Attracting talents to technology growth companies in a highly competitive market: The importance of Person-Environment (P-E) fit and Employer Brand

Abstract

This research focuses on understanding how to attract passive job seekers; top performers who are already working and are not actively looking for new career opportunities. The aim is to understand the role of Person-Environment fit (P-E) and employer branding in this process. This research provides new angles to combine the human resource literature with the marketing literature. The main theory used in this study was Person-Environment fit (P-E) theory which include for example Person-Job (P-J), Person-Organisation (P-O) and Person-Recruiter (P-R) fit theories. Person-Group (P-G) fit is also briefly discussed. Main theories used for the employer branding concentrated on the value propositions. The empirical part of this study was gathered by using case companies in the technology industry who had difficulties in attracting talents in a highly competitive market. This data was conducted by semi structured theme interviews. Results show that the P-O fit is considered important to the talents and the recruiters. However, the P-J fit was seen extremely important only to the recruiters who were headhunting for people with specific kind of skillset and expertise. The talents thought that if a recruiter has found their profile and approached them, it already means they are qualified for the job. The P-R fit didn't play a crucial role. On the other hand, the opportunity to interact with potential colleagues (P-G fit) was perceived important by talents. Interestingly, even though talents argued that employer brand is important, and it determines whether they will be attracted to the company and start the recruiting process, most of the interviewed talents didn't have previous knowledge about the companies they were headhunted to. The most important part seemed to be the amount and the content of the information that was available for the talents to search online.