Employer branding and well-being at work in Talent-Oriented Organizations

Restructuring the employee value proposition

Abstract

The battle for Talent (Michaels, Handfield-Jones & Axelrod, 2003) has acquired in these post-crisis times a high degree of exacerbation throughout the work cycle, from attraction to loyalty (Gadow, 2010). That talent is one of the main competitive advantages in organizations (Lewis & Heckman, 2006) and that this is scarce in the labor market, despite the high rates of unemployment, is well known by recruiters and widely researched ( Thunnissen, Boselie and Fruytier, 2013). For this reason, some organizations, those that have a true talent orientation, are (re) considering their Employer Branding strategy and within it, their value proposition to the employee (Ferri, 2016). Talent orientation has placed the focus of management on human resources, work ecosystems, as well as on the development of Healthy Organizations (Wilson et al 2004, Salanova, 2008, 2012) and the wellbeing of the human capital, inside and outside the work environment. There is evidence that wellbeing at work is not only limited to strictly labor variables, but that the worker's behavior outside of work has a considerable influence on him, such as in the relationship of physical exercise and productivity (De Miguel et al. ., 2011), in the conciliation of working life (Biedma & Medina, 2014), or in social benefits and talent loyalty (Vidal, Cordón & De la Torre, 2015). Therefore, the objective of this research was to unravel the policies and concrete actions that organizations from different sectors in Barcelona, multinationals (63.6%) and medium-sized companies (36.4%), are adopting in the short term in their proposal of value to the employee. Through qualitative methodology, two Focus Group (N = 27) were held, where directors and consultants of Human Resources participated, with an average experience in the function of 23 years and an average seniority of 10.7 years. The main question was about specific actions aimed at talent and why the adoption of them. The Focus Group sessions were recorded with the consent of the participants, covering the ethical framework of the research, and analyzed after transcription through the Atlas.ti program. The results showed the transition from a human resource policy of containment, typical of the crisis, to that focused on talent, although it is true that with different intensities. The change towards a positive leadership to the detriment of the "killer", the need to recover the corporate values, wellbeing at work plans and healthy organizations, investment in total compensation and in training and development, was highlighted.