No budget for a EVP?
It's the small day-to-day things that really add up to a strong EVP...
This article helps employers understand what EVP is and how to improve it.
Firstly what exactly is an EVP?
An Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is the jargon commonly used to describe the characteristics and appeal of working for an organisation. An EVP is a combination of characteristics, benefits, and ways of working in an organisation that an employer offers its potential employees for their contribution and performance. These characteristics and beliefs differentiates an employer from their competition.
What does an EVP look like to a potential employee?
An EVP often ends up being ‘how can we tangibly ensure EVP is seen by others’. This comes in the form of coffee machines, gym memberships and flexible working arrangements - the list goes on.
It seems increasingly common for businesses to focus on their EVP. They have seen the increasing need to attract top talent to their business so they have invested in consultants to tell them what they should be doing to attract the best. Coffee machines, gym memberships, personal training, trips away, flexible working arrangements, all these things are great and are certainly an attractive value add but are not what makes up a successful EVP on its own. For example, flexible working arrangements don’t work when the manager makes their employee feel bad for working from home, so it is not the ‘tangible’ but the intangible that is most important…
I have never heard anyone say, "I am loyal to my employer because I get a free coffee every morning" (and I have met a lot of candidates) but I have certainly heard "My manager always makes promises that they never deliver on" or "My manager never acknowledges me when I have gone above and beyond".
So what does this all mean for EVP?
For me this means that it is the small day-to-day things that really add up to a strong EVP and the great news is for the most part, they are free!
3 'no budget' EVP areas to focus on
Here are the three areas to focus on that will have the greatest impact when creating a genuine Employee Value Proposition with no budget.
1. EVP begins when you start the recruitment process
The experience candidates have with you says a lot about your business, which goes for successful and just as importantly un-successful candidates. You need to look at your recruitment process and ask yourself how you would feel about your business if you were the one going through the process. Do you get back to all candidates? Do you communicate with candidates to keep them up to date? Do you conduct the process in a timely manner? All these things shape people’s perception of you as a brand.
2. How you treat your current employees
Nothing demonstrates your EVP more than how you treat your current employees; your current employees can be your biggest selling tools when it comes to attracting people to your business. When I say ‘treat your employees’ I don’t mean treat them to lunch. What really matters is how you and the business make them feel. Do they feel valued? Do they feel safe? What would your current employees say about you? Do they love working for you? Do they feel valued? Investing time on your current employees not only benefits your brand but it will increase their productivity and reduce your overall employee turnover.
3. How you treat employees that leave
Is this surprising? Why is it important to take special care of the employees that leave? People always tend to remember what you do for them when it has no benefit to you at all… It is so important to make the people leaving still feel valued. Firstly, a good employee may consider coming back down the track and secondly it is a reflection on the business as a whole. Does the business only treat people well that benefit them?
Although these three things seem obvious very few of the business I work with consistently do the above things well. If you don’t have a formal EVP then these three areas are a great simple way to start.
Remember, the Reimagine Talent team are always here to help, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch.