In my opinion, an Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is one of the most underutilised tools when engaging candidates through a recruitment process. Knowing your company’s EVP and how to use this throughout your recruitment process can heavily impact how you attract and retain top talent. Now more than ever, employees are seeking more than just salary and individual preferences are so diverse that organisations need to get creative around their offerings; ensuring the motivators and values are aligned to the company.
My favourite part of my job is representing clients and candidates in the market. I am passionate about the story of each organisation and I believe that the Employee Value Proposition plays a critical role in the story-telling process. It is about attracting the right candidate that is aligned to the company values and who feels excited about the opportunity and company – essentially finding the right match for everyone.
Your EVP is an employee-centered approach that is consistent and aligns with the company’s values and vision. Your EVP should run in conjunction with your Employee Brand Proposition (EBP), an important aspect of your recruitment marketing. Your EVP is the company’s offerings in return for employees’ skills, capability, and experience and is a balance of rewards and benefits. Your company’s EVP can be unique and creative but also appeal to a wide variety of people. I have broken down the EVP to three subcategories that seem to be consistent across a multitude of companies.
Culture and work environment
Non-financial compensation
Career options
Culture and work environment: From my experience when dealing with candidates, company culture is either the first or second motivator for candidates when looking for a new opportunity. We spend a lot of time at work and it is important that people feel connected and aligned to the company and its overall objectives. One of my favourite sayings is that “not every job and company is for everyone but there is a job and company for everyone” – this alignment piece is critical and we are all so uniquely different and want different things from our employers, it's about finding our connection or our “home”. Within an EVP, this could include everything from recognition strategies to work-life balance, specifics around the leadership team or the companies social responsibilities, and community engagement. For example, here at Troocoo, we are given a certain amount of “days off” to work within and contribute to charity or not-for-profit organisations we feel passionate about.
Non-financial compensation: Non-financial compensation can include anything from free coffee, gym memberships, additional holiday leave, office locations, parking on-site or in-house childcare or holiday care. It is critical that you know your interviewee and ask enough questions to determine what is important to them. For example, talking about free onsite parking and the use of the company pool cars for someone who does not drive isn’t going to be overly appealing.
Career options: This should tie in nicely with your overall company strategy and give your interviewee a good understanding of where the company is going and how their role will encourage that growth. Within the EVP, this can include career paths (not necessary leadership), education or further training and development, project opportunities, and/or mentoring.
A good Employee Value Proposition can be powerful. Working closely with your line and hiring managers around the “benefits” could be the difference in attracting top talent. The current market is very competitive and the time and investment in a recruitment process can be costly. Companies are investing a lot of time and effort in their EVPs and it's important that employees, both new and current, know what is on offer to them.
My 3 key takeaways are:
Get to know your interviewee, find out what is important to them
Ensure your employees know what is on offer to them
Never understate what your company has to offer – find innovative ways to stand out in the market