Having a strong team is critical in achieving any company goals, let alone growth. However, attracting and retaining talented employees is rated as the number one challenge in today’s competitive job market. That’s where Employee Value Proposition (EVP) comes in. In this article, We’ll explain the power of a compelling EVP and how it can help you build a stronger employer brand and culture experience.
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Introduction to Employee Value Proposition (EVP)
An EVP is the unique set of offerings and benefits that an organization provides to its employees in exchange for their skills, knowledge, and experience. It’s the manifestation of the psychological contract, and it encompasses everything an employee values about working for a company, including compensation, benefits, work environment, culture, and career development opportunities – but not just this alone anymore – purpose, values, and contribution to society (whether people or planet) are coming in to play more and more.
In today’s competitive job market, your EVP is the reason why candidates choose to apply to work for business over your competitors, and beyond a job and salary alone, is critical to attract and retain top talent. A compelling EVP differentiates your company from all others, it’s the basis of a compelling and engaging employer brand, and it builds strong culture.
Understanding the Importance of a Strong EVP
A strong EVP helps your organization attract and retain top talent. More than this, it articulates your businesses unique purpose to its people. Employees who feel valued and appreciated are more likely to be engaged and productive, leading to increased business success. Your EVP also helps mitigate employee turnover, which is one of the most costly risks to your businesses.
How EVP Can Impact Your Employer Brand
Much like your customer facing brand is your shop window to existing and potential clients, your employer brand is the shop window for your current and future people. In a perfect world, a well defined and delivered EVP drives an employer brand that’s a truthful reflection of your culture; it influences the perceived notion of what you stand for, and articulates the reality and what it’s like to be a part of your organization.
Weak EVP’s have a negative impact on your employer brand. Employees may feel undervalued and unappreciated, leading to negative reviews and word-of-mouth recommendations. This can make it challenging to attract top talent, which can significantly impact your business’s success.
Creating Your EVP: Steps to Follow
Creating a compelling, attractive and retentive EVP is no small undertaking. It requires the discovery of how your organization’s purpose and culture are perceived and consumed by your current and future people. Here are the EVP basics:
Step 1: Identify Your Target Audience
Before building out your EVP, it’s essential to understand who your target audience is. Who are you trying to attract and retain? What are their values, beliefs, and aspirations? What do you mean to them beyond a job and salary? What do they want from you as an employer? Understanding your target audience helps you create an EVP that resonates with them.
Step 2: Conduct Research
Conducting research can help you better understand your target audience and identify what they value in an employer. This should include surveys, focus groups, and interviews with current and past employees. Understanding the difference between how you’re perceived as an employer and the reality of the candidate and employee experience is a great place to start.
Step 3: Define Your EVP
Using the information gathered from your research, you can start defining your EVP. This should include a unique set of offerings and benefits that you will provide to your employees in exchange for their skills, knowledge, and experience.
Step 4: Test Your EVP
Once you have defined your EVP, it’s essential to test it with your target audience. This can include surveys, focus groups, and interviews to ensure that your EVP resonates with your target audience.
Step 5: Refine Your EVP
Based on the feedback received, refine your EVP to ensure that it aligns with your organization’s values, mission, and culture, and what your people want from you as an employer.
Communicating Your EVP to Potential Employees
Your employer brand is the vehicle that communicates your EVP. It is critical in attracting and retaining top talent, and it exists in every single touchpoint of the candidate and employee experience. Here are some easy ways to communicate your EVP:
Job Ads and Descriptions
Job ads and job descriptions are two distinct and separate things. Your job ads should be lightweight, well written, have personality and go large on communicating your EVP. They’re the first collateral candidates will meaningfully read when deciding to apply for a role, so make sure they communicate your unique purpose and culture, and if you’re brave, always include the salary! Job descriptions are the technical details that tend to get mixed up with job ads – they’re the internal collateral that describes in detail what a role entails, shared with candidates entering the selection process.
Career Website
Your career website should showcase your EVP, providing compelling information about the benefits and offerings you provide to employees. It should communicate culture and offer an engaging and easy way for candidates to become applicants.
Social Media
Recruitment is becoming more like marketing, so much so, that social media channels are the primary place to showcase your EVP, culture and values. Your social channels should provide insight to future employees by offering a glimpse in to what it’s like to work for you.
Employee Testimonials
Employee testimonials on your career website and social media demonstrate the presence of an active and positive EVP and are a great way to communicate the positive experiences employees have had while working for your organization. If you have the time and resources, video testimonials offer high levels of engagement and social currency.
Building a Culture Experience Around Your EVP
Building a culture experience around your EVP is critical to engage employees in creating a positive work environment. Here are some ways to build a culture experience around your EVP:
Wellbeing
Understand the wellbeing of your people. Getting to the bottom of and tackling the most pressing workforce wellbeing issues is one of the most powerful ways of improving culture and ultimately, performance.
Training and Development
Listen to your people and invest in the training and development opportunities that help them grow and develop their skills. As they grow in confidence and capability, so will your business.
Working Environment and Work-Life Balance
Flexible work arrangements promote better work-life balance, reduce stress and can radically improve mood and boost productivity among employees.
Employee Recognition
Recognize and reward employees who demonstrate exceptional performance and contribute to the organization’s success. It doesn’t have to be the big ticket items – often understanding individual need and recognising great work with meaningful, personalized rewards builds trust and fosters a sense of community.
Diversity and Inclusion
Don’t just talk about creating a diverse and inclusive work environment – build one! Diversity of the workforce has proven to be one of the most valuable differentiators to business innovation and growth, so accommodate more diverse groups as central to your EVP and employer brand, and look to tailor recruitment marketing that values and respects all employees.
Measuring the Success of Your EVP
Measuring the success of your EVP is critical to ensure that it aligns with your organization’s goals and values. Here are some ways to measure the success of your EVP:
Employee Satisfaction
Track employee satisfaction scoresto determine if your EVP is effective in retaining the right talent.
Employee Retention
Track employee retention rates to determine what made your EVP attractive and relevant in the first place. Evolve your EVP and employer brand to ensure its relevance and engagegment, and that it performs for all your audiences.
Employee Engagement
Conduct surveys to measure employee engagement and identify areas for improvement.
Business Performance
Track business performance metrics, such as revenue and profitability, to determine if your EVP is contributing to the organization’s success.
Best Practices for Implementing an EVP
Here are some best practices for implementing an EVP:
Involve Employees
Involve employees in the creation and implementation of your EVP to ensure that it aligns with their values and aspirations.
Be Transparent
Be transparent about your EVP and the benefits and offerings you provide to employees.
Continuously Improve
Continuously improve your EVP based on feedback from employees and changes in the job market.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
Here are some common pitfalls to avoid when implementing an EVP:
Lack of Communication
Failure to communicate your EVP effectively can lead to misunderstandings and confusion among employees.
Lack of Alignment
Your EVP should align with your organization’s values, mission, and culture. Failure to align can lead to a weak EVP that is ineffective in attracting and retaining top talent.
Meaningless values
Your corporate values should blend the organisation’s purpose with how your people consume and deliver it. Values need to be more than vapid corporate statements plastered on office walls. They need to be core tenets of the way your business and your people operate daily and be an authentic driver of culture.
Examples of Successful EVPs
Here are some examples of successful EVPs:
Google’s EVP includes a focus on innovation, collaboration, and work-life balance. They offer a range of unique benefits, including free meals, on-site health care, and flexible work arrangements. It’s why Google are regularly cited as a top destination for tech talent.
Airbnb
Airbnb’s EVP includes a focus on diversity and inclusion, community, and creativity. They offer a range of unique benefits, including travel vouchers, paid volunteer time, and sabbaticals. More than this, Airbnb’s culture runs through everything they do, driving people and business success.
Conclusion: The Power of a Compelling EVP in Building a Stronger Employer Brand and Culture Experience
A compelling EVP is the difference between your ability to attract and retain top talent, and losing the best candidates to your competitors. A positive employer brand, driven by a compelling EVP and demonstrable culture drives reductions in time to hire and cost per hire, increases candidate awareness and has the potential to mitigate against inflated advertised salaries by as much as 21% less than competitors with weak EVP’s and employer brands*. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can start to create a compelling EVP that aligns with your organization’s values, mission, and culture. Remember, EVP and employer brands are living things that need to reflect your organization’s vision and mission, what people need from you as an employer, and ultimately your unique purpose.
In this way, you’ll unleash your greatest competitive advantage. Your People.
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