Comparing hotels’ employer brand effectiveness through social media and websites

Abstract

This research explores hotel companies’ employer branding (EB) through the internet. Many countries in the world will face a gap between the demand for talent in the hospitality and tourism industry and the available talent pool. Previous research found that, in an industry with high labour turnover and rather negative public image as an employer, EB approaches can be used to attract potential employees in a more targeted manner. The impact of on-line tools for companies to present themselves as a good employer brand is now crucial. For this study the online employer brand presence and effectiveness of 4-star and 5-star hotels are compared. Using content analysis, the presence of companies’ employer brand and the appreciation for their employer brand message was assessed. The brands involved are: Hilton, Doubletree, Radisson Blu, Park Plaza, Marriott, Crowne Plaza, Novotel, Holiday Inn and NH. The online presence of each brand was evaluated through their corporate career website, brand Facebook page and brand LinkedIn page. Results show that all brands have the possibility to improve their employer brand online profiles, while for all of them specific attention needs to be given to the consistent use of the channels. From a maximum score of 115 for a perfect online employer brand profile, the highest score was 64 and the lowest 37.

Keywords: employer branding, employer brand message, Millennials, Facebook, LinkedIn, hospitality industry, talent