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Developing an Employee Value Proposition

Employee Value Proposition definition

Employee Value Propositions (EVPs) are most commonly defined as a term used to denote the balance of the rewards and benefits that are received by employees in return for their performance in the workplace. EVPs are also about marketing the organisation through your staff and to people your organisation may deal with.

Why organisations need an EVP

Organisational psychologists have identified that personal job satisfaction is driven by more than financial factors like benefits and salary.  Insync’s research has found that an organisation’s EVP is critical to attracting, retaining and engaging quality people. Your staff will also spread positive word-of-mouth about your organisation.

Many organisations have a lot of work to do on their EVP. According to Insync’s 2011 Dream Employer research created with RedBalloon, just 33% of employees are willing to promote their organisation while 39% are detractors and 29% are passives.

Also, according to the Corporate Leadership Council’s research a well thought out and executed EVP can:

  • Improve the commitment of new hires by up to 29%
  • Increase the likelihood of employees acting as advocates from an average of 24% to 47%

One interesting observation is that many organisations that do not have an effective EVP struggle to differentiate themselves from their competition. Likewise many organisations’ branding is appealing but it does not accurately reflect the reality of the “employment experience”.

How organisations start an EVP plan

Typically, organisations commence their EVP development plan by gathering the key EVP elements that are required to make their organisation a great place to work. Insync guides clients to identify their core values and then we question them, i.e. do the identified values translate into day-to-day organisational realities? With our help, organisations may then need to implement a thorough staff survey initiative to understand their employees’ specific needs and to assess the importance of these needs.

Many organisations have a set of values that currently drive the internal culture. These values provide a solid foundation for developing your EVP. For example, organisations may have values around respect, integrity, safety, sustainability, tenacity, accountability, professionalism, collaboration, passion and/or perseverance.

Once the background EVP elements are established, a draft EVP is required. We can help to facilitate a Focus Group or planning sessions to devise a draft EVP. Then it’s about testing the draft EVP to reveal how close it is to employees’ reality. Testing will also assist in determining how compelling the proposition is for attracting and retaining suitably qualified employees.  This helps organisations to understand which interventions will add some value to the employee experience. It also identifies which specific interventions appeal to specific employee groups.

Winning support for the EVP project

Organisations can ensure that their key objectives and/or strategic plans support the EVP.  Key organisational objectives often help to explain ‘why’ the EVP development project is so important, for example:

  • Increasing employee engagement and diversity
  • Creating one culture across sites
  • Strengthening the customer-focused culture of the organisation so staff live the customer service charter
  • Recruiting, retaining and developing the right people with the right skills
  • Integrating learning and development strategies across the organisation
  • Defining and promoting the organisation’s values and expectations of managers, supervisors and employees
  • Testing the EVP with current and prospective employees

Best practice EVP development plans should consider if there’s congruence for a potential employee who may becomes an actual employee. EVP development plans should consider when an individual starts comparing their perception versus the actual reality of work. An EVP development plan should follows this best practice approach and compare and contrast research findings from both potential and current employees.

Selecting an EVP consultant

It is important in situations where external consultants are engaged to conduct your research and testing that they share the same level of understanding of what is required to develop an EVP that is reflective of the employment experience. Insync can partner with you to produce an EVP outcome that both organisations can be proud of.

To develop an effective EVP organisations must have a thorough development plan to identify what employees think and what is important to them. The EVP must always be tested to ensure it is credible.

Want to attract the best of the best?

Learn more here about building a compelling Employee Value Proposition.

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