Employee Value Proposition: How to Secure Top Talent and Ignite Employee Engagement

The employee value proposition (EVP) is a concept that employer uses to attract highly skilled employees they desire and retain them.

Using employee value proposition, the company provides components such as salary, benefits, rewards, work-life balance, or career development in return for employees’ skills, experience, and commitment. This program is also known as employee branding, where the company tries to market itself to talents in a competitive era. 

The value of the EVP should include all the benefits an employee expects from the organization to feel the organization is the best place to work for them. It attracts the right talent to the company. It results in a happier, more committed, and more productive workforce. 

An EVP must be unique, relevant, and compelling to act as a critical driver of talent attraction, engagement, and retention.

Importance of EVP

In this competitive job market, retention has become more crucial than hiring. Employee Value Retention increases the chances of retaining current employees and attracting the best talent, as it is a part of employee branding. Replacing talent is costly and time-consuming, so organizations can retain their skilled employees by giving them some motivating benefits.

• Good EVP increases employee satisfaction as they feel more comfortable during their work. A company’s productivity depends on how satisfied its employees are because they ultimately open the door to success for the company.
• The right EVP shows that the current working employee is a good fit for that position, and the role looks more attractive to them.
• The organization increases its brand value through good EVP and can get desirable and skilled candidates in future recruitment.

Importance of EVP in the modern workplace

Nowadays, candidates are looking for purpose-driven organizations where they can get work-life balance, monetary benefits, or career benefits.

Companies can make positive contributions to communities through EVPs and meet the rising expectations of candidates as organizations are aware of the mindset of candidates as they would rather move on to the next organization offering them the best EVP than wait for a promotion.

Companies should meet the growing expectations of employees, including mental health and well-being, sustainability, and the organization’s environment.

Why Does EVP Matter?

Employee Value Proposition is a marketing strategy that attracts skilled employees, promotes the organization, and gains clients’ trust. It could include a higher salary than competitors or attractive perks and benefits. The reasons behind this strategy that is:

Attract talents: One of the benefits of EVP is attracting worthy employees and retaining the best employees. Skills matter that help in achieving the goal of the organization. For each job role, there should be an attractive EVP that candidates want from the organization.

Improve company brands: A well-structured Employee Value Proposition improves the company’s value by making the organization a desirable workplace. Employees feel motivated during work, and future employees get excited about the work, increasing the business’s productivity.

Increases transparency: When organizations are transparent and open about what they want from the employees and what they’ll give in return for their skills, it builds trust between them. So, the employees remain honest during their life span and give their best to achieve their goals. 

Main Components of EVP

Elements of the Employee Value Proposition include benefits apart from salary that keep employees motivated. When employees are rewarded for their skills, they feel their essential existence and want to stay in the organization.

#1. Rewards

Financial rewards, compensation, or benefits are an investment for the organization. It is the first element of EVVP that the company provides to the employees in return for their skills, efforts, and knowledge. Fair compensation in the standard market makes the organization better than competitors and attracts skilled and talented employees.

Tangible rewards such as wages, bonuses, commissions, benefits, work tools, trips, and some other benefits apart from salary should be included in this component, which provides value for money and rewards Employees equitably based on the work performed.

The employee expects Stocks, bonuses, and allowances as compensation unrelated to payment or minimum productivity.

#2. Career development 

Growth within the organization that sets you apart from other companies includes training, certified courses, opportunities to switch teams to learn new skills, opportunities to work overseas, and opportunities for promotion.

Employees want to feel confident that their jobs are secure and have good opportunities for growth and development: career stability, employee development opportunities, and training initiatives.

Training and development programs can help employees learn new skills, stay engaged, and improve their performance. This step ensures that the employee’s career is secure within the organization, where they can learn new skills and grow. From the employee’s point of view, they will feel they can learn and earn.

#3. Company culture

The positive Culture and environment of the company attracts new talents and retains the old one, as this is the core of any organization. Employees feel motivated when the company’s members work towards a common goal.

A company might offer an excellent salary, compensation, or other financial benefits, but a toxic working environment impacts the employees’ work. If the working environment does not value the employee’s welfare, Employees can get burned out and suffer from physical, mental, and psychological issues.

Companies should develop a proper and flexible policy that must include collaboration and communication, alignment of goals, and positive relationships across employees at all levels.

#4. Work-life balance

The workplace is the second home for employees as they spend half of their time in the company. So, the company must create a balance between their work and home.

Paid time off, holidays, flextime options, retirement plans, and the opportunity to work from home and remotely increase your organization’s employment. Nowadays, most people quit jobs due to heavy workloads or do not want to go to the office daily.

So, organizations can plan a schedule for this purpose where they can manage the remote and office work. It’ll increase the productivity of the company. Heavy workloads do not solve instant success because they pressure employees, leading to job resignation. So, organizations must be aware of this element and maintain a healthy work-life balance for the employees.

#5. Job satisfaction

All the components of EVP come to one conclusion: job satisfaction. Some people frequently change job and looks for a new workplace. There may be any reason behind this, like not getting rewards, lack of work-life balance, poor company culture, etc.

Organizations should take care of this, as they must spend time creating the best employee culture. Retaining an employee is always more complicated than hiring a new candidate.

So, organizations can organize surveys to know what employees think about the company. They can also organize events or cultural activities, reducing the burden on employees.

Examples of EVP

#1. Canva

Canva is a graphic design-based tool that offers unique perks to its employees, like breakfast and lunch prepared by in-house chefs, free gym memberships, and a relocation budget. It also has many opportunities for working where every employee is on their mission. By that, the employees feel motivated and engaged in the company environment. 

#2. Yelp

Yelp offers 5-start opportunities to its employees by keeping them healthy, wealthy, and wise. Their EVP includes everything employees can dream of, from the best healthcare benefits to gym subsidies and unlimited snacks. They believe in providing their employees with all the resources they need to be happy and successful.

#3. Shopify

A Canadian eCommerce company, Shopify is known to offer excellent EVP. They provide perks and benefits personalized to each employee’s needs and requirements. The company helps employees and their family members with health benefits, meals, growth budgets, and more. Their core value is their employees’ personal growth, which is one of the reasons behind their success.

How to Prepare the Most Compelling EVP

As the EVP defines the brand and vision of the organization, the company should develop the best strategy to create its EVP. It is the responsibility of the managers to prepare a unique EVP that makes the organization different from others. 

Here are the steps to prepare the best EVP: 

#1. Assess what you currently offer

The process of EVP starts with what you currently offer or what is missing from it.  Companies should be clear about their vision and branding. Make a list of EVP components and find where you’re lacking from others. Every organization has different EVPs based on market standards. So, make sure the EVP of your company should be more than your competitors.

#2. Collect feedback from employees

Take surveys or interviews with your employees, whether current or past. Feedback from previous employees can help you to get a better understanding of mistakes that the company has made. You can know about what you could offer to make them stay. Collect survey from the current employees of the company, which includes questions such as: 

• Why do you like working in this company?
• What motivates you at work to engage more with colleagues?
• What improvements would you like to see now or in the future?
• What’s the single most important decision that you are expecting from us?

#3. Define your EVP 

Define why your organization is better than others, including a good salary, career development, and allowances. For every level of employee, there should be a different offer that attracts skilled workers.

• For a recent graduate employee, career growth, a fun office environment, positive employee experience, and employee perks are some benefits that they expect.
• While on the other hand, a professional and experienced employee wants career stability, child-care support, and work-life balance.

#4. Write your EVP

Once you find that your EVP differs from your competitors and is the best in the market, you must write this statement but ensure that the EVP is unique, clear, and inspirational. It is the only way to attract the best talents. EVP statement should include what you offer in your company and what you expect from the employees.

#5. Promote your EVP through channels

An EVP becomes beneficial when it reaches the target audience. So, use the internal and external modes of communication to promote your EVP. Company blogs, newsletters, email, and internal communication tools are ways to reach employees; however, personal communication is much better. Social media awareness is the top method to promote as it creates a direct impact on employees.

#6. Review the result

It is the last step for every process that is reviewing the results. 

• Higher engagement on social media on job-related posts
• Increase in applications for recruiting 
• Increase in responses from employees

Apart from these, keep an eye on the EVP once a year to ensure it needs any changes or everything is going well.

Conclusion

Employees are the organization’s assets, and attracting and retaining the best employees is necessary for the organization’s growth. When the company invests in providing the best EVP, they get productivity in return.

This strategy is a magnet for the perfect talent resulting in improved financial performance and enhanced engagements, high attraction, and retention.

The right fit of employees in the talent pool, the workforce’s recreation, a sound organization with desirable candidates, and better recruitment objectives are some significant benefits of a compelling Employee Value Proposition.

You may also explore the best employee experience platforms for a positive workplace.