Employer Branding and Sustainable Competitive Advantage: Mediating Role of Talent Acquisition

Over the past decades, organizations have been competing in a globalized and competitive environment with developments of new approaches in business. Employer branding has become the buzzword in organizations. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between employer branding and sustainable competitive advantage through the mediating role of talent acquisition. This study attempts to assess parameters stipulated by Berthon et.al (2005) in relation to employer brand attractiveness dimensions, namely, development value, interest value, economic value, social value and application value. The study attempts to provide inputs to employers on factors that could make the employer more attractive and to acquire the best talent pool. Data were collected through structured five point Likert scale questionnaire from the power industry. The collated data were analysed using the Smart PLS 3.2.8 software. The findings of the study reveal that there is a partial mediation of talent acquisition between employer branding dimensions (application value, development value, social value and economic value) and sustainable competitive advantage. Interest value was found to be statistically not significant and no mediation was found between interest value and sustainable competitive advantage. The study concludes with research implications, limitations and directions for future research.