iting becomes how well an organization differentiates itself from others, both in attracting and keeping talent. This is where the concept of employment branding comes in. An effective employment brand: develops the theme; creates a career image of what life would be like to work there; coordinates with the corporate brand; and energizes the right candidates to apply and stay.
             The article notes eight steps in the branding process: Step 1: Understand a company's business objectives and the commitment to growth. Step 2: Identify the talents and skills needed to meet these goals. Step 3: Define the employment brand's attributes and differentiate one's company from others in the minds of potential job candidates and current employees. Step 4: Seek synergy with the corporate brand. Some organizations have created hybrid HR/marketing positions such as "employment brand director."
             Step 5: Create a branding communication plan, including the market, media to use, timing, and execution. Step 6: Develop the creative content and look of the message.
             Step 7: Use metrics to assess and track the success of the campaign and the results it is delivering in hiring and retention. Calculate cost, quality, speed, and efficiency. Step 8: Execute, evaluate, and extend the message into the marketplace.
             This article was included not because it was a scholarly empirical study, but rather as a possible trend that may be occurring in the job market. It would be interesting to follow this concept and see the results that companies have had using a branding technique.
             In a more scholarly vein, Kavanaugh, Duffy and Lilly (2006) recognized the growing problem with the retention of healthcare workers and conducted an empirical study to find the factors that motivated employees to stay in their positions for the long term. They surveyed a total of 128 professionals in an in-patient rehabilitation hospital setting using a 47-item opinion survey to ...