Employer Branding in the Fashion Industry: CSR Actions by Fashion SMEs

Abstract

Little is known about SMEs’ perceptions of CSR, sustainability, and business ethics, particularly in the fashion industry. We have even less information on the relationship between SMEs’ CSR actions and employer branding. This important knowledge gap is addressed in this study. We intend to focus on how small and medium-sized enterprises that are operating and considered sustainable in the fashion industry interpret the concept of sustainability, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and business ethics, which CSR elements appear in relation to employees, and how they contribute to employer branding. In the course of our qualitative research, we conducted semistructured, in-depth interviews with the owners and managers of 10 European businesses, bearing sustainability in mind. Our results show that the organisational culture and the reputation perceived by a wide range of stakeholders are the most essential elements of employer branding, which promotes employees’ commitment to sustainable fashion enterprises.

1. Introduction

Sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues have recently come to the fore in the fashion industry. The fashion industry’s role in the economy is unquestionable. In the European Union, the textile industry provides job opportunities for 1.5 million people, of which the fashion industry accounts for almost half, generating approximately EUR 160 billion in turnover annually, predominantly (90%) from small businesses [1]. Products manufactured and marketed in the global fashion industry face various state-level regulations, rules, employment opportunities, and environmental conditions [2]. However, the fashion industry is also the second largest industrial polluter in the world [3]. Human rights issues, equal opportunities, fair and ethical working conditions, and the proper management of natural resources are just some of the global issues for which the United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals seek to find solutions in a targeted manner within the framework of cooperation at various levels [4]. Sustainable fashion includes several factors, such as ethical design and sources, environmentally friendly materials and production techniques, local production, waste management, recycling, fair trade, fair wages, transparency, and conscious consumers [5,6].

Due to serious requirements for innovation, service or product quality, flexibility, and the ability to cope with lockdowns caused by epidemics and pandemics (e.g., Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Influenza, and the COVID-19 coronavirus), small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have always been subjected to increased pressures in the manufacturing and service sectors in particular [7,8]. These phenomena have caused a recessionary trend in the global economy, with no single nation being able to cope with the impacts, resulting in a total of 5.2% shrinkage in 2020 [9]. Since the advent and growth of online retailers, the threat has reached SMEs in fashion retail as well, leading to their ever-improving quest for survivability. SMEs are contributors to job creation, poverty alleviation, and economic prosperity [10], yet the evolutionary approach to cyberstore development, i.e., the “web-weaving” process, includes how an e-retail enterprise, in a highly competitive/dynamic market, can develop and sustain a transactional e-business over a longer period. In the fashion industry, utilising the power of human resource (HR) management elements has also come into the limelight [11], and as a result of criticism, sustainability and CSR issues are increasing among the global issues facing the industry [12].

For global fashion industry supply chains, numerous fashion-industry-related research works highlight the obstacles and supporting factors of CSR [13], emphasising that the expectations of large companies in developing countries influence the CSR activities of fashion industry SMEs [14], but local specificities and historical context must be taken into account [15]. At the same time, in developed countries, branding and social media strategies are the main drivers of the CSR activities of SMEs in the fashion industry [16]. The authors of [17] identified four CSR activities of fashion industry SMEs: (1) environment-related CSR, (2) workplace CSR, (3) community-related CSR, and (4) marketplace CSR. CSR programmes positively impact not only SMEs’ reputations but also their innovation and competitive position [18]. However, the costs of CSR programmes and their internal and external communication represent a significant obstacle for SMEs in the fashion industry [19,20].

Workplace CSR includes issues of recruitment, diversity, pay and working conditions, health and safety, and human rights and can appear in a code of conduct, specific benefits for employees, and the evaluation system [17]. However, the impact of CSR on employees goes beyond the way the company treats its employees since CSR activities are also related to commitment and the retention and attraction of employees. Research in several different industries has shown the positive impact of CSR practices. Every company has an employer brand, but active employer branding aims to attract, retain, motivate, and inspire potential and existing high-quality employees in order to give the company a sustainable competitive advantage [21,22]. There is a link between employer branding and CSR activities. The positive impact on attracting and retaining employees is particularly evident for those factors of CSR that directly affect employees, such as fair, safe, and good working conditions or training and career opportunities [23].

Employer branding might be challenging for SMEs with scarce resources operating in a highly competitive environment, yet the literature is still limited [24,25]. Small fashion businesses face significant competition, especially from sustainability-oriented businesses that must compete with low-cost, well-known fast fashion brands, while new technologies require attracting and retaining talented workers who embrace sustainability values [26]. This can be accomplished with the application of employer branding and be facilitated by CSR activities in these businesses. In the post-COVID-19 years, when adequate and well-proven supply chains are more than challenged, SMEs in the fashion industry also face people management issues in the fields of recruitment, selection, and, more than ever, retention. We see a constant organisational need for both internal and external attraction towards the labour force. This was the reason behind the authors’ decision to scrutinise these subject areas with the potential to overlap. To the best of our knowledge, no research work has examined how the CSR activity of fashion SMEs promotes employer branding. Our research aims to cover this research gap. To put this in a broader context, we formulated two research questions: (1) How do SMEs in the fashion industry interpret the concepts of CSR and sustainability? and (2) Which elements of small business employer branding are emphasised in the fashion industry?

2. Background

2.1. CSR: The Concept of Sustainability and Business Ethics

CSR is very popular both in theory and in practice, yet its concept is vague [27,28]. In corporate practice, CSR is present in many ways, from philanthropy to increased operational efficiency to the new business model [29], and countless definitions of CSR are known [30]. In the classic definition of CSR in the history of CSR, Carroll distinguished four dimensions, namely, economic, legal, ethical, and charitable responsibilities, which appeared in his late work as well [31,32]. Critiques of these four pillars, especially charity, have contributed to the development of different concepts of modern CSR; however, the aspects of the corporate sector have changed significantly due to newly emerging issues, the constantly renewing environment of companies, the continuous expansion of the stakeholder circle, different national and international legislations, and not the least, the consequence of globalisation [33]. Related concepts such as sustainable development, good corporate citizenship, sustainable entrepreneurship, triple bottom line, business ethics, and CSR can be found in the literature [34,35].

The concepts of CSR and corporate sustainability are considered synonymous by many [34], while others consider the differences between them important [36]. According to [35], the reason for the popularity of the term “corporate sustainability” is that it is considered neutral, omits the terms “responsibility” and “ethics”, and is much less critical. At the same time, many ethical aspects appear in the concept of sustainability, such as justice between the present and future generations, as well as helping the disadvantaged [37]. The authors of [38] classify sustainability as a value-based, ethical CSR concept, and based on numerous empirical studies, both sustainable development and CSR show synergy with business ethics [39]. In our study, we use the concepts of CSR and corporate sustainability as synonyms but also emphasise that, in our interpretation, both include ethical responsibility towards stakeholders [32,40] and the integration of economic, environmental, social, and ethical aspects into corporate operations, decision making, and the creation of common values for external and internal stakeholders [27,34].

2.2. The Impact of CSR on the Attraction, Commitment, and Retention of Employees

There is a common understanding that CSR melds specific social and environmental issues together with corporate aspects, thus forming the organisation’s reputation and shaping the firm’s values [41,42,43,44,45,46,47]. While, on the one hand, perceived CSR makes a notable difference in customer attitudes towards even weaker brands [48], on the other, results reveal that a company’s CSR initiatives increase employee–company identification [49].

All of this is, as research results show, based on employee perceptions of CSR; how employees understand, interpret, and even judge their company’s CSR; and other related notions, such as organisational identification, corporate culture, and intention to stay. The mentioned items, in turn, influence work attitudes and behaviours [50,51]. While some studies deal with how employee perceptions of CSR affect employee behaviour, only a few investigate whether employee perceptions of internal and external CSR influence the behavioural outcomes of employees working in organisations, one of them arguing that employees tend to perform over that required of them if their organisation fosters positive social relations with them [52]. Research papers demonstrate that when companies apply an internal CSR attitude, employees have the feeling that their well-being is highly valued, which results in greater organisational commitment [53,54,55].

CSR has appeared in the HR management and leadership literature as well [56,57,58]. The author of [59] emphasises the significance of authentic leadership traits that play a major role in attaching meaning to enacted CSR and managing employee attribution processes diligently. The authors of [60] took a step further by revealing that one effective way to build and motivate employees’ customer-oriented behaviours is to develop CSR strategies and allocate CSR resources. These perspectives, or mental models of employees, include friendly and supportive co-workers, teamwork, and supportive and effective management as the top three values [61]. As a foreseeable outcome of these properly communicated, coherent, and management-led internal CSR practices, employee communicative behaviours develop further between a company and its employees [62].

This path inevitably leads to the heart of employee involvement, engagement, and commitment. Their interconnected relations to CSR have so far received limited attention from companies and researchers [63,64]. One possible reason for this came from an examination of whether different forms of CSR have different impacts on employee engagement [65]; it resulted in the realisation that no significant difference exists between the impacts of internal and external forms of CSR on respondents. Since commitment is driven by employee perceptions of CSR, it can be achieved through employee involvement and recognition [66].

The authors of [67] argue that employee commitment is associated with payment, promotion, fringe benefits, co-worker communication, operating procedures, and the nature of the work. The work in [68] mentions that due to the poor communication of CSR to employees and a weak CSR culture, a particular perceived lack of embeddedness can be experienced within organisations due to the separation of organisational and personal engagement with CSR activities. Their study also shows that employees hold diverse views towards organisational CSR and differ in their levels of engagement, including (1) being fully engaged, (2) valuing personal CSR outside the workplace, and (3) perceiving no value of CSR engagement at all.

As the years have passed, what employer branding meant at the beginning [69], i.e., improving employer attractiveness to current and prospective employees by merging marketing and HR elements, has slowly established a different focus. Although employer branding was seen as an integral part of an organisation’s sustainability strategy by the end of the 2010s, researchers experienced some counter-examples [70]: not taking advantage of including CSR information in job advertisements. In a world where virtual space and social networks had become a common part of posting job offers in the recruitment process [71], a great chance to find suitable talent seemed to fade away in this way. The authors of [72] examined CSR as an important attribute of employer branding for retaining competent employees, and they confirmed that social responsibility substantially influences retention at an organisation. Moreover, new paths of employer branding ideas have been born, i.e., one that reconceptualised it as a holistic and processual discipline, including the theories of branding, HR management, and CSR [73], or one that integrated CSR and human rights into one, creating “corporate human rights social responsibility” to demonstrate the multidimensional feature as a tool to enhance organisational performance based on unique recruitment and retention [74]. Even potential future employees can be affected by corporate attention to social responsibility, social well-being, and environmental responsibility, as shown by a study on business school students [75].

2.3. CSR and Employer Branding in SMEs

The interpretation and application of CSR in the SME sector have a shorter history and were under-researched for a long time [76,77]. Previous research works have thoroughly explored the fact that CSR is less compatible with the operation and basic strategy of SMEs due to the necessity of survival, scarcer resources, less visibility [78], and less formalised ethical institutions [79]. Meanwhile, many articles argue for the development and integration of SME CSR practices [80,81], taking into account the essential characteristics of SMEs, such as the significant role of owner-manager relationships, personal relationships or informal mechanisms [82], different organisational structures and cultures [83], and identifying CSR areas within the SME sector [84]. The ethical aspects of responsibility also appear among SMEs. Some studies have shown that small businesses want to believe in their good deeds and positive contributions to integrity and satisfaction, while their operations can increase the market share in the long run by building a trusted brand name and reputation [85].

At the same time, the expectations of socially close stakeholders [86], such as employees and the local community, seem to have a positive effect on the responsibility of SMEs, while external pressure is experienced negatively [87]. Most of the studies interpret the social responsibility of SMEs within the framework of stakeholder theory, highlighting owner-managers, customers, employees, local communities, and the natural environment among the stakeholders [78,79,88,89,90]. Typical SME CSR areas are environmental protection, the fair treatment of employees, good corporate climate, work–life balance, and the support of the local environment [78,91,92]. High levels of CSR have a positive impact on the international performance and learning orientation of SMEs [93].

The challenges faced by SMEs include limited resources, recruitment processes, a risk-taking attitude, and a willingness to learn. As for the solutions, researchers find that structured and coordinated work–life balance procedures [94] and organisational innovation [95] mean a greater positive impact on small firms. All of these, as argued, can be most efficiently carried out by properly harmonised internal and external scopes of employer branding thinking and actions, which include the development and internal and external marketing of the employment value proposition (EVP) [96,97]. All of these strengthen the importance of employer branding in HR management in SMEs, since they may result in countless benefits (i.e., the attraction and retention of talent). SME employer branding models contain some different elements, but all integrate CSR. According to [25], SMEs operate without an HR and recruitment department and, thus, are intensively challenged to find a strategy to attract and retain new employees (i.e., talent). The authors developed an employer branding model that focuses on four dimensions (organisational culture, corporate strategy, company reputation, and reward system). In its “CSR employer branding process” model, [98] distinguishes four internal CSR signals: (1) CSR socialisation, which helps individuals identify with company values; (2) workplace benefits that go beyond legislation, such as recognition, flexibility, and work–life balance; (3) corporates that jointly create CSR initiatives’ ethical empowerment; and (4) equitable HR practices that ensure a fair and impartial work environment. The value propositions of the employer branding concept, based on the Business Model Canvas, include a good reputation, caring directly about employees outside the workplace, a friendly, informal company culture, good, strong relationships with colleagues, flexible working hours, freedom based on trust, a lack of hard control mechanisms (trust), and feedback and the appreciation of effort [99]. Employee-focused CSR activities have a positive impact on the perception of the employer brand in SMEs [100], commitment [98], and loyalty and work quality [99].

3. Methodology

This study applied a qualitative methodology to reveal the relationship between the CSR approaches and practices of small and medium-sized fashion enterprises within the European Union and their employer branding. Semistructured in-depth interviews were conducted with SME founders and/or owner-managers who had established sustainably running clothing SMEs. This study investigated the extent to which sustainability practices influence the HR processes of a small fashion company and whether important CSR values are reflected in the way they treat their stakeholders and, if so, in what aspects.

3.1. Qualitative Methodology and In-Depth Interviews

Qualitative data are not measured in quantity or frequency like quantitative data; rather, they are analysed in depth for the meaning of the data themselves [101]. A qualitative methodology provides an opportunity to explore attitudes, experiences, stories, beliefs, and in-depth interpretation [102] and allows a holistic approach paired with interpretivism [103]. Interviews are widely applied as data collection tools; furthermore, according to [104], one-on-one interviews are commonly used in qualitative research. The authors of [105] consider interviews to be the best method to obtain information in an interactive atmosphere. Hence, the interviewee has a chance to explore the subject with adequacy, accuracy, responsiveness, and clarification [106], which is of high importance in the current research not only to collect information but to gain deep insights into the possible interpretational differences of various theories and definitions from the fashion SMEs’ point of view. To conduct an effective interview, proper planning is essential [107]. Regarding preparation, [108,109] were considered for reviewing secondary data, critically reflecting on the question of “who” the interviewees will be, drafting the questions, and paying close attention to ethical permissions.

As the primary source of data, the data were collected through face-to-face interviews scheduled using Microsoft Teams between January and July 2022. Teams proved to be the perfect platform for both researchers and interviewees to explore the topic in more depth, allowing them to describe their perceptions and practices in detail. Using the online platform, the interviewees were able to talk to us about the issues raised without any cost, time, or geographical challenges. The interviews were conducted in a good atmosphere, and the openness of the subjects gave us insight into their daily business operations. This allowed us to gather primary and relevant information.

3.2. Data Sampling and Processing

The interviews were conducted with 10 fashion SMEs located in the European Union, specifically 2 Hungarian, 2 Italian, 2 Slovenian, 2 Romanian, 1 German, and 1 Slovakian fashion enterprise. The sample consisted of nine women and one man, with most participants having an operating business for more than five years. The number of employees varied between 12 and 87; hence, based on [110]’s SME definition, taking into account the staff headcount, micro, small, and medium-sized firms were present in the sample. The aim was to obtain data from fashion SME owner-managers about their internal and external CSR and sustainability attempts regarding employee attraction and retention.

The interviewees were selected in a structured way. The first round involved the Fashion Revolution country coordinators of Central European countries that are also members of the European Union. The Fashion Revolution is a well-known and highly acknowledged international movement, especially by fashion SMEs; the movement offers cultural exchange opportunities and platforms for brainstorming and sharing industry-specific best practices and is constantly working on industrial changes, attempting to influence brands and retailers for a faster transition and response to consumer demands, and promoting practice-oriented incentives to achieve transparency and accountability. The Fashion Revolution has a publicly available local team in each country, with a country coordinator actively involved in the day-to-day activities of the sector, liaising with both large and small companies, with relevant knowledge of national market practices. Each coordinator was asked to propose the 3 best examples based on the following criteria: (1) the company meets the EU definition of a small and medium-sized enterprise, i.e., the number of employees is less than 250, (2) the company is active in the fashion industry, covering the clothing and other fashion accessories sector, (3) the company was founded at least five years ago and has been operating continuously ever since, (4) the company applies good practices in the domestic (or foreign) market in terms of sustainability and/or CSR. Through the recommendations of these coordinators, it was possible to connect with local small fashion businesses that are prominent members of the national industrial community from a sustainability perspective. Those companies were involved in this research and were willing to participate.

Table 1. Sample.

Company	Country	Type of Initiative	Sector	Target Market	Date Established	Size (Number of Employees)	Percentage of Export (%)	Interviewee Position
A	Romania	Social enterprise	Clothing	Men and women	2016	66	0	Founder and owner
B	Romania	Ltd.	Clothing	Women between 20 and 50	2009	50	10+	Founder and owner
C	Germany	Ltd.	Clothing	Men and women	2015	80 +	35+	Founder and owner
D	Hungary	Social enterprise	Clothing, consultant, blogger, and designer	Women—private order only	2017	14	0	Founder and owner
E	Slovenia	Ltd.	Clothing and accessories	Women between 18 and 40	2016	38	2–3	Founder and owner
F	Slovenia	Designer	Clothing, designer, and luxury products	Women	2016	50 +	8–10	Founder and owner
G	Hungary	Ltd.	Clothing and designer	Women—private order only	2017	12	10+	Founder and owner
H	Italy	Ltd.	Clothing and home garments	Men, women, and children	2017	16	0	Founder and owner
I	Slovakia	Ltd.	Clothing and cosmetics	Women	2010	27	0	Founder and owner
J	Italy	Ltd.	Clothing and accessories	Women	2014	72	15+	Founder and owner

introduces the selected interview partners, along with the country, type of initiative, sector, target market, foundation date, size in terms of employees, and interviewees’ positions.

The current study relied on qualitative research [111], reviewing the works on the benefits and drawbacks of NVivo, a QSR software that can be used for various data analyses, involving documents, project items, data material, transcripts, and surveys. The coding procedure allowed texts to be read through, identifying relevant parts with an analytical and inductive approach to categorising the obtained data. The literature distinguishes between inductive and deductive coding [112]. Inductive coding develops codes as data are being processed, while with the deductive approach [113], the researcher predetermines codes and themes and then delves deeper into the data by organising [114]. The current research applied an inductive approach, so there were no preconceived concepts. The codes defined based on the research questions were further categorised into nodes to create a holistic code structure, and by representing units of observation, cases were created with various attributes and variables. As a final step before the data analysis, case classification led to the acquisition of descriptive information from the manuscripts. Figure 1 details the codes and node structure the authors applied. Each node is completed with the number of references, which is the count of the number of selections within that source that have been coded to any node.

4. Results and Discussion

4.1. Interpretation of CSR and Sustainability Amongst Fashion Industry SMEs

Regarding the interpretation of sustainability and CSR, we asked the interviewees about both of these concepts and also the concept of business ethics. For the surveyed small business owners/managers in the fashion industry, future orientation, the consideration of others (corporate stakeholders), care, and the creation of balance and harmony amongst the three pillars of sustainability prominently appear in connection with the concept of sustainability. The answers also revealed the interpretation of sustainability as awareness and responsibility. Based on the answers, the concept of sustainability is included in

Table 2. Fashion SMEs’ understanding of sustainability.

SME	Sustainability Definition
A	‘For me, it means being responsible, being conscious.’
B	‘Moderation is important. I think that is what sustainability is about. Knowing how much of what I need, you know. I think it used to be taken for granted. Somewhere it’s lost.’
C	‘We think ahead we make what is reliable we make what is made with care whether we are talking about our supply partners or any stakeholder and of course we consider our customers that’s what Sustainability means to us.’
D	‘For me, Sustainability is also about thinking about what tomorrow will bring. I want to do something well, but I also want to do something good.’
E	‘Sustainability is a very deep commitment. It’s a way of looking at the world that not only determines how I conduct my business, but also how I take care of my needs and the things I have.’
F	‘Today, what we stand for in sustainability is how to balance supply and demand. That’s the primary goal we try to keep in mind.’
G	‘For me, sustainability is something that takes everyone into account. It takes people into account it takes the environment into account but at the same time it takes care that society the economy and again the environment is the one that has to be in harmony with it.’
H	‘Use resources efficiently that the planet has in a long term prospective.’
I	‘Care that takes into account the environment, the impact we have on it, the resources, materials, minerals, minerals and how we use them, the social needs that we have to take into account, and the economic development we can produce in the long term.’
J	‘Sustainability means values such as environmental awareness, addressing social problems, addressing economic challenges. Somehow balancing these three.’

.

The authors discovered differences in the interpretation of CSR in connection with companies representing individual countries. According to the interviewed Hungarian business owners, CSR is basically the same as sustainability, only in a corporate context. However, one of them emphasised that the two concepts are somewhat different, since in his opinion, CSR is voluntary, while “sustainability is something that I do because it is not an option. It is more natural”. According to the Slovak company owner, CSR is also a voluntary activity.

For the majority of business owners representing other countries, the stakeholder approach [40] and the impact on others are important in CSR interpretations. The owner of the interviewed Italian fashion company put it this way: “It means not just looking at the bottom line but looking at how and to what extent our business activities impact the environment and society”. A Slovenian business owner put it similarly: “I believe that being responsible is necessary because it goes without saying that what we do affects others”. The owner of one of the Romanian companies also interpreted CSR as having an impact on others and beyond profit and emphasised that it must be “visible”. According to the Slovenian respondent, the essence of CSR is that “ethical operation is the basis of our business”. Our research results agree with the results of previous research. The emphasis on social and environmental impacts appears several times in connection with sustainable enterprises [115]. The reduction in the negative effects of the operation also appeared as the main aspect for SMEs in the Italian fashion industry [116].

When interpreting business ethics, the Romanian owner returned his basic definition: “It is very important that our products do not cause problems or harm to anyone.” In other answers, many values appeared. The Slovak owner put it this way: “To me, business ethics brings with honesty, keeping promises, reliability, loyalty on both sides, and of course, legal rules which is very important in the life of any business”. One of the Slovenian respondents emphasised that the company’s values must be “real and true”. All of the Hungarian answers regarding fair behaviour were about avoiding unfair behaviour: “I think when we talk about ethics, we try to avoid anything that is unfair”. Another respondent put it this way: “You have to be fair not only to the external environment, but also to the internal environment”. However, specific activities were also referred to: “My producing point of view, being ethical is giving fair wages, pay worker, for their skills and so on. At the same time, when we think about it from a consumption perspective, it is well, to give the product the right price”. Additional examples were also given regarding individual stakeholders: “We are always strict about paying our suppliers and partners on time. As this is a skill intensive industry, we are very careful to ensure that everyone can do their job safely”. According to the Italian entrepreneur, the terms “sustainability”, “CSR”, and “business ethics” cover something similar: “My responsibility, that they get paid on time, that they are healthy, that they have a perspective on life and opportunity. I think these are all congruent words”.

4.2. CSR and Employer Branding in SMEs

We asked the owner-managers of SMEs in the fashion industry about how their CSR measures for employees affect the attraction and retention of employees and employer branding. Based on the SME employer branding dimensions of [25], we reviewed the answers of the owner-managers of the examined enterprises.

Table 3. Employer branding dimension 4: reward system in fashion industry SMEs.

SME	Employer Branding Dimension 4: Reward System in Fashion Industry SMEs
A	‘I think it is important that they earn well. No compensation, no overtime. Everyone knows their job and does it.’ ‘We provide good conditions, fair pay’
B	‘We had the covid here, we didn’t send anyone away.’ ‘We support people who want to go on training courses, which always lead to very good things. If one person learns something, then many people will have access to that knowledge.’
C	‘We support people who want to go on training courses, which always lead to very good things. If one person learns something, then many people will have access to that knowledge.’
E	‘We can offer … a long-term job opportunity.’ ‘The people we work with now are just enough in terms of quantity to do the work we need.’
F	‘What we can offer is an environment where they can learn a lot. Usually, we like to work with novice trainees for a reason, because they have a kind of creative freedom.’
G	‘Looking out for each other, giving our employees a raise, learning, developing …’
I	‘If you want to learn or maybe you have knowledge that you’d like to pass on, we’re a great place to be because we’re very open.’ ‘Also, I think I can offer a competitive salary.’
J	‘Trying to offer people a competitive salary.’

contains the answers related to dimension 4 (reward system), which included financial and nonfinancial incentives [25]. More than half of the interviewed owner-managers mentioned the factor related to the reward system. Among them was that they offer good, competitive, and fair pay; good conditions; and long-term work opportunities to employees. Several people pointed out that no one was fired during the COVID-19 pandemic. For years, global Employer Brand Research has also rated salary as the most important factor in job selection [117]. In our survey of the fashion industry, half of the respondents emphasised training courses. According to reskilling and upskilling, it is one of the factors that the vast majority of employees (76%) expect, but only 61% of talented people feel that they will receive it [117]. The respondents emphasised that talent, creativity, good insights, and freedom are important in fashion SMEs, so one company prefers to employ interns, who are offered learning opportunities.

In relation to the corporate reputation, we took into account the feedback received from the company’s stakeholders by the interviewed owner-managers and their efforts to increase the corporate reputation. These are summarised in

Table 4. Employer branding dimension 3: company reputation of fashion industry SMEs.

SME	Employer Branding Dimension 3: Company Reputation of Fashion Industry SMEs
A	‘If people see that we care about them, that we don’t just want their money, they will come back.’…‘We mainly promote the benefits of the company to people who come to us for an interview.’ ‘We like to work with known partners, we know how they treat people, how they treat their employees, who are like us, they are appreciated. This is a priority.’ ‘Raising consumer awareness.’
B	‘So we do a lot of things to keep the customers coming, but of course it’s even more important if they come back. That also requires good marketing, good communication about what we are giving them.’ ‘New applicants come in; they see what we do. Great! Can we work here, or are you recruiting? I think that’s very good feedback.’ ‘We are transparent, we advertise ourselves, but not only that you should come and buy something here, but why it will be good for you.’ ‘By creating a conscious brand I think we inspire those around us.’
C	‘If someone goes to our website, all they see are slogans. It’s very expressive of us. We have a slogan which is actually made up of three words—one is BEST, one is FAIR and one is WEAR.’
D	‘We have a relatively short document in which we have formulated criteria that are very important to us. I believe that this is an initiative that guarantees the safety of the final product, and this also concerns consumers.’
E	‘We provide jobs, we market sustainable products, we are available for questions, we are happy to give advice, we donate, we are involved in different projects, collaborations, all of which are to help the local community, whether it is social, environmental or economic problems.’ ‘It’s very important to us that our values meet the values of our partners, and that’s first and foremost sustainability.’
F	‘We are also constantly measuring how satisfied our customers are with us, which of our products are doing best, how satisfied our customers are with us.’ ‘We are always strict about paying our suppliers and partners on time.’ ‘But first and foremost, we have people working with us who are themselves committed to Sustainability.’
G	‘I actually advertise myself as a designer, but to make these exclusive pieces there is a huge professional support and a complete staff behind it. From the website design, through to the distribution shops, I have a huge team of designers and creatives helping me.’ ‘If we think about the fact that we have activities in the company such as donations, of course we can do these things as private individuals, but at the business level it is a bit more extensive.’ ‘I think we also treat our competitors fairly and, also, it’s typical if there’s too much work, for example, we do job sharing.’ ‘One thing I would perhaps point out is that we try to be fully engaged with the local population by not polluting the environment with our activities’ ‘All our external partners are certified. This is important because it allows us to make sure that they are working ethically, that they are working with the right materials.’
H	‘We receive many CVs, at the same time we publish our position online.’ ‘We are a community, with suppliers, customers, associations around us, so not only efficiency not only to be effective, but also to create an environment where everyone feels engaged and satisfied.’ ‘We have a code of conducts for those who are working with us, at the same time, we have social impact projects, for example we are now building a school for immigrants, to teach how to make good quality and nice coloured matched materials, and we also donate clothes at the end of the year.’
J	‘We usually advertise when we want a new person. The interesting thing about that is that no matter what position we’re looking for someone for, usually the ad looks the same, so we expect the same things and attributes.’ ‘We are much more interested in recognition, good reputation, we like hearing back that people love us and seeing people satisfied with a piece they bought, or even with its suitability to be worn for years for example.’

. A company’s reputation is “stakeholders’ collective knowledge” [118] (p. 320) and “aggregate perceptions by stakeholders”, on the basis of which they decide whether they want to buy the company’s products or carry out other activities, such as become its employees or invest in it [119] (p. 43). SMEs typically have a few financial resources to develop their reputation, but their personal relationships are very important for this [120]. In relation to the corporate reputation of SMEs in the fashion industry, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, and the support of the local community are crucial factors. Both online and personal tools are used to strengthen the reputation. At the same time, a shared value system with suppliers and partners also strongly appears, which, for some respondents, is formalised in a code of conduct and the expectation of certification. Our results agree with the fact that Vietnamese fashion has also appeared among SMEs; that fair payment and wages are also considered important by partners; and that suppliers comply with all aspects of safety, child labour, or forced labour while sourcing [14].

There are a few references to the company’s strategy in the interviews summarised in

Table 5. Employer branding dimension 2: corporate strategy of fashion industry SMEs.

SME	Employer Branding Dimension 2: Corporate Strategy of Fashion Industry SMEs
C	‘We have set up a roadmap which is the result of a completely conscious planning. The aim is to implement something from the list every six months. I’m thinking, for example, of how we can reduce our carbon footprint.’
D	‘We have long-term plans within the company, we would like to be involved in as many projects as possible’
F	‘There are key meetings where we go over the annual plans, assignments, capacities, financial situation. The team often meets at these times. Otherwise, we keep in touch online.’
G	‘We’re quite small, we’re a small company… Looking out for each other, giving our employees a raise, learning, developing, looking out for each other, that’s a very basic thing for us, not a planned strategy.’ ‘Wedecide together, we plan together, but how that affects the employees I don’t know. Probably, it has a positive impact, because it’s everybody’s dream, everybody here is keen to do something for sustainability, so we do everything together, so it’s a workplace where people can be fulfilled, be themselves.’

. One respondent even says that they do not have a strategy. Another emphasises that they have a long-term plan. In other cases, conscious planning or an annual plan appears. The results indicating a lack of strategy in SMEs are the same as the results found in the literature.

A reference to organisational culture appears in each interview (

Table 6. Employer branding dimension 1: organisational culture of fashion industry SMEs.

SME	Employer Branding Dimension 2: Organisational Culture of Fashion Industry SMEs
A	‘The whole atmosphere is very friendly.’ ‘Everyone is important and we like to make everyone feel that.’ ‘… Whoever comes here can genuinely identify with what is important to us.’ ‘People who want to work for us can represent sustainability. They always come to work here through people they know.’ ‘Most people have been with us for years, everyone knows everyone, we like working together.’ ‘I can really tell you that everyone here has sustainability and change at heart. You can feel it in the everyday atmosphere. People come in with a smile.’ ‘We take care of special needs, for example we are absolutely child-friendly.’
B	‘The employees … are like the customers. Only on the other side. It’s essential to take their interests into account.’ ‘We want to convince them that they should work here because it’s good, because they are doing something important. They are part of it, if we can convince somebody about awareness, about self-regulation. On the other hand, I believe and I can see that they can count on us. We had the covid here, we didn’t send anyone away.’ ‘The company has ideas about responsibility, but it’s not just that it’s my ideas and then the employees enjoy it, we do it together. They like working here.’ ‘We are friendly, it’s all based on personal contact. The fact that people trust the workplace, they don’t want to leave, it means that what we do is good.’
C	‘Employer branding is … all about making sure our employees feel comfortable and don’t think about working elsewhere’ ‘(We are) doing it in a high-quality way, we are also expressing how much the people we currently have are valued, because the new people will have to join this team, so by employing and welcoming good people with high competence, we are expressing both ways how important the value of the people we have is to us.’ ‘If you don’t want to think or work with sustainable materials, if you don’t see the potential in that, if you can’t free your mind to design or sew or manufacture in that way, we are unfortunately not the right company for you.’
D	‘We have a policy, if you can call it that. We try to ensure that everyone can work without disturbances, that everyone can take as much time as they need in the workshops, and we support this with a schedule. We are very much about sharing the work, we don’t like to overload anyone.’ ‘Unlike multinationals, we try to create a very comfortable atmosphere. We take into account special needs, for example, we are a dog-friendly place. We are also completely open to employees. If we have an economic problem or if we want to employ new people, we always discuss it with the people we already employ.’
E	‘We have people who care about sustainability. I can’t highlight any specific initiative, it’s not in our documents, it’s not discussed in advance. They have evolved over the years, we have defined them together, I work with pretty much the same people I started this business with.’ ‘We can offer afriendly team.’ ‘Flexibility, reliability, values that I think are needed now and will be needed even more in the future.’
F	‘It is very important for us to have talents, to have good and creative ideas, to have sustainable fashion. However, I like to work alone most of the time, in the studio, so I very rarely interact with my colleagues.’ ‘We are looking for absolute talents who have insights that could be a good fit for us. This is also very important in terms of sustainability, because you have to work with unconventional materials, so you have to have a very good knowledge of materials, where you can cut, where you can touch, where you can sew a button on etc.’
G	‘It’s a very friendly and tight little atmosphere. Consequently, we do not have such initiatives. Looking out for each other, giving our employees a raise, learning, developing, looking out for each other, that’s a very basic thing for us, not a planned strategy.’ ‘So far I’ve never had a problem with hiring new staff because we’ve known them all before, we’ve been almost friends with them.’
H	‘Sustainability is extremely important, when we hire someone, because, she/he has to be aligned with our values. So, we have two forms we share with them and ask them to fill it up with many aspects.’ ‘According to our values, everybody inside the company take part in it. Everybody has different ambitions and soft skills. And you help growing people.’ ‘We have lunch together, we work together, we are a family.’ ‘It is our ability whether we can create a good working environment, where they feel stimulated and elevated.’ ‘Quality, sustainability, and responsibility. Internal values. Not toward the market.’
I	‘We try to create a good work environment and a fair work environment.’ ‘It’s a very efficient team.’
J	‘Sustainability itself implies and responsibility implies quite simply that we take responsibility. That we take care. That we take things into account.’

). A friendly, helpful, familiar, and trust-based atmosphere is vital for maintaining a community of sustainable fashion industry SMEs. By creating and maintaining a family culture, owner-managers satisfy the emotional and social expectations of employees [121]. Teamwork [61] and the fact that employees are considered internal customers are essential for these enterprises. It is crucial to respect sustainability as a common value and the feeling that they are doing something good by operating sustainably [98]. Not only is this typical for existing employees, but fashion SMEs’ owner-managers also look for such employees. One entrepreneur put it this way: “If you don’t want to think or work with sustainable materials, if you don’t see the potential in that, if you can’t free your mind to design or sew or manufacture in that way, we are unfortunately not the right company for you. Employees are also involved in CSR activities, which results in greater commitment”.

While performing the interviews, we carefully paid attention to answers including elements of employer branding. According to [25], the SME employer branding model focuses on four dimensions (organisational culture, corporate strategy, company reputation, and reward system), and SMEs operate without an HR and recruitment department and, thus, are intensively challenged to find a strategy to attract and retain new employees (i.e., talent). During the interviews, we posed questions that could elicit useful information on which of the dimensions carry importance for the 10 interviewed companies. We argue that all 10 interviewed companies have commonly shared values and a sound vision/mission of their operation (dimension #1), and 4 added hints of the presence of their reward system (dimension #4). Our interviews seem to have further strengthened the views of [25]: that is, SMEs in the fashion industry lack professional HR-related support functions within the company and are, thus, more likely to opt for ad hoc, personal solutions. The interviewees also showed a strong focus on corporate (and indeed industry-specific) values rather than corporate strategy and/or company reputation when raising in-house cohesion to aim for retention.

5. Conclusions

Based on interviews with the owner-managers of sustainable fashion SMEs, we can conclude that sustainability, CSR, and business ethics are interwoven and often interpreted as synonyms. This confirms the research of [122], in which the author argues that, in practice, these terms are used interchangeably. This is no coincidence since the development of CSR also reflects society’s expectations of companies, which, in recent years, have been moving towards sustainable development [123]. Applying the SME employer branding model of [25], organisational culture and caring for internal and external stakeholders and the reputation developed based on their feedback are crucial for these businesses. Two elements appear in connection with the reward system: wages and training. Strategy and long-term planning hardly appear in the case of sustainable fashion SMEs. According to [68], we can say that the individual value system of the employees and the value system mediated by the company are in harmony, which promotes full commitment. Based on our findings, we recommend that fashion SMEs be more conscious of the elements of employer branding [25] and emphasise their CSR practices and values to attract and retain high-quality employees in order to increase their competitiveness.

A limitation of the current research was that the interviews were conducted in English, so not all interviewees were able to express themselves as precisely as they would have in their native language. We did not examine the companies’ online appearances and job advertisements to see to what extent they used the benefits of including CSR information in job advertisements [70]. The sample did not cover all Central European countries, and some SMEs with best practices from each country participated. We also asked owner-managers whether a further study could be conducted to ask the employees what they perceive about this matter, since different target groups need different employment value propositions (EVPs) depending on gender, generation, and work experience [124]. These limitations might be worth further research. A subject of further investigation may also be the correlations between the demographic characteristics and opinions of the owner-managers, as well as cultural and socio-economic variables [125] or the legal origin of the countries [126] of the examined SMEs and the main findings of the research.