Most organizations have a value proposition for their employees. Most organizations cannot communicate what they really are.
EVP questions lie at the intersection of why people join, why they stay, and why they leave. If done correctly, it can provide real benefits in recruitment and retention. If you get it wrong, you could lose your talent to a competitor who did the work.
Definitions (and why most definitions miss the point)
An employee value proposition is the complete set of rewards, experiences, and opportunities that an organization offers in exchange for employees’ skills, abilities, and contributions. The real version: This is why talent chooses your organization over all other options, and why they stay once they join.
The problem with most EVPs is that they are built from the employer’s perspective, not the employee’s. The leader walks into a room, makes a list of all the good things about working there, sums it up in a tagline, and declares it done. No one really asks employees what keeps them there. No one tests whether the stated EVP matches real experience.
Retention issues arise from the gap between what executives think of as EVPs and what employees are actually experiencing.
Five important factors
There are five aspects to a reliable EVP. Most organizations are strong in one or two ways but weak in others.
1. Compensation and benefits
The table is the stakes. Compensation and benefits packages need to be competitive for the market and talent pool. People don’t leave just for the money, but they use money as their first filter.
2. Career development and growth
What can someone become by working with you? What skills will they acquire? Where will this role take them? Growth trajectory is as important as current salary, especially for top talent.
3. Work-life integration
A generous paid time off policy that no one can actually take advantage of without impacting their career is not an asset for an EVP. Work-life integration is about workload, manager behavior, and cultural permission to actually use the flexibility provided.
4. Organizational culture and values
Does your organization stand for something beyond the bottom line? Culture is not a perk. This is either an EVP strength or an EVP responsibility, but most organizations don’t know which is their strength because they have never systematically evaluated it.
5. Purpose and Mission
More and more people want to work in places that represent something, especially for knowledge workers and young talent. Organizations that connect individual work to a broader purpose have important benefits for EVPs.
How to build an EVP that’s actually true
The most common EVP mistake is aspirational positioning, or describing the organization you want to be instead of the organization you actually are. An ambitious EVP that doesn’t match real-world experience will destroy trust faster than no EVP at all.
Please listen first. Interview employees across levels, geographies, and tenures. Ask what brought them, what keeps them, and what makes them leave. Use tools like the Cultural Mosaic Survey to uncover behavioral patterns and cultural norms that define the real employee experience.
Audit the gap. Compare what your employees tell you and what your leaders believe. Gap is the EVP risk map.
Build on truth. A strong EVP amplifies their true strengths and commits honestly to the areas they are investing in to improve.
Relationship between EVP and culture
An EVP is ultimately a set of promises about what it’s like to work somewhere. Culture is the mechanism by which those promises are kept or broken. If you’re working on your EVP without also taking a hard look at your company’s culture, you’re building on shaky foundations.
FAQ
What is an Employee Value Proposition (EVP)?
An employee value proposition is the complete set of rewards, experiences, opportunities, and cultural elements that an organization offers employees in exchange for their skills and contributions. It answers the question, “Why do talented people choose to work and stay here?”
What is the difference between EVP and Employer Branding?
The EVP is its substance, the actual set of things that the organization offers. Employer branding is how you communicate your content to the outside world to attract candidates. Your EVP needs to be authentic before your employer brand can be trusted.
How do you build your employee value proposition?
Let’s start by listening to current employees. Audit the gap between leader perception and employee experience. Build a proposition that amplifies your real strengths and commits to your investment area with integrity.
Source: gothamCulture – gothamculture.com
