Do you ever feel like a plastic bag, drifting through the wind, wishing you could start your employer brand again? Even if you answered no, and feel that your employer brand is somewhat of a firework, let me introduce you to three capitalised letters: EVP.
In the context of Aristotle's age-old technique of analogy, recruitment is akin to a company asking a candidate on a date; their employee value proposition (EVP) is why they’d say “yes”. Or rather, “I think I’ll be free, yeah,” if they were the ‘play it cool’ type.
All in all, an EVP is the psychological agreement between an employer and talent, answering: why should I choose to work for you? What unique offerings do I receive in return for my hard work? With 75% of job seekers considering a business/company’s employer brand before applying for a job, it can often feel like top talent are always window shopping but never stopping to buy.
Standing at the window, besides looking at their own reflection, what are talent looking for? The answer is benefits, company and team culture, work-life balance, growth opportunities… and so on. But having a strong EVP is not just exclusive to your acquisition strategy. Approximately 82% of current employees would jump ship to a different company with a better employer brand. Not only is it about the reasons to join, but also about the reasons to stay. If you want to attract and retain top talent, you have to show them both the short-term and the long-term benefits; this way people can envisage a future at your company.
If this is all news to you and you’re thinking about how your company hasn’t done anything to implement an EVP, here’s the not so funny truth: The lack of an EVP is still a contribution to your EVP, albeit a negative contribution.
Remember the candidate looking through the window? The only thing they’re interested in this case is indeed their own reflection.
Now that we’ve fully digested the Aristotle analogies, the hypothetical window talent is looking through represents your candidate touchpoints. This is where talent can find out about what you have to offer them.
Wisdom states that the top platforms UK talent use to search for jobs are job boards, LinkedIn and companies’ career sites, with 86% of job seekers using social media within their journey. Those platforms are where candidates are presented to your EVP, and start to form their expectation of working at your company. So, make sure your candidate touchpoints are shining to throw your best hat in the ring.
Expectation
Candidate touchpoints are where you can ignite your EVP. For example, with job seekers turning to social media, what better way to showcase your team’s culture than through employee-made content on Instagram. Showcase their personality, through their version of an office tour. But don’t stop there, make sure your career site is easy to navigate, presentable but most importantly… full to the brim of all that propositional information. Clearly stated benefits, details of clear progression paths, employee testimonials, and don’t make the mistake of constricting yourself to just using text.
Many companies are fixated on what they need from candidates and forget to communicate what they can give them. A best-in-class EVP operates on a give-and-get basis. The top 5 reasons people handed in their notice across a group of UK workers in 2021 all relate around the themes of employees feeling undervalued, overworked and not being fairly rewarded. So how does your EVP communicate those important areas?
Now that candidates have painted a picture of what working at your company is like, how does the reality compare to their expectations? Your EVP is essentially split in two, expectation and reality. When stating what you have to offer, it has to be brutally authentic. You’ve done the talking, now it’s time to do the walking. It’s like a love story really, when expectation meets reality.
Reality
Not following through on your EVP promises or having a poor one, in general, will cause talent to jump ship, as stated before. Just because candidates look like they’ve become part of the furniture, doesn’t mean that they are there to stay. Candidates were promised a dream but have woken up in hell. Bells are ringing, it's time to abort.
It’s common knowledge that word of mouth is the most effective form of marketing, in fact, employee advocacy was the number one influencer trend of 2024. However, not living up to your expectation will lead talent to leave Glassdoor reviews as well as notifying their professional network creating the opposite effect of employee advocacy.
Having your expectations and reality align boosts your EVP through an internal choir singing your praises. Employees showing talent what you’re worth from the inside is a massive win. People listen to people, and there’s no better song than that.
Another drawback is having to refill that position that you’ve just hired for, increasing your cost per hire. Rather than having talent leave, your EVP should have talent left in awe. If your people are set on leaving, exit interviews are a useful tool that can be utilised to uncover any issues you’ve not yet uncovered. Find and patch the holes, locate any recurring themes across the interviews, and continue to improve that employee experience.
Now that you have a deeper understanding of what an EVP is, and how important it is to have one within your talent strategy. Elevate yourself ahead of your competitors and put an end to candidates window shopping. It’s time for prospective talent to open the door. Let your EVP burst.
