Whether you want to attract and retain top-level talent in the current competitive market or engage your employees to realize sustainable growth, creating and nurturing a persuasive employment value proposition (EVP) is vital. What is employee value proposition, and why should you invest in it? Below is an expert guide to creating your company’s employee value proposition.
What is Employee Value Proposition?
An employee value proposition is value expression that an employer commits to deliver to its current or prospective future employees. It is a concise way of describing the employee experience and culture a company intends to provide.
Employee value proposition is also defined as a set of benefits (monetary or non-monetary) that an organization provides its employees, in return for their skills, experience, and capabilities, as part of their contributions to the company.
Importance of Employee Value Proposition
According to Gartner, companies currently spend an average of $2,500 per person on employee experience yearly, and such investment is expected to increase. This points to the drastic shift in how companies place value on employees.
Currently, companies no longer have the upper hand in talent recruitment and retention. Employees are increasingly realizing their value and are open to options and new possibilities. Ever since the pandemic hit millions of people and affected more workers, the nature of work has shifted. More employees are re-evaluating their priorities, especially when it comes to maintaining a work/lifestyle balance.
Employee value has changed, and the new digital era introduces fresh employee needs. However, some companies still lag when it comes to realizing the shift and do not focus much on employee value proposition and its benefits. Here are some of the pros of creating an employee value proposition for your company.
- You will attract top talent. Prospective employees understand their value and demand a mutual level of respect. An employment value proposition works as a key driver for talent acquisition and management.
Source: Business2Community
- You will retain top talent. It is not enough to attract the best employees in your industry. Retaining such high-value employees is also critical since losing them would translate to losing productivity. It is no wonder why Fortune 500 companies strive as much as possible to retain their top talent.
- You will save more on recruiting expenses. Most companies invest in recruiting agencies to get fresh talent and workers. However, if your employee value proposition is powerful and persuasive, you will directly get more top talent applications, eliminating the middlemen. In addition, by also hiring top talent courtesy of your compelling EVP, you eliminate subsequent training and recruitment costs.
- Decreased annual employee turnover. Companies that deliver on their EVP effectively can reduce their yearly employee turnover by under 70% and increase new hire commitment by almost 30%.
Source: Gartner
What Makes Up A Successful EVP?
Below are the major components of a successful and compelling employee value proposition.
Monetary Rewards
Financial rewards as a major EVP component address an employee’s general evaluation and compensation system expectations. It covers provisions like:
·
- Salary
- Stock options
- Bonuses
Employment Benefits
Employment benefits are associated with a wide net of extra benefits that comes with the job. Such include items like:
- Health insurance
- Organization-sponsored vacations
- Paid leaves
- Gym memberships
- Retirement benefits.
Career Development
Prospective employees are curious to discover what the job has to offer that contributes to their career advancement. Such include:
- Leadership and technical training
- Mentoring and career guidance
- Sponsored courses.
Work Environment
It is associated with factors contributing to a positive work environment. Such include:
- Team building
- Work-life balance
- Flexible working hours.
Culture
Culture is elemental to increase trust and collaboration in an organization. According to Sapling, an average of 64% of employees feel like they lack a strong working culture. Culture in a workplace breeds cohesion and productivity.
How to Build A More Human-Centric Employee Value Proposition
Employees are human, and treating them as such should also be a major component of your EVP. Some key actions you can implement to build a human-centric EVP include:
- Build deep connections by incorporating inclusion goals into talent processes and daily work, as well as training leaders on how to identify worker’s trust via empathetic conversations, among others.
- Creating personal growth opportunities
- Ensuring holistic well-being
How to Create and Write an Employee Value Proposition
It is important to note that your EVP shows in Glassdoor reviews, recruiting content, benefits packages, and hiring/employee communications. Below are step-by-step approaches you can take to come up with a highly compelling EVP.
- Survey your employees’ opinion about where they work
- Analyze the language in the employee feedback
- Analyze the language in your talent content
- Begin writing your employee value proposition. The majority of EVPs emphasize one or more of:
- Work
- Rewards
- Opportunities
- Culture
- People.
- ·Put your employee value proposition to the test. You can do so by subjecting it to some reviews.
Most importantly, ensure your employee value proposition evolves with your organization.
Recent Trends in Employee Value Proposition in 2021
1. Work from home allowance
Remote working has been on the steady rise for the past year. Most offices opted to ditch physical working and migrate to remote working to minimize the spread of the coronavirus. While this became a form of challenge, it also introduced a pathway for an EVP trend. According to a study by Fortune Magazine, nearly a third of workers expressed their concern for a work-from-home allowance.
2. Office culture reignition
Over the past few months, workplace culture has been a challenge to maintain. However, with the working environment returning to normal, it is crucial to consider how you can rebuild this culture.
Summary
In a nutshell, an employee value proposition is the one ticket a company needs to attract and retain top talent. However, it takes more than just planning. Firstly, assess what you currently offer, then interview your past and current employees.
Your next step is to define the components of your employee value proposition and write down your EVP. Finally, promote your EVP via the proper platforms and then review the results. If successful and sufficiently compelling, expect top talents to come knocking at your company’s door, which saves you a lot in recruitment agency fees.
