Employer brand to leverage employees’ intention to stay through sequential mediation model: evidence from Indian power sector

Purpose This study aims to explain the linkage between employer branding and employee retention; a sequential mediation is hypothesized, where it is proposed that the relationship between employer branding and employee retention is sequentially mediated by person–organization fit (P-O fit) and organizational identification. Design/methodology/approach The sample belongs to 224 executive-level employees of the Indian power sector organization. The sequential mediation model is tested by using SPSS macro command of Preacher and Hayes. Findings The findings established that the relationship between employer brand and employees’ intention to stay is sequentially mediated by P-O fit and organizational identification. Practical implications The findings emphasize the role of employer brand on constructs such as P-O fit, organizational identification and intention to stay. In addition, the established mechanism emphasizes the role of P-O fit to realize the benefits such as organizational identification and employee retention. Originality/value Internal branding efforts may have a major impact on workforce attitude and behavior including engagement, job performance and retention. “Yet studies of the positive impact of employer brand on employee attitudes and behaviors, or of the factors that shape employer brand, are rare” (Charbonnier-Voirin et al., 2017, p. 2). Along the line of such gap, this study has taken up to test the unexplored sequential mediation mechanism between employer brand and employees’ intention to stay through P-O fit and organizational identification.