The Employee Brand and the Role of the Psychological Contract

Little is known as to how the employee brand is created and maintained. Here we explore the role of the psychological contract, the more informal aspects of employee-employer relationship management, in building the employee... [ view full abstract ]

Little is known as to how the employee brand is created and maintained. Here we explore the role of the psychological contract, the more informal aspects of employee-employer relationship management, in building the employee brand and organizational identification. 390 respondents working in two countries and for 14 different companies provided data on their perception of their psychological contract, their employer’s brand image (measured as brand personality) and their organizational identification. The psychological contract, measured by whether employees believed their employer had made promises to them, proved to influence brand agreeableness (e.g. trustworthy, supportive) and competence (e.g. leading, achievement oriented) and identification, acting as a potentially moderating variable in the relationship between employee brand image and identification.