How To Create a Great Employee Value Proposition (EVP)

As you create and run a business, your relationship with employees significantly determines the company's success.

Remember that employees are the direct link between your business and the clients. If your employees are unhappy with how they are treated, it will show.

When employees are happy, motivated, and delivering great work, your business succeeds. And we don’t need to tell you how important that is.

It all starts with employing the correct type of employees suited for your office operations. Factors to consider are:

• Their skillset: This includes their experience and background and what they bring to the table skill-wise.
• Their attitude: This relates to the employee's drive and willingness to achieve company goals. Also, their ability to give and take criticism and how they respond to failure. An immensely talented employee with a bad attitude is cause for concern.
• Potential: Does this employee show interest in and initiative to grow? Candidates who are less experienced but more willing to grow might be a better addition to your team than a highly experience but inflexible candidate.
• Soft skills: These are skills like communication, teamwork, and the ability to take initiative and they are arguably as important as hard skills.
• Cultural fit: A cultural fit means that the candidate not only gets along with other staff members but contributes to the company culture in a positive way.

When dealing with employees, creating an excellent employee value proposition indicates that you put employees at the center of your business operations. You will be able to easily attract new hires, and employee retention will be high.

To create an excellent EVP for your company, there are a few suggestions that would make hiring processes more productive. But first, let’s make sure we understand what an EVP is.

What Is an Employee Value Proposition (EVP)?

An employee value proposition (EVP) is a company's promise to job candidates and employees. It showcases the benefits of working for the company compared to its competitors.

EVP is a critical part of employer branding, mainly when advertising open positions on job boards or career sites. Your EVP should clearly define what your company offers and what you will do to help prospective employees and existing employees advance their careers.

Corporate development and internal recruiting are two major factors that will impact your EVP and your annual employee turnover. A successful employee should always be rewarded, not just monetarily, but with career development.

EVP is something that your potential and current employees will take into consideration when they get offers from other companies. If you can offer a better experience for employees than other companies you are more likely to attract and retain staff.

It will not only improve your company brand but create a strong foundation for your human resources department. Once expectations are set for them, it will be easier for them to stay on track.

This element is critical in attracting great talent and retaining them. It establishes the foundation of your company's culture and can be beneficial for all members of your team, both old and new.

Keep in mind that it is a promise, so consistently deliver beyond expectations. You can't just set up a program to improve your EVP and let it sit, you should be constantly improving.

Principles for a Great Employee Value Proposition (EVP)

Creating a strong EVP can seem daunting at first, but there are a few simple concepts that can help you build a strong employee value proposition that will attract and retain top talent.

Whether you're trying to recruit the best people in the labor market or keep employees for long, following these principles will help:

Anticipate Needs

When you anticipate the different needs of your potential employees and job candidates, you can offer better benefits. Think about all work-related issues that may arise, such as health care, training programs, flexible work schedules, remote work abilities, and digital needs.

Consider sending out an employee survey to ask about employees' key drivers and key benefits and what you can do to help with their career growth. Whether they value a healthy work-life balance, more vacation time, or working towards a common goal, you can make that happen.

It's essential to create an environment where people feel appreciated and challenged at the same time. To do that, you need to look at the details that make a difference in an employee's life.

Consider having regular 1:1 meetings with employees to ensure you’re on the same page with them and are staying updated on their projects and needs. They don’t need to be long meetings, just quick 30-minute catch-up meetings to make sure everything is going well.

Create career stability and career growth opportunities and you might be surprised by how much harder employees work. When there is something to work for, employees are more likely to step up their efforts.

When your company's EVP anticipates current employees' needs, you'll stand out and be more attractive than your competitors. Talented candidates will seek you out and you'll see real business benefits.

Be Competitive

Most companies have similar benefits such as health insurance, cell phones, company cars, free lunch, and PTO. Getting creative with your benefits will help you stand out from the competition.

Perks can include unlimited PTO, summer Fridays, flexible hours, and employee happy hour. Consider including a free gym membership, offering coffee in the office, or sending out birthday cards and welcome gifts.

Or, for a more financially friendly option, emphasize recruiting internally and corporate learning. You don’t always have to spend money to have great benefits.

Putting more effort into creating packages that differentiate your company may require a bit of effort or cost money, but it will be worth it in the end.

Going the extra mile to make your working environment more attractive to employees makes your talent acquisition campaign less challenging. And it certainly isn’t cheap to hire new employees.

Make It Easy for Candidates

Candidates should be able to find out about career opportunities in your company effortlessly. It will help if you provide enough information on your website and make it more accessible.

You should also include this information in your employee handbook.

Adding internal candidates to your recruitment funnel will also ensure they work harder and feel noticed by their managers for their hard work. If you have an ambitious team, why not reward them.

Let your employees know about other benefits they can access, such as 401k plans, training programs, seminars, product discounts, and other attractive benefits.

These are the things you should be bragging about, so don’t be afraid to be bold when talking about your benefits. Plus, you don’t want to leave employees guessing. Try to make it easy for them to get the information they need.

Be Specific and Transparent

Employees need to know how their performance will affect their compensation, insurance, and career path. Adding a list of benefits is essential, but don’t just stop there. You need to explain the benefits to them.

It’s vital that you don’t leave employees benefits, compensation, or what they can expect from their managers and leaders. Spell it out for them clearly and concretely.

Creating a comprehensive employee handbook is the first step to creating clear internal communications for new and veteran employees. Once this is created, you need to ensure it is regularly updated as benefits and policies change.

Let employees know what they should expect by clearly defining the conditions for each benefit mentioned. This way, you'll build trust and improve the employee experience.

Be Consistent

Consistency builds trust, which in turn leads to higher retention rates and lower turnover costs for your company. Your employees will look forward to working with you every day if they know that their benefits would not change frequently.

Create a robust employee engagement and offer competitive growth opportunities. Then, make sure that doesn’t go downhill as you grow and expand.

Consistency within the organization should be a part of your company's values and culture. It translates to higher job satisfaction and a positive work environment.

You don’t want employees to feel like they signed up for one thing and are getting another.

Keep it Simple

You should offer as many benefits as is appropriate and sustainable for your organization, but don’t go too overboard with it.

Don't try to offer too many things or too much detail in one place as it may overwhelm the candidates or confuse them. Remember, your primary aim is to attract talent.

These candidates don’t want to read through a 10-page essay on what they can except for benefits. These benefits should be simple enough to be narrowed down to a bullet point list.

Be straightforward without overwhelming them with information. Use simple words that clearly define the benefits, link further details, and allow online applications.

What Are the Benefits of Having an EVP?

Having an EVP is not only about attracting the best talent but also helps with employee retention. If you can provide a unique and valuable employee value proposition, your employees will stay longer and work harder for you.

It establishes trust, and trust is a crucial component of an employee’s relationship with their employer. All your employees will know that they're working for a company that cares about them.

Benefits of improving your EVP include:

Better Retention Rate

Employees will feel valued in your organization, and job satisfaction will be high. If they're happy at work, it will be easier for you to retain them.

And it isn’t always easy to retain talented employees these days. Young people, in particular, are not likely to stay at a company for a long time.

You'll have higher employee retention rates with a great EVP which means more costs savings for you.

Lower Turnover Costs

Turnover costs for some companies can be pretty high. Employee turnover occurs when they feel their needs are not met, or the company doesn't align with their values.

If you have a great EVP, this will happen less frequently as your employees will feel appreciated, valued and know they're treated fairly.

Lower Cost per Employee

Strong EVPs quicken the recruitment process. You spend less and keep costs down. You'll also avoid losing great employees to your competitors.

Your employees will not feel like their career is stagnating or not getting competitive benefits for themselves or their families.

Better Business Reputation

A strong EVP helps with your reputation in the market. Your company will be known for being employee-centric, and this improves the chances of future hires.

Additionally, a good reputation leads to faster business growth.

What Are the Key Components of an Employee Value Proposition?

Critical components of an employee value proposition vary from company to company, but in general, an EVP includes the following:

A Brief Description of Your Company

Begin with a brief description of your company and what it does. This should be simple and to the point.

Make it clear, simple, and direct so that candidates can read and understand it in one or two sittings. Don't use complicated words unless necessary.

It is essential to show potential candidates that you're a serious employer that genuinely values them if they choose to work for you. It also gives them valuable insights into your company.

Let them know about the organization's inception date, background information, what led to its creation, and mission.

Spread the Word about your Company Culture

Your company culture is essential as this is what will make people love working for you. List all the work environment benefits and perks that make you unique in the industry. Make sure your candidates know about them.

When detailing the company culture, explain any cultural challenges or opportunities and how you dealt with them.

Use graphics to make your culture come alive. If you have photos, include them in the EVP so that candidates can see what employees are doing for fun at work. It will be easier for potential employees to visualize working for you if you include a graphic representation of it.

Teamwork is an integral part of any company's culture. Make sure to express how you support and encourage teamwork and collaboration in your EVP.

Share How You Create Work-Life Balance

Many people in the job market are more interested in recruiters who offer a clearly defined work-life balance. Candidates should know how your company makes sure they're well taken care of at work and beyond.

For some employees, work-life balance is about time off from their jobs to do other vital things like spending quality time with family or friends.

If you have photos of your employees at work and play, include them in the EVP. It shows that everyone's an equal part of the company.

Don't forget to show how much fun people have on their own or with colleagues enjoying each other's company away from the office.

Share Employee Career Development Successes

Employee development is a critical component of any culture. Your EVP should explain how your company helps its employees grow and develop their careers to feel fulfilled in their professional goals.

Explain what career opportunities are available for them if they continue working for the company. Explain what kind of training programs you offer and how you help them get the skills they need to grow.

Include photos of employees on company outings, during training sessions, and attending to teamwork. It will show that your employees are well taken care of, and the leaders take their people very seriously.

Explain the Employee Experience

It's essential to illustrate the employee experience in detail. It includes what candidates can expect when they start working for you and your expectations as the employer.

Include any special perks such as free meals, health insurance, shuttles to work from a nearby train station or parking lot at no cost. You can also include statements from successful employees.

How Should You Measure the Success of Your EVP?

It is critical to measure the success of your employee value proposition (EVP). It ensures that potential candidates and employees know everything that concerns your operations.

To do this, you can survey your current employees to get feedback.

Assure employees of fair treatment without prejudice when they express their satisfaction and challenges with the current EVP.

Are you attaining your recruitment and retention targets? To measure the success, check the following:

Employee Retention Rate

If the company has a reasonable retention rate, employees are likely satisfied and happy working for you.

Ask yourself, last year how many new hires converted to full-time? If many new hires converted to full-time, it means that your EVP is giving the right impression as your employer brand matures.

Employee Engagement Rate

It’s important to measure your employee engagement rate. Your engagement rate is an indicator of whether employees are satisfied with their overall experience at your company.

It will help determine whether or not you need to make any improvements to your EVP strategy.

Employee Referral Rate

Your referral rate tell you how often your employees are encouraging the people they know to apply at your company. If your employee referral rate is high, it means that current employees are referring friends, family, and even strangers to work at your organization.

This is the ultimate indication of a strong employer brand that helps attract and retain top talent. The higher the employee referral rate, the more your EVP is working as planned.

Quality Hires and Interviews

When it comes to first impressions, you need to hire candidates that share similar traits as your current employees and have the same core values.

One way of doing this is by asking questions that help you see if they are a good fit in terms of culture, skills/competencies, and work style. This is often referred to as “finding the right culture fit” for your organization.

Also, check their social media profiles and ensure that their online persona reflects the person they are in real life.

Steps to Building a Strong Employee Value Proposition (EVP) Strategy

By now, you’re likely on board and interested in creating a strong EVP. But how do you go about it? We were hoping you’d ask.

To build a great EVP, here are some steps that you can follow:

Define Your Target Audience

Determine who your potential candidates are and how to reach them. You need to do this by identifying the skillset of the people who will make great employees and the kind of individuals to hire for a given position.

Be clear on what a potential candidate would get out of working for your company. In other words, how can you persuade them to work for your organization?

List out different factors contributing to the EVP, such as its reputation, location, and perks.

Determine What Makes Your Employer Brand Unique

How do you stand out as a brand? Do you offer more training opportunities compared to other companies in your industry? Can they expect a lot of career development on the job?

Is it easier for them to move up the ladder compared to other companies? List out any unique strengths that make your company stand out from competitors.

Differentiate Yourself from Other Employers or Businesses

How are you different from everyone else who offers the same or similar products and services? What are your unique selling points (USPs) to attract top talent?

The employer brand is the most crucial element in your company's recruiting and succession management strategies. However, it will only be effective if repositioned to address new realities. Be sure that your EVP matches your employer brand.

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