Determinants of Success of Employer Branding in a Start‐up Firm in Nigeria

• Published date: 01 May 2018
• Date: 01 May 2018
• Author: Joel Alemibola Elegbe
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/tie.21897

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Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com)

© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. • DOI: 10.1002/tie.21897

Correspondence to: Joel Alemibola Elegbe, ADEA, African Development Bank, Immeuble CCIA, Avenue Jean-Paul II, 01 BP 1387, Abidjan, COTE D’IVOIRE,

+225 78 906 575 (phone), joelbola@yahoo.com

Determinants of Success

of Employer Branding

in a Start-up Firm in

Nigeria

By

Joel Alemibola Elegbe

This article aims at providing an understanding of factors that determine the success and failure

of employer branding. An African steel-producing start-up company developed an employer brand

image, which enabled it to effectively attract and hire talent from the labor market and inspired high

engagement and productivity. A few years later, the  rm lost its attractive brand image and its employer

brand loyalty also declined. The study is a longitudinal investigation, and data were collected from

policies and through structured interviews with the employees, ex-employees of the organization,

and prospective employees. Findings show amazing success of the employer brand in the  rst six

years in talent attraction, hiring, engagement, and retention. Thereafter, the brand lost its potency, and

its dysfunctionality signi cantly impacted on the future of the  rm—employee dissatisfaction, decline

in productivity, and increase in turnover. The reasons include a toxic organizational environment,

overbranding, failure to keep promises, disconnect between employer branding and human resource

strategy, shift of emphasis by senior management from people to production, and lack of a dynamic

and differentiated employee value proposition. The study offers practical lessons to managers. © 2017

Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

CASE STUDY