Designing an Employer Brand Model in Small and Medium Industries Using Meta-Synthesis Method: Human Resource Productivity in Focus

The aim of this study was to design an employer brand model in small and medium industries in Iran. To this end, using Sandlowski and Barroso’s (2007) seven-step method of combining, related categories (dimensions), concepts (components) and codes (indicators) were extracted. The statistical population included a collection of the related articles and studies in the field of employer branding and related concepts. The researchers considered various parameters such as title, abstract, content, and quality of research methodology and based on screening, review and selection from among 218 articles, 60 valid articles were obtained. In order to determine the validity of the meta-synthesis method, Glynn vital evaluation tool was used and to determine its reliability, the inter-rater reliability coefficient was used, which was found to be 0.83. The results revealed that three dimensions including (1) individual development values, (2) organizational values, and (3) social-economic values, play a significant role on the employer brand in small and medium industries of Iran. The results suggest that the proposed model is considered as the most suitable employer brand model in small and medium industries of Iran from cultural, organizational and structural perspectives.