Is it true you can never really control your brand? Not at all. You can always influence your employee’s experiences and how they feel and talk about what it’s like to work for your company — cue the Employee Value Proposition (EVP).
What is EVP, really?
It’s your chance to convey all the reasons why someone should work for your company – and keep working there. And it should do much more than outline the rewards and benefits you offer employees. Your EVP articulates what makes your organization’s culture, ways of working, values, mission or purpose stand out. Crucially, your EVP can and should be a key differentiator in the competition to attract and retain the right talent for your business.
Here’s how:
1. Be clear about the experience your employees need to deliver on your brand’s promise
Let’s be clear, while we all want to feel good about where we work, the work we do, and the people we do it with, we’re not just cultivating an intentional and meaningful employee experience for its own sake. Your employees’ engagement and enthusiasm for where they work impacts your business bottom line as much your supply chain or operational efficiency.
Getting clear about the culture, processes and tools your teams need to deliver on the promise you make to your customers, and articulating the unique value that experience brings to current and future employees, increases efficiency, discretionary effort, agility and creativity. In the end, saving your company money.
So, before setting out to define your EVP, take the time to clearly define the unique experience your employees currently have (or need to have) that enables them to create the products and deliver the services that make your company special. That experience becomes the foundation on which you build your unique employee value proposition.
2. Think like a marketer and think strategically
Approach your EVP the same way a marketer would approach defining your customer value proposition. Just as your marketing teams work to entice your specific customers to choose your unique products and services, you need to entice current and future employees to choose your organization. Your EVP describes your companies unique selling points. And because it’s unique to your business, your EVP is never going to be one size fits all – and that’s a good thing. You don’t need just anyone to be part of your team. You want to attract and retain employees who are inspired by your mission, connect with your purpose, share your company’s interests, and bring the skills and abilities your company needs to succeed.
Be clear as an organization about who those employees are and develop an EVP that speaks to them.
- Are they creators and builders?
- Do they geek out over process and production efficiency?
- Are they motivated by creating connection across communities?
A savvy marketer will not reduce a customer to the relationship they have with products and services alone. They’ll understand how those products and services fit into people’s lives, the purpose they serve and the problems they solve. You can do the same by talking to your employees to understand how working for your company fits with who they are or where they want to be.
3. Know your employees and their experience working with you
You want your EVP to be grounded in reality and feel aspirational. You want it to have longevity and to reflect the motivations and values of the employees who work for you. It’s a promise you can deliver on—a way to engender belonging. It’s not just about what your people need right now, it’s about who they want to become, and how working with your company can help to get them there. Most importantly, it’s not an isolated initiative or program focused on total rewards or a careers website. It’s a living thing that touches all aspects of the employee experience.
To do this well, you first need to talk to your employees, and listen to what they tell you. Let them give you insight into the bigger picture of their lives, their goals and struggles personally and professionally. When you understand what they’re trying to achieve, what drives decision-making and where their stumbling blocks might be, you can work backwards to engineer solutions.
And this is where things get exciting. Armed with insights about your employees’ lived experiences, their goals, struggles, and joys, you can then create an intentional employee experience, articulated in your EVP, that’s designed to enable them to flourish and deliver on your brand's promise. Because we all know that what you do communicates as much or more than what you say.
4. Where do pay and benefits fit in and how do you talk about them?
They’re your EVP proof points and provide concrete examples of your EVP in action. The way you talk about your total rewards shouldn’t be functional; draw on the emotional, too, and tie that back to what you know matters to them. Center your employees experience by focusing on the value your plans, programs, culture and ways of working offer them.
In other words, always ask and answer the “so what” questions and speak to that. If you offer training and development, talk about untapped potential and overcoming obstacles. Insurance plans are all about peace of mind and protecting your family. Saving for retirement saves you the worry of what will happen in the future so you can enjoy today. It’s all in the framing and the language you use—and whether this means something to your people.
5. Build a feedback culture to create alignment
People are as motivated by company culture and a sense of belonging as they are by material and financial perks – more so, in fact. Yet company culture and its authentic expression relies on the alignment and sustained engagement of everyone from senior leadership to frontline teams. Yes, you can declare your company’s mission, vision and values, but do you know if they’re influencing your employees lived experiences the way you want them to?
The best way to find out is by talking with them, continuously. Open feedback channels so that you can find out what needs to change. If you identify gaps between your vision for your EVP and its delivery (and there are always gaps), you can work to close them or adjust your EVP. Creating a continuous feedback loop enables the growth and evolution of your people and your business – it creates alignment.
An EVP is not a static document or an off-the-shelf proposition. It exists to be continually flexed and tuned to the needs of your business and your people. It does more than attract talent, it can help ensure you’re bringing in the right talent and curating an intentional experience that allows them to smash your business goals.
Let us help you get it right. This is our area of expertise, so get in touch today.
