turnover
of salespeople.
Keywords Quantitative, Retention, Brand identification, Brand orientation, Salespeople,
Internal branding, Brand commitment
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Employee retention has become a major concern for organizations in today’s work scenario,
in which human capital remains one of the few resources that can provide a sustainable
competitive advantage (Cardy and Lengnick-Hall, 2011). Organizations enormously invest
in recruiting and selecting employees, and then invest even more in training and developing
them over time. In order to get a return on such investment, organizations need to retain
well-trained employees so that they remain with the workplace for the maximum time and
contribute effectively to the organization’s success. Losing good employees leads to a
reduction in productivity and work quality, and also represents economic costs in terms of
direct costs (i.e. replacement, training, management time), and perhaps more considerably,
in terms of indirect costs (i.e. morale, collaboration, pressure on remaining staff,
organizational knowledge), as well as the loss of social capital (DeConinck, 2011; Matanda
and Ndubisi, 2013).
A sales organization has a crucial role in any business operation to meet customer
expectations and deliver superior values. Contacting customers on a regular basis,
salespeople need to act on the behalf of the organization and convey what it represents.
Their attitudes and behaviors will have a significant impact on customer perception of
Personnel Review
Vol. 47 No. 3, 2018
pp. 675-693
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0048-3486
DOI 10.1108/PR-06-2017-0193
Received 29 June 2017
Revised 12 October 2017
11 November 2017
Accepted 2 December 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0048-3486.htm
675
Employee
retention
product and service quality, brand image, and business outcomes. It is argued that
salespeople’s capabilities and their personal relationships seem to be more important drivers
of business success than the characteristics of the product or service, or even the associated
marketing communications, particularly in the business-to-business sector (Baumgarth and
Schmidt, 2010). Prior research has revealed that the relationship between a buyer and a
seller is associated with a buying organization’s willingness to continue to make a business
deal with a supplier (e.g. DeConinck, 2011; Sunder et al., 2017). If a salesperson leaves, the
relationship between the buyer and the seller will be at risk, since the salesperson is actively
involved in the customer relationship-building process from acquisition to retention.
Turnover of salespeople, therefore, leads to both direct and indirect costs, and becomes
counterproductive to the growth and success of the organization.
Managing employee retention is an effective way of making sure that good quality or
experienced employees remain, while maintaining organizational performance, morale, and
positive customer retention (Backhaus and Tikoo, 2004; Bloemer and Odekerken-Schroder,
2006; Hancock et al., 2013). However, research attention has focused more on turnover than
on retention (Cardy and Lengnick-Hall, 2011). Scholars have asserted that turnover and
retention are not simply two sides of the same construct (Mitchell et al., 2001). The factors
that might lead an employee to leave may be different from factors that lead an employee to
stay. For instance, new job opportunities, family situations, and personal concerns may lead
employees to quit their current jobs. Instead, the efforts to maximize retention may involve
shared values or cultural beliefs that make the organizational environment as “sticky”as
possible in order to induce them to stay (Cardy and Lengnick-Hall, 2011). Dedicated
employees then can play a critical role in sustaining customer loyalty and making
contributions to organizational success.
One possible retention approach is to recognize employees as a key element of branding,
and internal customers. The concept of a brandhas its roots in the area of consumer products,
and is often identified with a customer perception. A brand can be defined as “a name,term,
sign, symbol, ordesign, or a combination of them, intended to identify thegoods and services
of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of the competition”
(Keller, 2003, p. 3). The purpose of a brand is to identify products or services of a selling
organization that differ from the products or services of competitors (King and Grace, 2008).
For decades, organizations have invested in marketing efforts and the creation of strong
brands in order to acquireand retain customers. The brand concept has beenrevolutionized,
and a brand itself is much more important than an associated product or service, since it
influences an individual customer’s experiences and demand satisfaction (Ind, 2007). It is no
longer just a visible or emotional symbol, but represents relationships with all organizational
stakeholders, including employees (Punjaisri and Wilson, 2017). A brand therefore should
represent the relationship an organization has with its employees, as much as it should
represent the relationship it has with its customers (Matanda and Ndubisi, 2013).
Ambler and Barrow (1996) introduced the concept of an organizational brand, and
applied the idea to the field of human resource (HR) management by considering the
employer as a brand and employees as customers. The term refers to an organization’s
image, values, or cultures as perceived through the mindset of its current employees
(Barrow and Mosley, 2006). It is also believed that a close alignment of employees with
brand values and culture may provide an organization with both rational and emotional
benefits to improve employment experiences (Anisimova and Mavondo, 2010; Mosley, 2007).
Such awareness has impelled researchers to explore the concept of internal branding and
its consequences.
Internal branding is based on the principle that brand values are characterized through
employees. Organizations need to facilitate their staff to understand and embrace the
meaning of the brand, as well as to acquire necessary competencies to deliver brand
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