7 MIN READ
What is an evp?
Your Employee Value Proposition is essentially what you offer employees in exchange for their time and effort. It often includes:
- Salary & Benefits
- Mission, Values & DEI
- Career progression
- Environment & Culture
An Employee Value Proposition (EVP) normally consists of:
- Salary & Benefits
- Mission, Values & DEI
- Career progression
- Environment & Culture
But finding out what your employees really want, alongside what your business can absolutely deliver, should be part of an ongoing talent mapping process.
Where do you start?
Research. Surveying your employees can give you the answers you’re searching for:
- Why did you choose this company?
- Do you feel inspired to do your best?
- Do you enjoy working with your team?
- Do you feel like this is a good place to develop your career?
- What can we do to give you a better work/life balance?
Getting the responses to these employee engagement questions (and more) will help you deliver an EVP that not only speaks to potential employees, but helps you retain the talent you’ve already got.
What our team wants
- To feel valued
- A sense of belonging among supportive colleagues
- The potential to grow ourselves and our careers
- The flexibility to create our own definition of work/life balance
Brass tacks: Salary & Benefits
Salary will always be a factor when you’re developing a talent acquisition strategy but your benefits package can unlock the door to recruiting top talent too.
Have you thought about…
- Flexible and hybrid working for better work/life balance
- The different types of insurance and pension schemes you can offer
- Additional or unlimited annual leave to decrease burnout and increase productivity
- Leave allowance for volunteer work to support your Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) objectives and their personal growth
- Paid learning and development – which will also dovetail with career progression
- Gym memberships or discounts to encourage an active lifestyle
- Pets in the office to improve morale
- Healthy snacks, as well as tea and coffee, to help employees feel energised throughout the day
These are all useful and worthy initiatives but, at the end of the day, it’s the data that makes the decision.
Benefits are statistically linked with an increase in employee engagement, loyalty and a reduction in cost to hire.
Your mission in life: Mission & Values
Defining your company’s character and brand is less about decision and more about discovery.
What values do you bring to work every day? What do your customers believe about you? What are your company’s greatest strengths? These guiding questions can help you realise your company mission and values.
Take for instance Google’s Ten things we know to be true:
- Focus on the user and all else will follow
- It’s best to do one thing really, really well
- Fast is better than slow
- Democracy on the web works
- You don’t need to be at your desk to need an answer
- You can make money without doing evil
- There’s always more information out there
- The need for information crosses all borders
- You can be serious without a suit
- Great just isn’t good enough
These aren’t a series of generic words or phrases, these are specific to Google and their goals. Starting with the customer and featuring principles that give perspective employees insight into the human and empathetic side of this powerhouse. A shared mission and values will guide your team and reinforce your hiring strategy.
Fair play: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
As the link between diversity and enhanced financial performance continues to grow, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion is on every company’s agenda in 2022.
WHAT IS DEI?
- Diversity – All the ways in which people differ
- Equity – Fair treatment, access and opportunity for all people
- Inclusion – A variety of people have power, a voice and decision-making authority
DEI definitely starts with management putting together a strategy and a programme in place that identifies and prevents bias, as well as promotes inclusivity, recognition and respect.
But in order for it to be a success, it is essential that your team understands that each and every one of them is responsible for creating an inclusive and equitable environment. The day to day interactions between colleagues and management will set the tone of the office, not a policy hidden in their contracts.
Moving up in the world: Career progression
Whether you’re an SME or a corporation, candidates and your team need clarity around the opportunities they have to move up the ladder. Having a robust career progression plan will motivate employees, build trust, improve performance and boost retention. All elements of a great EVP and employer brand.
How? Start with an organisational chart and review your current employees’ positions and skills. Now you can define the progression for each role and look at the development needs and training required to help existing employees work their way up.
Once you’ve established these fundamentals, get the message out to your team. Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback or refine the process as you go. As long as you’re transparent with your efforts, your team will appreciate it.
Culture Shock: Environment & Culture
A ‘great place to work’ isn’t just a phrase any more – it’s a certification. Companies like Hilton, Cisco & Salesforce who are actively investing in their employees are reaping the benefits. Winning awards and recognition for ‘the best’ employer brand sets them apart from competitors and gives employees clout.
Getting that right isn’t as tricky as it may sound.
You just need to do one thing – what you say you’re going to do.
That’s it.
Once you’ve come up with your EVP it’s only a matter of following through, so employees feel it every day. That’s the key to creating your EVP and an authentic employer brand.
Talk to Denholm
After 20 years, we know what makes people tick. We’ve got the inside track on those problem-solvers, high-performers and business-transformers. And we use it every day to find the talent you simply can’t find yourself.
If you have a permanent or interim requirement, need some help scoping a brief, or you are simply looking for some up to date market insight in an ever-changing landscape, our team are ready to help.
Contact us today on 03303 359818 or connect@denholmassociates.com.
