Abstract
Academic staff members play a pivotal role in the success of higher education (HE) institutions; therefore, it is essential to cultivate an employment brand that strongly appeals to them. This research explored perceptions of what constitutes an academic employer of choice, focusing on employment branding at a South African HE institution. Although considerable research has been conducted on employment branding, limited attention has been given to the HE sector. A qualitative case study approach using purposive sampling was adopted, and data were collected through 14 one-on-one interviews. The researcher used a self-developed interview guide with the institution’s management, and thematic analysis was applied to interpret the data, producing a narrative of the findings. By applying signalling theory (which denotes information reconciliation between two parties), the research enabled institutional management to critically assess their employment offerings and how they are communicated to both prospective and existing employees. The subthemes that emerged from the overarching theme of employment branding included remuneration and benefits, deliberate management support, professional and personal development, work-life balance, and a sense of fulfilment and purpose. These subthemes represented the elements participants deemed imperative to ensuring an attractive employment brand. Human resource practitioners and HE management are encouraged to reconsider the important determinants of attracting and retaining talent.
Contribution: This research revealed specific aspects that the institution’s management perceived as crucial to creating a pleasant employment experience for their academics. These insights may assist the institution in enhancing its appeal as an employer of choice.
Keywords: employment branding; employer branding; signalling theory; higher education; higher education management; higher education transformation.
Introduction
As the transformation agenda gains momentum in the higher education (HE) sector, it is essential for higher education institutions (HEIs) to enhance their appeal to top academic talent through innovative strategies such as employer branding. Employer branding, typically prevalent in the corporate sector, refers to a long-term strategy aimed at shaping the awareness and perceptions of employees, prospective employees, and other stakeholders regarding a specific organisation (Grigore et al. 2023). Employer branding reflects an organisation’s efforts to create a clear and consistent image of what makes it distinctive and attractive as an employer, both internally and externally (Hadi & Ahmed 2018). Although employer branding has been found beneficial to HEIs in positioning themselves within the market (Abiwu & Martins 2024; Bird & Mugobo 2021; Saurombe & Barkhuizen 2020; Saurombe, Barkhuizen & Schutte 2017a; Wolfswinkel & Enslin 2020), much of the research on this subject has so far favoured the corporate business context (Grigore et al. 2023; Huseynova, Matošková & Gregar 2022; Tőkés 2020). Employer branding can enhance recruitment, retention, and productivity in HEIs, making them more attractive and desirable workplaces (Hadi & Ahmed 2018). In the extant literature, employer branding typically considers branding aspects affecting broader business strategy (Hadi & Ahmed 2018; Tanwar & Prasad 2017; Von Wallpach et al. 2017). This article therefore focuses on employment branding, an underexplored yet critical dimension of business strategy, as discussed in the sections that follow.
The relatively recent term ‘employer branding’ was first encapsulated by Ambler and Barrow (1996), who described it as ‘the package of functional, economic and psychological benefits provided by employment, and identified with the employing company’ (p. 187). Existing employer branding literature largely favours the identification of potential employees as a main target category of employer branding (Behrends, Baur & Zierke 2020; Grigore et al. 2023). In this article the author adapts the term ‘employment branding’ to describe both the current employment experience of staff and the anticipated experience of prospective employees. Through this adaptation, particularly within the HE sector, the author sought to address the abovementioned gap (of limiting employer branding to prospective employees) by re-positioning the employment branding concept within the specific context of strategic talent management (TM). This is especially befitting because strategic TM (which relates to both existing and prospective employees) (Saurombe & Barkhuizen 2020) forms a crucial part of broader organisational branding (Zaware 2020).
In the context of the frequently cited ‘war for talent’ (e.g., Abiwu & Martins 2024; Saurombe, Barkhuizen & Schutte 2017b; Saurombe, Barkhuizen & Schutte 2017c), a resilient employment brand is considered essential for achieving employer-of-choice status and for retaining high-calibre academics (Yameen, Bharadwaj & Ahmad 2021). Abiwu and Martins (2024) argue that HEIs struggle to maintain a competitive advantage in attracting and retaining top academic talent, partly due to the lack of sound employer branding. Furthermore, while Bird and Mugobo’s (2021) research primarily notes parents and students as the key stakeholders holding negative opinions regarding South African private HEIs due to their qualifications often being considered ‘dubious’, it can further be argued that private HEIs may also struggle to attract superior academic talent owing to them holding similar perceptions. The intensified competition for talent in the late 20th century compelled employers, including HEIs, to adopt strategic approaches to differentiate themselves in the effort to attract and retain skilled employees (Yameen et al. 2021).
Particularly in the South African context, the transformation agenda is increasingly gaining momentum due to an urgent need to address historical inequalities which persist even three decades into democracy (Muraina, Toshḙ-Mlambo & Congo 2024). These historical inequalities involved the systemic exclusion of marginalised groups, including Black people, women, persons living with disabilities, and youth (Muraina et al. 2024). Jansen (2009) argued that transformation in South African HE is less a structural issue and more a cultural and psychological one, as institutions that fail to demonstrate genuine commitment beyond compliance metrics may be less appealing to students and academics who prioritise diversity and inclusion. Meanwhile, the funding constraints that characterise South African HEIs often render these Institutions less attractive than their corporate employer counterparts, despite their increasing attempts to attract a more diverse workforce to address the past inequalities (Maharaj 2021; Moyo & McKenna 2021). This article therefore explored what makes a selected South African HEI desirable and distinctive to both its current academics and those it seeks to attract, thereby addressing a gap in existing employment branding literature, which largely focuses on prospective employees while neglecting current staff.
Research purpose and objectives
This research explored perceptions of what makes an academic employer of choice, focusing on employment branding at a South African HE institution.
Literature review
The literature review outlines the theoretical framework underpinning the research and discusses key concepts related to the research objectives.
Signalling theory
First introduced in 1973, Michael Spence’s signalling theory denotes information reconciliation between two parties (Spence 1973). Specifically, the theory highlights the involvement of the originator of information and the recipient thereof, whereby the originator possesses information they seek to convey to the recipient, who is typically uninformed (Connelly et al. 2011). Signalling theory applies to employment branding as organisations (the originators of information) communicate their employment experience offerings to employees (the recipients), both existing and prospective (Celani & Singh 2011). In the context of employee recruitment, signalling reduces the likelihood of employer–employee mismatching. When prospective employees understand what fundamentally defines an organisation’s employment experience, they are empowered to make more informed decisions regarding whether to join that organisation (Celani & Singh 2011).
Studies indicate that effective employment brand communication through signalling reduces unmet employee expectations, which often also reduces the likelihood of a psychological contract breach (Huseynova et al. 2022). This research applies the signalling theory because management at South African HEIs plays a key role in communicating the institution’s employment brand to academic staff. By applying the signalling theory (which was explained to participants at the onset of each interview), the research enabled institutional management to critically assess their employment offerings and how they are communicated to both prospective and existing employees. Similarly, the author of this research appropriately employed the signalling theory when interacting with the data. This careful reflection by both the participants and researcher supported the formulation of recommendations for positioning the institution as an employer of choice in the South African HE sector. The theory also helped the management ponder how these offerings can be clearly communicated to both prospective and existing employees going forward. Thus, this research’s findings are interpreted through the lens of the signalling theory, where applicable.
South Africa’s socio-political influence on employment branding in higher education
The gradually shifting South African socio-political landscape substantially influences the efforts of HEIs to attract a diverse cohort of highly skilled individuals in the local context (Muraina et al. 2024). Writing a decade into South Africa’s democracy, Reddy (2006) described how HEIs were pivotal in helping the democratic government establish a Black middle class in post-apartheid South Africa. More than two decades into democracy, Southall (2016) observed that both education obtained from and employment within the HE sector contributed to the growth of South Africa’s Black middle class, largely due to government policies such as Black Economic Empowerment (BEE). More recently, Hlatshwayo (2024) found that, three decades into democracy, universities continue to fall short in addressing the needs of emerging Black academics, despite efforts to empower them through relevant legislation. The author contends that such research, documenting both progress and persistent gaps in addressing socio-political challenges, is essential for developing a more contextualised HE employment brand in South Africa.
Reflecting on South Africa’s transformation crisis following the #FeesMustFall movement (which opposed unaffordable and colonised higher education) and the #RhodesMustFall movement (which demanded the removal of Cecil John Rhodes’ statue at the University of Cape Town), Jansen (2017) highlighted how passive HEIs became unpopular with socially conscious academics. Jansen emphasised that this stemmed from HEIs’ failure to actively confront persistent issues of socio-economic inequality, exclusion, and enduring colonial structures, despite over two decades of democratic governance. Jansen further emphasised how HEI management’s failure to lead effectively and ethically in times of crisis and dysfunction made for an unattractive employment brand to both national and global talent (Jansen 2017). Jansen (2017) also identified key brand-affecting issues for HEIs, including diminished academic freedom, increasingly hostile campus environments, and growing pressure on academic staff, all of which undermine academic practice and culture. Thus, it is crucial for South African HEI managers to remain mindful of the various socio-political issues that could potentially depopularise their employment brand.
Talent management factors affecting the employment brand of higher education
Some aspects of employment branding that the author of this research found resounding in the literature are leadership and management, performance management and development, salary and benefits, and work-life balance. These selected constructs are delineated in further detail in the following subheadings.
Leadership and management
It is commonly acknowledged that effective leadership is a necessary element of affirmative social transformation in any organisation, including universities (Saurombe et al. 2024). No society or institution can mature, progress and flourish without sound leadership (Shingenge & Saurombe 2022). Consequently, the impact of leadership in HE is now more unequivocally acknowledged than in prior times (Sengupta & Blessinger 2022). There are growing concerns about leadership deficiencies across various societal sectors, including HE (Macfarlane, Bolden & Watermeyer 2024; Schutte et al. 2019). It is imperative to cultivate communities of manager-scholars who are willing and able to learn and collaboratively address the challenges of contemporary academic life. To sustain success, effective leadership at all levels must inspire colleagues to fulfil the institution’s mission (Macfarlane et al. 2024).
Strategic management and leadership have been central to higher education reforms in Europe over the past decade, strengthening top-level management structures in many countries (Degn 2015; Laufer et al. 2024). Rectors and deans increasingly bear the responsibility of transforming HEIs into more participatory and entrepreneurial institutions within their communities. They are, in this manner, mandated to embrace and occupy the role of strategic leaders to a much greater degree than previously expected in HE systems (Degn 2015). In South Africa, state interventionism has rendered university leadership more complex because of the prevalence of market rivalry, managerialism, as well as internationalisation and globalisation necessities (Tsheola & Nembambula 2015). The survival of South African HEIs amid such turmoil, volatility, and uncertainty has become increasingly dependent on transformational leadership, without which the higher education market would remain precarious (Abiwu & Martins 2024; Quan-Baffour & Johnson 2019; Venter, Du Plessis & Stander 2024).
Performance management and development
Due to the increase in flexible working arrangements, performance management has become increasingly intricate (Saurombe 2022). Employee performance management is:
An integral part of an effective human resource management and development strategy. It is an ongoing process in which subordinates and supervisors together strive to improve the Institution’s wider objectives. (Masenya, Mokoele & Makalela 2018:108)
Adopting an employee performance management approach involves aligning HRM practices to maximise both existing and prospective employee performance, which is expected to positively impact overall organisational outcomes (Saurombe et al. 2022). HRM strategies and schemes, and similarly, employee performance management schemes, should eventually result in reduced employee absenteeism, greater satisfaction, an augmented readiness to remain with the organisation and increased effort (Govender & Bussin 2020; Mphahlele & Dachapalli 2022).
Beyond fulfilling an HEI’s strategic goals, the personal development of academic staff within the constraints of academia is also essential. The evolving setting of HE, both globally and in South Africa, brings forth new difficulties for lecturers, which have resulted in more emphasis on academic staff development in several institutions (Magunje, Chigona & Gachago 2024; Saurombe et al. 2024). Wolfswinkel and Enslin (2020) argue that HEIs underutilise the significant potential of staff learning and development in enhancing their value proposition. Academic career development extends beyond experience in a specific field; formal education also plays a critical role in overall academic advancement (Makhubele & Saurombe 2023). However, other dimensions of development must also be addressed to fully advance the educational environment (Magunje et al. 2024). Academic conferences are pivotal to various facets of career development, as they invite participants to submit papers for publication in the conference proceedings. Often, conferences offering publishing opportunities partner with journals, allowing scholars to have their work published when appropriate. Thus, conferences present academics with the opportunity to be measured against professional standards and will gradually augment the academic’s research capacity and performance (Rimmer & Floyd 2020; Sanders et al. 2022).
Salary and benefits
The introduction of performance-based pay and merit remuneration for academic staff contests the conventional supremacy of the professoriate and individual professors (White-Lewis et al. 2022), as these issues were previously not typically within the jurisdiction of universities. Particularly, performance- and merit-based pay have now become central to management practices and a key topic of discussion within HEIs. Ambitious universities have adopted aggressive recruitment strategies, using distinctive salary and benefits packages to attract international academics and strategically target prospective employees. Particularly, performance-related compensation is shifting academic remuneration policies, as universities are increasingly allocating a fraction of faculty salaries to measurable performance metrics (Chigo 2024). This approach further affects recruitment and retention strategies by drawing the interest of superior-performing academics and encouraging existing academics to perform exceptionally in teaching, research, and community engagement activities (Mbukwana & Ayandibu 2023). Although the heightened emphasis on performance may foster competitiveness and meritocracy, concerns about the subjectivity of performance evaluations and their negative impact on collaboration are becoming increasingly widespread (Chigo 2024).
Kissoonduth, Webb and Kahn (2019) state that faculty remuneration distinctly influences the value of the HE market. There is concern that if policymakers do not adequately address salary disparities in academia, maintaining the high quality of the HE sector may become difficult, thereby compromising its market competitiveness (Kissoonduth et al. 2019). As the access to HE is broadened and there is added growth regarding the need for academics (Makhubele & Saurombe 2023), the expenses pertaining to any variations in comparative academic salary could be significant. To move beyond the norm, there is an urgent need for robust empirical evidence on academic pay and the overall resourcing of the HE sector.
Work–life balance
Recently, supporting employees in balancing work and family life has become a priority, as work-life imbalance negatively affects both employers and broader society (Opoku, Kwao & Johnson 2023; Saurombe et al. 2022). With the increasing and often not well-defined workloads characterising the contemporary academic profession (Chigo 2024), the work-life balance agenda is of greater interest in HEIs. Opoku et al. (2023) argue that work–life balance has to do with successfully managing the balance between compensated work and all alternative undertakings considered significant to individuals such as family, community activities, charitable work, personal growth and relaxation and recreation. Martin and Stanfill (2023) and Teichler, Arimoto and Cummings (2013) note that a growing number of academic staff are expressing concern about work-life balance. A more intricate challenge is further presented, as work-life balance concerns are not uniform and are often shaped by specific factors such as sociocultural dynamics. For instance, African researchers often debate that work-life balance will continue to be a challenge for women until the family structure and the cultural customs related to motherhood and femininity are transformed (Iwu et al. 2022; Nkomo & Saurombe 2024).
In Lester’s (2015) view, work-life equilibrium is entrenched in individual situations, like that of a parent or the custodian of an elderly parent and is linked to sociocultural family arrangements and gender roles. Lester (2015) further argues that attempts to create uniform work–life balance policies in higher education fail to account for individual differences and the fragmented nature of complex institutions. Considering this knowledge, the researcher sought to determine the level of commitment of the South African HEI to provide its academic staff with a work experience that accommodates their life outside the workplace. This has become increasingly important for academics (Martin & Stanfill 2023), particularly in the post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic era.
Research methods and design
The methodological approaches adopted in this research are outlined in the subsequent sections.
Research approach and philosophy
Research approaches describe the strategies and processes that guide studies, spanning from broad assumptions to detailed data collection, analysis, and interpretation. The choice of a research approach is further determined by the nature or essence of the research problem that is under investigation, the understanding of the researcher, as well as the people that the study affects or intends to reach out to (Creswell 2014). A qualitative research approach was adopted, as it allowed for an in-depth exploration of management perspectives regarding employment branding within the South African HEI. Because management represents a relatively small and specialised group, a quantitative approach would have been impractical and inadequate for capturing the nuanced insights and lived experiences needed to meet the study’s objectives.
A qualitative approach was also necessary because employment branding is created by the employer and directed toward employees. In the case of this research, the employment brand was developed by the HEI management toward their academic staff. Therefore, the researcher deemed it essential to first gather the views of HEI management on employment branding through qualitative interviews, given the small size of the management population.
Ontologically, the author sought to understand the participant’s reality (i.e. perceptions) (Grass 2024) regarding what they believed to constitute an attractive employment brand for academic staff at the selected HEI. Epistemologically, the author sought to carefully consider the realities of the management at the HEI regarding what constitutes an attractive employment brand while being mindful of the subjective nature of their perspectives (see Grass 2024).
Research strategy
A case study strategy was adopted in this research to structure and report on the findings, as the data gathered were obtained from a real-life setting (Priya 2021). The themes were extracted from the partly structured interviews and validated against a global perspective as documented in the available literature. A constructivist research paradigm (see Yin 2012) was employed to understand what constitutes a superior employment brand at the selected South African HEI through the lens of the managerial staff.
Research method
Research setting
The research was conducted across multiple campuses of a South African HEI. For individual preference and convenience, the participant interviews were conducted in person or online. Some participants were interviewed at their offices, and in cases where the researcher could not travel to other campuses, virtual interviewing methods such as telephone and Skype were utilised, with the approval of participants, for mutual convenience.
Entrée and establishing researcher roles
The author of this article conceptualised and synthesised the ideas in this research and further conducted the fieldwork (data collection). The author also conducted the data analysis and wrote the final research manuscript, which involved producing several drafts.
Research participants and sampling methods
The participants were members of management from the three campuses of a South African HEI. The participants were interviewed, one after the other, until data saturation was reached. This research made use of both purposive and convenience sampling, meaning participants were selected based on their willingness and availability to take part in the data collection process (considering the hectic schedules of management academics), as well as the relevance of their contribution according to the inclusion criteria (Andrade 2021), which was managerial staff at either executive (Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellors/Rectors), senior (Executive Deans and Vice Deans) or middle management (Faculty Directors) levels. Table 1 shows the demographic delineation of the 14 participants who were interviewed:
Table 1 shows equal gender representation, with male and female participants each comprising 50% of the sample. Similarly, racial distribution was evenly split: 50% Black African and 50% White participants1. All 14 participants held doctoral degrees, indicating a high level of academic qualification. The distribution in terms of managerial levels shows 35.71% (five participants) to be in the executive tier of management, another 35.71% (five participants) to be in the senior tier of management, and 28.57% (four participants) to be in the middle tier of management. The demographics displayed in Table 1 also show that only one of the five participants in executive management was female, implying the underrepresentation of females who held executive managerial positions. At a senior management level, females were more represented at 60%, that is, three out of five participants and 21.49% of the entire sample, as opposed to the two out of five (40%) males who held senior management positions at 14.29% of the entire sample. Middle management was evenly represented by gender, with males and females each making up 14.29% of the total sample.
Data collection methods
Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The interviews aimed to uncover more profound meanings by allowing new information and concepts to emerge from the results. The interview sessions managed to unravel management’s perceptions concerning employment branding within the South African HEI. The interviews were carried out individually and in English, and the questions were primarily adapted from the employment branding framework of Parmar (2014). The HEI management interview participants were requested to delineate their experiences where employment branding is concerned in line with this framework. The questions sought to determine the overall employment branding of a South African HEI.
Data recording
Given the relatively large volume of qualitative data collected, the researcher recorded participants’ responses to facilitate accurate transcription during the data collection process. The audio recordings were played back, and verbatim transcriptions of the data were made in a Microsoft Word document for analysis once all the data had been gathered.
Strategies employed to ensure data quality and integrity
The researcher used the strategies outlined by Baillie (2015) to ensure the rigour of this research. Firstly, the research data were co-analysed by a fellow researcher (who had to sign a non-disclosure agreement) to allow for peer debriefing and comparison with the analysis of this research’s author. Secondly, the researcher spent enough time in the research field to be better acquainted with it and ensure that the findings would ultimately be contextual. Thirdly, the researcher conducted member checking with participants to verify the accuracy of the interview transcripts and the findings report. This was important for minimising any potentially biased researcher perspectives regarding the Institution, as well as biased interpretations of the data, considering the researcher’s affiliation with the Institution as a novice researcher at the time when the research was conducted. Fourthly, the researcher provided adequately thick descriptions of the research setting, including the participants, so readers and researchers may assess whether this paper’s findings can be generalisable to similar settings. Fifthly, the researcher kept a record of every research phase and the decisions and logic behind them, enabling a more impartial approach to data collection and analysis, as well as transparency regarding the various research methods employed.
Data analysis
Thematic analysis was used in this research to encode the qualitative interview responses, and the researcher ended up with a codebook at the end of this process. In accordance with Patton (2015), an inductive approach to qualitative analysis was used, which entailed finding trends, themes and clusters in the gathered data, that is, generating fresh ideas, findings and concepts from the specific data collected. A subsequent deductive analysis was conducted using an existing framework to assess how well the data aligned with established concepts, theories, and findings, thereby addressing the research question. Bonner et al. (2021) argue that combining both inductive and deductive analysis techniques (also known as abductive analysis) more effectively ensures optimal outcomes.
Reporting style
The findings of this research are displayed in table format, showing the theme and various sub-themes that emerged from this research. The theme and sub-themes are substantiated by verbatim quotes obtained from the interview participants in this research.
Ethical considerations
Ethical clearance to conduct this study was obtained from the North-West University Institutional Research Ethics Regulatory Committee (NWU IRERC) (NWU-00498-15-A9). The research was further conducted in line with the various acceptable ethical guidelines including emphasising to participants, aspects pertaining to informed consent, voluntary participation, their right to withdraw, their protection from harm, and so forth (see Creswell, 2014).
Results
Table 2 depicts the theme and sub-themes that were identified from the interviews with management. Table 2 shows that the main components of employment branding at the chosen HEI in this study were remuneration and employment benefits, intentional management support, professional and personal development, work-life balance, and fulfilment and purpose.
Theme: Employment branding
From the collective responses on employment branding at the South African HEI, the identified subthemes included remuneration and benefits, intentional management support, professional and personal development, work–life balance, and a sense of fulfilment and purpose.
Sub-theme: Remuneration and employment benefits
Some participants indicated that the institution needs to improve the salaries offered to academics, as reflected in the following response:
‘I think maybe we should look at whether our salaries are market-related.’ (Participant 9, female, middle manager, doctoral degree, white person)
However, the findings suggested that financial compensation alone is never sufficient, as reflected in the following participant’s response:
‘I have never seen a person very happy with their salary. I also need more as I sit here. All I’m saying is that you never have enough. You never satisfy a person. When you do this, they want that, when you lift a standard, just like that.’ (Participant 12, female, executive manager, doctoral degree, black African person)
Participants also emphasised the importance of non-monetary benefits, such as special leave and study opportunities for employees and their families, as illustrated by the following response:
‘We have got a study scheme, and as an employee, you study for free, and of course your dependents as well study for free, and you personally get support in terms of your study leave, in terms of your research and your conferences.’ (Participant 1, male, executive manager, doctoral degree, black African person)
Participants also agreed that offering a medical aid contribution would be a valuable fringe benefit for academic staff, as reflected in the following response:
‘I think we can also work on the fringe benefits like medical aid, [and] we don’t have medical aid contributions that we can give.’ (Participant 9, female, middle manager, doctoral degree, white person)
Sub-theme: Intentional management support
The research findings showed that participants believe it is important for management to be intentional about supporting the success and growth of academics in HEIs, as is implied by the statement:
‘The support that we provide makes us distinguishable. Firstly, to the well-established academics, it’s a good environment for you to come and make an impact if, as an academic, you really want to make a contribution to a discipline.’ (Participant 1, male, executive manager, doctoral degree, black African person)
Participants also noted that a lack of managerial support is likely to negatively affect academic performance:
‘When the employee comes into the university, they will expect that they will get as much managerial support as possible to grow as a staff member.’ (Participant 2, male, senior manager, doctoral degree, black African person)
Additionally:
‘Academics mainly want to grow to become recognised as renowned scholars nationally and [eventually] internationally.’ (Participant 5, male, executive manager, doctoral degree, black African person)
Furthermore, some participants noted that leadership is generally supportive of academic staff, although some academics do not always take advantage of the support provided. The following response exhibits this point, stating:
‘I mean, you’ve got all the opportunities to improve your qualifications up to a PhD and you’ve got the support of management and everybody to do that. So, yeah, even though management may be intentional about providing support to academics, the academics themselves must also be intentional about taking up every opportunity made available to them.’ (Participant 11, male, senior manager, doctoral degree, white person)
Sub-theme: Professional and personal development
A key finding was that the institution closely monitors academic staff performance, rewarding strong performers while supporting the development of those whose performance needs improvement. This can be seen from the following statements:
‘I must tell you we [are] one very unique university that has got a performance management system that we enter into a performance contract with staff and this performance contract would lead you towards promotion.’ (Participant 1, male, executive manager, doctoral degree, black African person)
‘We try not to wait until the end of the year to identify performance gaps and development needs because it is easier to salvage malperformance before it gets too far off track.’ (Participant 14, female, middle manager, doctoral degree, white person)
Another participant described the rewards and advancement opportunities available to top-performing academic staff, as shown in the following response:
‘You [as an academic] need to know that if I put in the work, I will reap the results. If my teaching is outstanding, I [as an academic] will be recognised. If my research is great, I will also be recognised, and if I am good at giving back to my community, I will be recognised.’ (Participant 6, female, middle manager, doctoral degree, black African person)
Participants emphasised the importance of using a positive, constructive approach, rather than a harsh or abrasive one, when addressing poor performance among academic staff. This finding is represented by the following response from one of the participants:
‘I think there are some very disengaged academics, and it doesn’t help to shout at them or to threaten them, or to say if you don’t get a PhD, we’re going to kick you out because I think that’s very demotivating, so it would be far better if we could find incentives and say if you don’t have a PhD, what can we do to help, can we send you somewhere to go and study and also make more money available, find a teaching assistant so that you’ll have more time.’ (Participant 4, female, senior manager, doctoral degree, white person)
Participants also highlighted the importance of allowing academics the flexibility to pursue personal growth activities beyond their formal employment responsibilities, as reflected in the following response:
‘We also allow our academic staff room to pursue other activities that grow them personally. It is not like we expect you to be teaching every day. We encourage our staff to take part in soul-feeding activities as we believe the benefits of personal growth ultimately spill over into how they show up professionally.’ (Participant 10, male, middle manager, doctoral degree, black African person)
Another participant added the importance of avoiding ‘goal-post shifting’ when managing academic performance:
‘Also very important is to manage the performance management and development process in a way that does not imply the constant shifting of goal-posts. Academics do not want to feel stuck in an endless cycle of elusive performance targets; I mean, it is unfair to say you [as an academic] have done well here [in one aspect], but now you are lacking there [referring to a new aspect] especially if this [performance aspect] was not prior indicated or required.’ (Participant 13, male, middle manager, doctoral degree, white person)
Sub-theme: Work–life balance
Participants indicated that there is an allowance for flexibility within the institution:
‘If an academic needs time and flexibility, they can get it.’ (Participant 8, male, executive manager, doctoral degree, white person)
And:
‘Sometimes, there are schemes whereby an academic can take off certain months or a certain semester to go and write your work or go and do your research and with reduced teaching. This also allows more room for academics to attend to important aspects of their personal lives.’ (Participant 3, male, executive manager, doctoral degree, black African person)
Sub-theme: Fulfilment and purpose
Another theme that emerged from this research was Fulfilment and Purpose. The results showed that contentment is a crucial part of academia, and its outcome is greater productivity and purpose, as expressed by the following response:
‘I can give you lots of examples. Another Professor in my faculty, when he speaks to his colleagues says, you don’t understand. You’ll never understand how I’m enjoying my job.’ (Participant 7, female, senior manager, doctoral degree, white person)
Another participant emphasised that academia provides a unique sense of gratification and fulfilment for those suited to the field, something not always attainable in other professions or through financial rewards:
‘I mean, I have seen many young, not necessarily just academics, but young people entering careers in the Midrands of our country and the Johannesburgs, just chasing money, and they eventually end up with large packages, but if you really see them a few years down the line, you can feel that vacuum of somebody who feels like they did not go too far with their studies.’ (Participant 1, male, executive manager, doctoral degree, black African person)
Participant 1 described the fulfilment derived from academia as a ‘calling’ that transcends recognition and financial gain, offering a deeper sense of purpose:
‘As I said, firstly academia or teaching as it is in general is a calling, so we firstly assume you’re here because of a calling. The assumption is that you want to use your talent in this environment, and through your talent, you want to contribute to communities in making them better.’ (Participant 1, male, executive manager, doctoral degree, black African person)
Discussion
The objective of this research was to explore management perspectives on what makes an academic employer of choice at a South African HEI. The findings suggest that five sub-themes – remuneration and benefits, intentional management support, professional and personal development, work–life balance, and fulfilment and purpose – are fundamental to creating a desirable and compelling employment brand within the institution. All participants shared their perspectives on key aspects of employment branding at the South African HEI.
Outline of the results
Participants agreed that clearly communicating compensation and incentives is crucial for attracting top academic talent, in line with signalling theory. This is particularly crucial in the contemporary context of globalisation and internationalisation, where the most competitive employers (including HEIs) are those that can attract superiorly skilled labour from beyond their borders (Jibeen & Khan 2015; Zinatsa & Saurombe 2022). To enhance an institution’s employer-of-choice status, tuition assistance for workers and their dependents can be offered as part of an HEI’s overall remuneration package or in addition to it (Bingwa & Ngibe 2021). Educational benefit schemes comprise discounted or cancelled tuition fees for workers who qualify, also including spouses, children and domestic companions, to reward university employees for their various contributions and enhance their employment experience (Bingwa & Ngibe 2021). Within the transformation agenda of South African higher education, a pressing goal has been to ensure equitable compensation for historically disadvantaged groups, particularly women and Black people (Council on Higher Education 2022). Thus, offering such persons customised employment benefit schemes could help bridge the historical pay parity gap more swiftly. Furthermore, effectively communicating the availability of such offerings to current and prospective academic staff is crucial in distinguishing HEIs as employers of choice, as underpinned by the signalling theory.
As per the findings in this research, participants agreed that intentional management support has an important influence on the success of academic staff members. In accordance with what participants expressed, Sengupta and Blessinger (2022) state that the main efforts by management at HEIs are directed at the establishment of conditions suitable for academic staff to thrive in their work, as well as determining which systems would best enhance research output and foster innovation among academic staff members (Rae 2023). Signalling theory suggests that management’s ability to convey genuine support for academic staff’s professional development can provide HEIs with a significant competitive advantage. Macfarlane et al. (2024) argue that ideally, management should be actively involved and supportive in the development of academic staff in order to guarantee an institutional ethos that makes the university more competitive and desirable within its sector. Accordingly, Ngcamu and Teferra (2015) assert that institutional management’s strategic influence and processes should be well aligned with the transformation agenda within the HE sector. It is essential for institutional management in South African HE to leverage programmes such as the University Capacity Development Programme (UCDP). In efforts towards transformation, the UCDP aims to grow the size and quality of the currently limited academic talent pool while specifically recomposing the academic demographic profile to include more professors of colour, women professors and a younger cohort of professors (Council on Higher Education 2022).
Participants explained that academic staff are continuously monitored to support their performance and professional growth. Masenya et al. (2018) argue that performance management is a perpetual process of learning and development and that superior quality feedback is pertinent to development. Therefore, managers should take every opportunity to provide constructive feedback for staff development and emphasise this as part of their employment branding strategy, consistent with signalling theory. Masinde and Coetzee (2021) pointed out that in South Africa, the government resources at the disposal of HEIs to allow them to incentivise and facilitate staff growth, especially when it comes to research, are often inappropriately disseminated. Additionally, the growing agenda for transformation in HE has prompted universities to reduce their reliance on state funding while gravitating more towards becoming largely self-sufficient economies (Kohtamäki 2023). Thus, the author of the current article posits that HEIs should build capacity among academic staff to secure alternative funding for research and academic development.
Managers agreed on the importance of offering academic staff flexibility to manage their routines and attend to personal and family responsibilities. Conveying the allowance of such flexibility through signalling theory techniques is especially important in HEIs promoting a distinguishable employment brand in the contemporary workplace. The Council on Higher Education (2022) particularly asserts that digital transformation in HE inevitably affects academics’ quest for greater flexibility and autonomy regarding the way they deliver their teaching and research responsibilities. Additionally, the global digitalisation agenda enables HEIs to conduct student and staff exchange programmes in hybrid or fully virtual formats, thereby reducing the costs typically associated with these academic practices (Whatley 2024). Workplace flexibility includes policies that support work–life balance, such as paid leave and job stability (Martin & Stanfill 2023). Promoting workplace flexibility has become a critical focus in HE (Opoku et al. 2023), particularly given the limited feasibility of offering substantial and sustainable remuneration increases (Kissoonduth et al. 2019). This is concurrent with the findings gathered among the participants in the interviews. This study, consistent with Chaacha and Botha (2021), found that allowing academics to pursue personal passions and aspirations enhances satisfaction, which in turn positively influences their workplace performance.
Some participants indicated that a key appeal of academia is the sense of gratification and purpose it provides. In accordance with the participants in this research, Saurombe and Barkhuizen (2020) elucidate that academic staff members desire a sense of purpose and direction in their work, in addition to an enabling environment. Thus, HEIs communicating the availability of opportunities for current and prospective academics to contribute towards causes greater than their mere day-to-day work would enhance their competitive advantage, as substantiated by the signalling theory. Nyanhongo et al. (2023) highlighted that employees who have a sense of fulfilment and purpose tend to exhibit higher organisational citizenship behaviours. This is particularly pertinent, as the ability to contribute to a cause beyond one’s immediate job has become an increasing global imperative.
Practical implications
The present research makes important theoretical and practical contributions. From a theoretical perspective, this research article adds to the limited empirical knowledge that exists on the employment branding of HEIs and the implications thereof for the effective TM of academic staff members. From a practical point of view, this research identified the key elements that should form part of an appealing HE employment brand that will attract and retain current and future talent. Human resource practitioners and HE management are encouraged to reconsider the remuneration structure (i.e. compensation and benefits) for academic staff, as it is a key factor in attracting and retaining talent. Management support and contributions to the academic employment brand are essential for ensuring the future success and sustainability of HEIs.
Limitations and recommendations
Given the limited research on employment branding, particularly in South African HE, the researcher had to rely on studies outside the academic arena for validation. The demanding nature of HE managerial roles further limited participation, making it difficult and time-consuming to secure involvement. In the process, several managerial staff members withdrew from the research after initially agreeing to participate due to pressing work matters. Nonetheless, the researcher was able to satisfy the generally acceptable sample size recommendations for qualitative research. The research also focused on one South African HEI, thus limiting the ability to generalise the findings to other HEIs. Nonetheless, focusing on a single HEI was appropriate given the case study strategy employed. The use of purposive and convenience sampling further limited the generalisability of the findings; however, the inclusion of senior managers ensured input from experienced individuals with broad HEI management knowledge, including experience at other South African institutions. Support or administrative staff were excluded from the sample, which meant the research forfeited any unique views they could have provided concerning an attractive employment brand within the HE sector. Nonetheless, focussing only on academics in this research allowed for more specific recommendations to be offered, as the employment branding preferences of non-academic staff are likely different due to the inherent operational variations between the two HE employee roles.
Given that many participants highlighted a medical aid scheme as a desirable incentive, the author recommends that the HEI consider adding this benefit to the academic staff package. The researcher recommends that further inquiry be made into the South African HEI to obtain the views of current academic employees concerning the existing employment brand so that improvements can be made to it. A further study using probability sampling and a quantitative research approach including non-managerial academics is recommended to enhance the generalisability of the findings. The author also recommends conducting a similar inquiry among support staff, as it is important to develop an appealing employment brand for this group of HEI employees as well.
Conclusion
The use of branding techniques has so far focused on securing the loyalty of customers and employees within the corporate business sector. Meanwhile, the core aims of branding have also proven beneficial for other sectors, including HE. Consequently, HEIs are now further broadening efforts to set themselves apart and render themselves more appealing from the perspective of employees, both prospective and current. This is achieved by effectively communicating the HEI’s unique attributes and offerings to employees, in line with signalling theory. Thus, this research substantiates the continued relevance of signalling theory in modern employer and employment branding research.
This research additionally contributes to the transformation agenda in South African HE by recognising academic talent as central to this effort. The research reveals that if HEIs are to stand a better chance in the ongoing war for talent that has increasingly characterised the tertiary education sector in recent decades, it is imperative for them to create an employment experience or brand that will both entice and retain the best calibre of academic talent. This research further contributes to the literature on employment branding, emphasising the central role of employees in the transformation of HE.
Acknowledgements
Competing interests
The author declares that no financial or personal relationships inappropriately influenced the writing of this article.
Author’s contributions
M.D.S. is the sole author of this research article.
Funding information
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Data availability
The original dataset from which the results of this article were analysed and delineated is available from the author, M.D.S. upon reasonable request, considering the pertinent ethical considerations applicable.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and are the product of professional research. They do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any affiliated institution, funder, agency or that of the publisher. The author is responsible for this article’s results, findings and content.
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Footnote
1. In the post-apartheid, democratic South African landscape, the appropriate considered reference to people of colour (black people) is ‘Black Africans’ and the appropriate considered reference to Caucasian people is ‘White Persons’ (see Kaunda & Hewitt, 2018).
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