Is Your Employee Value Proposition Up to Scratch? Top Tips To Have Your Candidates Lining Up
Employer branding has been gaining traction as the buzz-word of the moment in HR and recruitment circles, and for good reason. As the war for talent rages on, employers are rapidly realising their employer brand is just as important as their consumer brand when it comes to building a successful business. Deeply rooted in the foundation of a strong employer brand is a compelling Employee Value Proposition, or EVP. Essentially, this is ‘the give and the get’ of the employer/employee relationship. What are you expecting from an employee in your organisation, and what can they expect you to provide as their employer.
Developing an EVP that will not only attract great candidates to your business, but also engage them and keep them happy when they are there is no easy feat. It involves significant planning, requires the buy-in of senior leaders and needs to be executed and communicated well to have the desired impact.
We’ve put together a few tips to help you get on the right track to developing an Employee Value Proposition you’ll be proud of.
1. Have a good understanding of what’s going on with your workforce
Just as marketers conduct consumer research to get an insight into what their target markets think and feel about their brand or product, it’s just as important for those working on the employer brand to have a good gauge on employee sentiment and how people feel about the current EVP. Engaging an experienced Employer Brand Strategist to conduct a series of one-on-one interviews with key stakeholders will give you a good indication of where the EVP is working and where it needs improvement. An employee engagement survey and an analysis of exit interview data can also reveal the positive and negative aspects of your organisation’s employee value proposition.
2. Know who you want and what you have to offer them
An EVP workshop is a great way to involve all the key stakeholders in the process of defining the candidate personas you are trying to attract. Working together as a group to determine the demographics you are looking for, in addition to the key attributes and personal characteristics you associate with your most successful hires, will put you on the right path to identify their motivators and the EVP elements they will insist on when making their next career move.
3. Close the gap between real and ideal
In every employer branding project, there comes the time when you discover the existing EVP, and the EVP that appeals to your ideal candidate, doesn’t quite match up. Organisations need to review their EVP regularly to make sure it accurately addresses the key needs of employees, and is enticing to new candidates. When refining and adding to your employee value proposition, there are a few key questions you need to keep in mind: Is it attractive? Is it true? Is it credible? Is it distinct? Is it sustainable? If if ticks all the boxes, that element of the EVP should make the shortlist.
4. Define your position in the market
As with any other form of branding, it’s important to know what your competitors are doing. Your competitors for talent won’t necessarily be your competitors for customers, so it’s important to recognise the difference. Know who you are competing against for your target demographic and ideal candidate persona, and make sure your employee value proposition is not only competitive, but gives you an edge over these other employers.
If you’d like more information on creating a strong employer brand, supported by a compelling EVP, contact Employment Office’s As you can see developing an EVP isn’t a simple or easy task and neither is then developing tactics to clearly communicate your EVP messages. If you’d like assistance with Employer Branding or EVP development services contact Brooke Chapman – Employer Branding Team Leader on 1300 366 573 today.
