Resumo

Employer branding involves a mix of practical, financial, and emotional benefits that distinguish a company from its competitors, aiming to attract, inspire, and retain employees by highlighting a unique work environment. It has significant impacts on corporate reputation, candidate experience, and employee engagement. Effective practices in employer branding include leveraging social networking sites and crafting tailored recruiting strategies. This article seeks to synthesize existing knowledge, identify trends, and highlight research gaps through a bibliometric analysis.

The research question is: What are the research fields on employer branding? This study aims to explore the evolution, trends, and research gaps in employer branding. The objectives include identifying main research areas, outlining key benefits and challenges, and elucidating contributions to human resource management and brand communication theories. Using a bibliometric approach, the study responds to calls for holistic research, uncovering clusters on employer branding, and offering insights into its evolution, thus contributing to theoretical and practical advancements.

Studying employer branding enriches brand communication theory by providing insights into how brands communicate and are perceived by various stakeholders, including employees, potential hires, and consumers. It offers a holistic perspective on brand image, emphasizing the importance of consistency in messaging across all touchpoints (Kucherov et al., 2022). Understanding how a company's reputation as an employer influences its overall brand credibility contributes to a deeper comprehension of brand communication dynamics.

The findings of this study provide valuable insights into employer branding through a bibliometric analysis. They elucidate the evolution, trends, and research gaps in the field, identifying the main research areas, benefits, and challenges of employer branding. Additionally, they highlight its contributions to human resource management and brand communication theories and identify core studies. These findings enhance our understanding of employer branding's role in attracting, retaining, and engaging talent, offering practical insights for improving organizational strategies.

This study significantly contributes to both theoretical and practical realms of employer branding. Theoretically, it presents a structured framework on the nature of employer branding, identifying key focus areas and emerging trends. Practically, it provides actionable insights for organizations to enhance recruitment, retention, and engagement strategies. By thoroughly examining existing literature, this research offers valuable guidance for HR practitioners and scholars, bridging the gap between theory and practice to foster organizational success in a competitive environment.

Kucherov, D. G., Tsybova, V. S., Yu. Lisovskaia, A., & Alkanova, O. N. (2022). Brand orientation, employer branding and internal branding: Do they effect on recruitment during the COVID-19 pandemic? Journal of Business Research, 151, 126–137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.06.053 Tran, C.-T., Collin-Lachaud, I., & Pham, H. H. (2023). What do we know and what should we research about employer brand? A bibliometric analysis. Personnel Review, ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print). https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-03-2023-0254