Managing your brand for employees: Understanding the role of organizational processes in cultivating employee brand equity

The purpose of this study was to understand how employee brand equity is cultivated in services. Specifically, a conceptual model, adopted from brand equity literature, was developed and tested to analyze the internal brand building process. To achieve this, a quantitative research methodology, using structural equation modeling, was used to understand the role of brand building mechanisms, namely the internal communication, external communication, and employee experience with the brand, in building employee brand equity. As a part of the service industry, data were collected from hotel employees who have direct contact with customers. The findings evidenced the distinguished role of each mechanism to build employee brand equity. That is, while internal communication enhances brand knowledge and role clarity, external communication and employee experience with the brand positively affect the brand commitment of employees. Therefore, as being the first study adopting customer service brand equity to employee context, this research confirmed the effect of brand building mechanisms on employee brand equity. In addition, the study proposes practical implications for organizations to design a balanced branding approach both internally and externally through the means of communication.