Abstract:
Background: Attracting top talent is a critical concern in the banking
sector, making employer branding a strategic priority for organizations.
Banking employees’ perceptions of their organization’s employer brand
play a crucial role in shaping their work behaviors. The present study
examines the impact of employer brand experience (EBE) and
organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), with a focus on the mediating
role of employee engagement (EE).
Objective: Grounded in the Job Demands–Resources (JD–R) model,
this study aims to examine whether favorable employer brand
experiences function as a critical job resource that enhances employee
engagement, which in turn fosters higher levels of organizational
citizenship behaviors.
Methodology: Data were collected through convenience sampling from
375 employees working in Sri Lanka’s banking sector. Structural equation
modeling and bootstrapping analyses were employed to test the
hypotheses.
Key Findings: The results indicate that EBE positively influences both
EE (β = 0.656, p < 0.001) and OCB (β = 0.631, p < 0.001), while EE
also significantly predicts OCB (β = 0.592, p < 0.001). The mediation
analysis confirmed that EE partially mediates the relationship between
EBE and OCB (indirect effect = 0.393, p < 0.001).
Conclusion/ Implication: These findings validate the assumption that
when employees experience a positive and trustworthy employer brand,
reflected through compensation, training, work–life balance, and
corporate social responsibility, they reciprocate through increased engagement and discretionary behaviors. The study extends employer
branding literature by linking brand experience with OCB and provides
managerial insights for strengthening employee relationships. However,
as the research is limited to the Sri Lankan banking sector and based on
self-reported data, future studies should explore cross-sectoral and
longitudinal approaches.
