Companies use many methods to attract talent. A comprehensive employer value proposition (EVP) is a key way to accomplish this goal, as it helps potential employees understand why they should choose a particular company over others. Keep reading to find out more about this type of proposition and learn how to develop a unique EVP for your company.
What is an EVP?
An EVP is a collection of benefits a company offers its employees. This doesn't just cover the company's benefits package but also encompasses the work environment, culture, management, and company brand. A comprehensive EVP shows employees why they should want to work for a company and benefits both the employees and the company.
Benefits of developing an EVP
Building a strong EVP for potential candidates can have many benefits for organizations, primarily as word-of-mouth spreads to others in the job-seeker workforce. Let's look at some benefits of fostering a comprehensive and positive EVP.
Retain existing talent
Part of an EVP is a positive culture and supportive workplace that benefits incoming talent and the company's existing team. People want to be part of something they feel good about and where they're appreciated and valued.
A supportive company culture focused on building each other up and helping everyone perform their best can help prevent employees from leaving to seek out a different workplace culture. Leaders who empower their teams and recognize individual efforts foster a positive and inclusive culture that people want to be part of.
Build a positive brand image
Your brand image is a big factor in winning the attention of potential employees. Having a positive brand image can mean the difference between getting a few acceptable candidates and a roster of applications from high-quality candidates. A positive brand image can also enhance your company's recruiting efforts, as people are more open to hearing about available opportunities from a well-known employer with a reputation for taking good care of its team.
Gain authority and credibility
A well-known EVP builds authority and credibility in your industry. Job seekers, customers, and even other businesses trust companies with positive reputations that are known for valuing their teams. This benefit extends beyond just your talent pool and hiring efforts. Enhancing authority and credibility can also boost customer satisfaction, sales, and revenue.
Attract top-tier talent
All this helps you attract top-tier talent because premium talent wants a premium workplace where they're treated like valued individuals rather than cogs in the machine. Attracting top talent can help a company perform at a higher level, creating high-quality products and services that boost revenue and profits.
What to include in an EVP
The top thing to include in any EVP is a detailed overview of what makes your company different. Maybe you have a compensation package none of the competition offers or a unique company culture. Highlighting how your company differs can help potential employees understand the unique benefits you offer them. Specifically, here's what to consider incorporating into your company's EVP:
- Compensation information: This includes hourly or salary pay information, along with any overtime wages, bonus information, and anything else related to financial compensation.
- Benefits packages: Benefits include more than just medical, dental, and vision benefits. While these are important, consider incorporating other unique benefits the company offers—like paid lunches, commuter reimbursement programs, or company outings—to help differentiate the organization from its competition.
- Company culture: Discussing your company culture can help employees envision themselves working there, even before the first round of interviews. This can help convince them to apply for the role.
- Career trajectories: Highlighting the value the company places on professional development and internal promotions can show potential employees how the company values them as an individual.
"Highlighting how your company differs can help potential employees understand the unique benefits you offer them."
How to create an employer value proposition strategy
Now that you know what to incorporate into your EVP, you might be wondering how to create a strategy that differs from the rest. Let's explore how to go about differentiating the company from your competition.
Reflect on compensation
Compensation is a key consideration employees want to know about when applying for a role with your company. Conduct thorough market research to ensure that the company is offering competitive pay packages. This can help you identify compensation trends and better understand what employees expect from different roles in terms of pay. From there, analyze budgets to see if and where you can boost the pay for incoming roles. This is also a great time to see how you can increase the pay of your existing team, which can drastically improve employee morale.
Foster a positive working environment
Improving your work environment starts with understanding it. This means conducting surveys to gauge employee satisfaction. Understanding market trends, such as work-from-home or hybrid work schedules, also lets you join in on these trends to appeal to a larger candidate pool. Once you've received feedback from your teams, find ways to incorporate changes and communicate how you intend to make these changes to show them and future employees that you value their input.
Grow the company's culture
The first way to grow your company's culture is to understand what that culture is. From there, you can determine what you want your culture to be. This allows you to make intentional changes and foster specific mindsets to help the culture transition from where it is currently to where you want it to be. Potential employees want to join a culture they can envision being a part of, so creating that culture is vital to attracting and securing talent.
Support career progression
Many potential employees want to enter roles that will help them expand their careers. Offering career progression not only benefits them but also the company. Discussing professional development opportunities with future employees and offering them to your current talent can help them develop new skills and capabilities so they can grow in their roles. Promoting from within also shows that you value their professional progression and care about them as individuals rather than a statistic that helps the company reach its bottom line.
Talk about job security
Along with career progression, job security is another major factor for employees deciding on their future careers. People want to join companies where they feel secure about their role and don't have to worry about being laid off in the next six months. Talking about how the company offers that stability can help sway talent to choose your company over the competition.
Some things to discuss during the interview process or establish as part of your employer brand include stable company growth, lengthy company history, and unique positioning in the market. These factors contribute to a feeling of stability and trust that the company and role are here to stay for a long time.
Monitor the competition
Understanding what your competitors are doing can help you track their EVPs and respond to changes quickly. This lets you continue to attract top-quality talent, as it gives you continuous insight into job market trends surrounding compensation, benefits, work environments, schedules, and other high-value factors.
Creating a comprehensive EVP for employees is key to gaining the attention of highly qualified and top-performing individuals. A company's EVP can also enhance the professional lives of the current workforce, which can boost employee satisfaction, loyalty, and retention.
More tips on improving employer value for employees
Wondering how to further support employee well-being to create a positive culture? Explore how to create an employee well-being plan to support your team.
Incorporating unique questions into your employee engagement surveys can reveal how to enhance current and future employee satisfaction.
