In my last post I talked about why the war for talent and why the Employee Value Proposition (EVP) was so important, in effect setting out the rationale for an organizations need to concentrate on the Employee Value proposition. In this post I want to focus on the what: – the components of that Employee Value Proposition (EVP) that we need to manage and take care of.
Wikipedia define the EVP as “a term used to denote the balance of the rewards and benefits that are received by employees in return for their performance at the workplace.” It must be unique, relevant and compelling if it is to act as a key driver of talent attraction, engagement and retention. Wikipedia continues that it has become closely related to the concept of employer branding, in terms of the term EVP being used to define the underlying ‘offer’ on which an organization’s employer brand marketing and management activities are based. In this context, the EVP is often referred to as the Employer Brand Proposition.
We can group the main components into 5 categories that together have a number of both attraction and a number of commitment benefits. Attraction Benefits such as rewards can allow organization to reach up to 50% deeper into the labour market to reach ”passive” candidates and can reduce the compensation premium needed to hire by up to 50%. Commitment benefits can increase the commitment of new hires by up to 29% and of existing employees by up to 37%.
The five main categories that an organization must manage and measure around the EVP are:
- Rewards
- Opportunity
- Organization
- Work
- People
For us to manage these components we must first understand hat the mains sub components are and below we briefly describe each of these
REWARDS
OPPORTUNITY
ORGANIZATION
WORK
PEOPLE
As an organisation we should have robust policies and answers for each of these components. THe EMployee Brand is increasingly important for organisation to manage proactively. In a recent review I did for a large multinational I interviewed nearly 80% of their eCOmmerce ad Digital marketing talent. The feedback was uncomfortable reading. But what it gave the leadership was insight into exactly how their key talent were feeling. In this case since the Leadership had commissioned the review they already understood the importance to their organisational future and profitability, so they are now taking actions to “fix” those aspects of the proposition that was broken.
But brands – especially employee brands – are all about perception. Brands provide a short-code for decision making. We make emotional connections with brands, and they influence greatly our decision making. Seldom do how brands wish to be perceived actually match the perception that a customer has. This is especially true of Employee Brand perception where the employee has much more personal outcome committed into the relationship and as a result the reaction tends to be more emotional driven than rationally.
By focusing on the key component that we have outlined in this post, by listening more to your workforce, by understanding the changing attitudes and perceptions in the market place, you can help close the gaps between how you wish your employees to view your internal brand and how they actually currently do. And that will help you to attract , retain and mange your talent netter, and that will lead to better growth and profitability.
