Attractiveness of the Lithuanian Armed Forces as an employer: An empirical perspective from the military sector

Measurement of employer’s attractiveness has been given much attention in many countries all over the world, but there was no extensive research performed in Lithuania so far, providing empirical evidence to define the landscape of organizational attractiveness in Lithuanian business sector. The aim of this study (N = 1020 respondents) is to identify which dimensions make organizations attractive as employers in Lithuanian business sector. The article employs a research approach based on a postpositivistic perspective. The relevant literature on organizational attractiveness is critically reviewed, analyzed, compared and generalized. Addressing research aim, a scale to measure organizational attractiveness as an employer was developed and administered in Lithuanian business sector in such a manner. Existing methodologies measuring organizational attractiveness were analyzed composing a list of 67 dimensions. Using content validity, scale comprising 30 dimensions was developed to measure organizational attractiveness of companies in Lithuanian business sector. A telephone interview survey method for data collection was used. Descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations, and frequencies) is used to analyze the data of the survey. 30 dimensions of organizational attractiveness were rank-ordered according to their means in descending order from most important to least important drivers of employer’s attractiveness. Specifically, the results suggested that good working atmosphere, adequate salary and interesting job are key to the attractiveness as an employer of business companies in Lithuania as perceived by their employees. The article also discusses the implications of the findings.

Companies are developing strategies to attract and retain talented workforce in an always more effervescent labor market. The ones that relate to attracting talents are usually referred to as employer branding, and the ones related to retaining talents are usually referred to as employee value propositions. This study aims to investigate the motivational factors in the employee value proposition model and suggest an extension of the common models. A questionnaire was elaborated to check the validity of the hypothetical model. The sample includes a large Swiss financial institution that decided to remain anonymous. 517 employees have provided valid observations; the multivariate analysis conducted under the lenses of structural equation modeling confirms the validity of the hypothetical model. In particular, the study illustrates that extrinsic (salary, benefits, career) and intrinsic (work environment, work purpose, and job strain) motivational factors must be considered in the employee value proposition model. The intrinsic motivational factors contribute slightly more than the extrinsic motivational factors; the salary factor contributes the most among the extrinsic motivation variables, and the working environment factor contributes the most among the intrinsic motivation variables. The elaborated model has practical application for corporations who want to govern their employee value proposition and align their employer branding identity. It extends the theoretical foundations to support further research in this domain.

In today’s competitive labor market, firms use employer branding strategies to engage their workforce for better performance. However, the current understanding of the role of employer branding in firm-level performance in the context of developing countries is very limited. This study aims to investigate the importance of employee retention and recruitment efficiency to strengthen the relationship between employer branding and firm-level performance. Data are collected from 316 Azerbaijani firms that are tagged by the Glassdoor and reviewed by former employees. Structural equation modeling is used to test the hypotheses. The results of the study show that employer branding can enhance firm-level performance through employee retention and recruitment efficiency. However, online employee reviews on the Glassdoor do not moderate the connection between employer branding and employee retention. Current employees feel motivated to continue working with those companies which show excellent employer strategies. Furthermore, a firm’s strategy to attract the best employee pool improves firm-level performance. It is also concluded that employees working in developing countries do not concern about online reviews on their employer, and prefer to continue working despite contrary thoughts.

Acknowledgment
Author acknowledges the financial support provided by Internal Grant Agency (IGA/FaME/2019/008) of FaME through Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Czech Republic.