Impact of Employer Branding on Employee Retention- on Colombo City Hotels, Sri Lanka

Abstract

In the fast-paced and competitive landscape of today's business world, organizations, especially in the hospitality sector, face the significant challenge of retaining top talent. Employee turnover has become a critical concern for managers, leading to a shift in focus from turnover to retention strategies. This is particularly pronounced in the hospitality industry of Colombo, where high turnover rates prevail.The employer branding refers to strategic approach that focuses on shaping an organization's image as an employer. So this study examines how Employer branding significantly influences employee retention, drawing on foundational theories also collectively illuminate how effective employer branding, through aligning expectations, delivering on promises, and providing resources, contributes to enhanced employee retention in the hotel industry, fostering a dedicated and engaged workforce. Stratified random sampling is used to improve representation, accordingly, a structured questionnaire was administered to 160 employees across 16 selected hotels in Colombo city. Data collection was done through a survey questionnaire. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS), version 22.0, was used as the data analysis tool. The results indicate that employer branding has significant direct effects on employee retention. It can be concluded that there is a significant influence of the work environment, corporate social responsibility, work-life balance, and training and development on employee retention. Relevant authorities can take necessary actions to enhance the employer branding of the hotel industry to support them to have proper employee retention. They need to focus on fostering a positive work environment, integrating robust corporate social responsibility initiatives, prioritizing work-life balance, and investing in training and development programs emerge as crucial strategies for enhancing employee retention.