Developing the Employer Value Proposition

An employer value proposition (EVP) is the unique set of benefits which an employee receives in return for the skills, attributes and experience they bring to a company.

Each new employee brings something unique to the organisation, and corporate culture shapes everything from employee motivation to major decisions. Promulgating inspirational values encourages staff to feel a connection with the organisation, and letting them help shape the culture ensures they feel valued and involved.

Employer value proposition is what motivates and engages employees, a strong EVP will help to retain top performers and attract talented people. The CIPD characterises this succinctly: “The value proposition describes what an organisation stands for, requires and offers as an employer.”

The obvious first steps are to secure senior level buy-in and budget for data collection and project management then set about analysing the factors influencing the employer brand.

Building a strong EVP

• Survey stakeholders around EVP – why did they join the organisation, what do they value about the organisation, why do they stay and why do they leave?
• Use the data collected from employees, leavers, interview candidates, recruitment consultants and other stakeholders in developing your proposition.
• Align the EVP with the overall organisation brand in the marketplace.
• Differentiate the organisation from competitors in terms of recruitment and retention.
• Consider whether customised EVPs for specific employee segments are appropriate.
• Align EVP with objectives for talent management and reward programme.
• Develop metrics around business performance, workforce demographics and performance data to test the effectiveness of and HR strategy and reward programmes.

An organisation with a strong EVP will attract the best applicants who will know they are making a good choice in career terms. If EVP isn’t clear to potential employees they will think there is nothing good to say to them, or that the organisation is not smart enough to realise the need to promote a robust employment offering.

Engagement and productivity

Towers Watson research shows organisations that use their EVP most effectively are five times more likely to report their employees are highly engaged and twice as likely to report achieving financial performance significantly above their peers when compared to companies that use their EVP less effectively.

Don’t focus solely on pay and benefits, don’t assume you know what employees want, consult them. No workforce is homogenous and not all millennials have the same concerns, employees over fifty are not necessarily looking to their pension rights. Consider qualitative aspects, such as development opportunities, training, and role autonomy and leadership development – the attributes that employees perceive as the value they gain through employment in the organisation.

Take a lesson from marketing and do the research thoroughly and then ensure the organisations can deliver on the employee value proposition so that it will be effective in real terms engendering employee engagement and a high performance culture.

Don’t rest on your laurels, use the metrics you collate in regular reviews of the EVP; things change and you need to ensure the EVP remains consistent and relevant to the changing employee experience.