the gist of it all
Employer Value Proposition (EVP)
Like the North Star shining bright, the EVP serves as a crucial guide in shaping your people strategy. It defines your identity as an employer and what you stand for, ensuring alignment with the needs and aspirations of your target talent.
A compelling EVP goes beyond combining a set of attributes into a logically formulated narrative. It resonates emotionally, showcasing the unique aspects of your workplace that captivate and attract the right talent.
Why it matters
The EVP is crucial for businesses of all sizes, from SMEs to large corporations. It shapes the employer brand by promoting positive employee sentiment and aligning the expectations of employers with those of both current and future employees.
This alignment defines the tone and direction for the entire talent experience, empowering companies to attract, engage, and retain top talent.
- Set clear expectations — attracting talent aligned with your mission and values
- Lay down a solid foundation for employer branding
- Boost employee engagement and loyalty
- Reduce turnover rates and lower hiring costs
- Increase job satisfaction and employee advocacy
The four EVP perspectives
Identifying the sweet spot
Authenticity, consistency, differentiation, and clarity are all central components of a strong EVP, one that is built on mutual value exchange.
Constructing an EVP takes the four following perspectives into consideration:
- Company: align the EVP with your strategy and priorities
- Employees: identify the needs and aspirations of your workforce
- Candidates: match the expectations of your talent pools
- Competitors: differentiate your brand positioning, away from the competition’s areas of strength
Our structured process
The 4 Ds of crafting the EVP
Align rationales and goals
Since the EVP is meant to factor in your strategy and priorities, at first we need to gain a sufficient level of understanding of your internal landscape.
Some of the typical questions we might ask:
- What are the issues you want to address?
- What do you do to engage and retain your current employees?
- What are your talent pools? What matters to the candidates?
- How do you measure success? What are your KPIs?
Research & insights
This is probably the most important step during the EVP process.
Internal employee insights
- Review and dissect the HR data and employee feedback that you currently have
- Conduct surveys, interviews, and focus groups with stakeholders to gain insights and deep-dive into key areas identified in the Define phase
External talent perceptions
- Examine market trends and candidate preferences
- Study external employer brand perceptions
Competitor benchmark
- Research competitors’ brand positioning
- Run a SWOT analysis
Translate into a narrative
We take the key insights and findings identified earlier and translate them into a compelling narrative, with pillars of supporting evidence and positive highlights.
This is usually referred to as an EVP framework, whose purpose is two-fold:
- Craft an overarching statement that outlines distinctive benefits and opportunities that current employees and prospective talent gain in return for their skills, dedication, and contribution to the company
- Identify attributes and themes to guide the development of employer brand and creative approaches — targeted messaging that resonates with personas (talent segments, employee groups, and designated demographics, etc.)
Internalize and incorporate
- Cascade the EVP (messaging, branding, etc.) to internal processes, initiatives, and communication channels
- Integrate the EVP into external candidate-facing communication channels
- Provide training and support to facilitate internal and external rollout
- Track key metrics to iteratively measure and improve the effectiveness of the EVP
Making the final arrangements for the EVP rollout and fine-tuning it to ensure that it resonates with the target stakeholders at key touchpoints of the employee lifecycle and recruitment funnel commands a special attention. That’s why we have a dedicated section.
THE ADJUSTMENT BUReau
Employer Brand Activation
The EVP exercise ties into the wider paradigm of employer branding, which takes into account factors such as location, budgeting, and other operational constraints. To effectively bring the EVP to life and transform it into tangible communication assets, the concept of Employer Brand Activation becomes crucial.
Adapting initiatives and campaigns to connect with identified personas, channels, and platforms demands a well-orchestrated approach. This process involves honing the core EVP messaging to a more detailed level, including precise wording and style, career site configuration, targeted advertising, and the commissioning of photography and videography, among other elements.
FAQs
Employee and Employer Value Proposition are often used interchangeably, but they do focus on different aspects.
- The Employee Value Proposition focuses on the unique set of offerings employees can expect, such as compensation, work-life balance, career growth opportunities, etc. It’s a high-level summary of all the benefits that come with being employed in the company.
- The Employer Value Proposition focuses on how the company strives to be perceived by its employees, candidates, and other potential stakeholders. It also outlines the expectations for the ideal candidate and desired target groups, which the company wants to attract, engage, and retain.
The Employer Value Proposition (EVP) incorporates the more objective elements listed in the Employee Value Proposition and goes further by looking into narratives and other factors that can strengthen the employer brand, all while ensuring a mutually beneficial relationship.
When it comes to measuring the effectiveness of your EVP, it’s important to track key metrics throughout the entire talent lifecycle—from attraction to retention, and beyond (e.g. alumni network).
For instance, metrics that provide clear and direct evidence of the value generated by EVP initiatives, such as the number of candidates who applied, were interviewed, and got hired, are of particular interest – as well as cost savings, speed of hiring, etc.
The discussion around metrics and KPIs should happen right from the start, as outlined in our ‘4 Ds of crafting the EVP’. This, for two reasons; first and foremost, we naturally want the capacity to monitor the achievement of the EVP goals and objectives (remember to record a baseline). Now also, the conversation might help inform some of the actions and points to elucidate when developing the EVP later on.
One of the most common mistakes we’ve seen is taking a one-size-fits-all approach. For example, one that would discount the diverse perspectives of key stakeholders and target talent pools, resulting in potential disconnects down the line and failure to meet some expectations.
Understanding and addressing the unique preferences of different demographics, locales, etc. is central to the process.
- Seasoned professionals seek acknowledgment of their expertise, opportunities for leadership, and a sense of stability
- Early-career hires yearn for mentorship, opportunities for learning and engaging, and thrive in dynamic work environments
- Baby boomers value stability, long-term benefits, a reputable company legacy, etc.
- Gen X pursue career advancement opportunities, work-life balance, and autonomy
- Millennials are after purpose-driven work, career growth, and flexible work arrangements
- Gen Z are drawn to diversity, technology, and innovation
In addition, we noticed many employers overlook the deeper motivational drivers that inspire employees and candidates alike.
The EVP distills the very essence of the employer brand. It highlights both the tangible (salary, bonus, workspace, etc.) and intangible (culture, work-life balance, career progression, etc.) benefits of working for the company.
The employer brand animates the EVP by clearly articulating the reasons to join and stay with the company through authentic storytelling and ongoing communications.
While EVP and employer brand are distinct concepts, their unison brings about a cohesive and attractive employer image, as part of the overall employer branding effort.
