Part II: Crafting your EVP
Ever wondered why you buy the brand of toothpaste you always buy or what could possibly get you to try something new?
It’s a complicated mix of branding and marketing, really. The new brand of toothpaste – through marketing – manages to convince you that what they offer, is somehow better than what you’re used to. The factor that seals the deal for you is hardly ever the price point. You might even be convinced to pay a little more for the toothpaste (accept a small financial disadvantage) in exchange for the benefits of naturally whiter teeth or more sustainable packaging or because a portion of the proceeds go towards educating a child (aligned with personal values).
Crafting your employer brand and EVP operates in much the same way. Job seekers and applicants are like customers walking down that toothpaste aisle. They have various different options (employers) to choose from and they are asking themselves why they should come and work for you, specifically. What are the unique contributions – beyond remuneration – that your company can make to their life?
The answer to that question, is your EVP. In crafting your EVP, Gartner has identified five key elements that you should pay attention to:
Opportunity
We all want opportunities to learn and grow and advance in our careers. The companies with the best EVPs recognize this and actively encourage and enable both personal and professional development.
People
Where shareholders care mostly about the profits and the P&L statements, employees care about the people they work with on a daily basis. Communication, collaboration, leadership and workplace culture are pivotal factors for job applicants and current employees, alike.
Organization
Your market position, vision, values, diversity, company reputation and the quality of your products and services matters more to your current and prospective employees than you might think.
Work
People want interesting, challenging work in an environment that encourages innovation. They want to know that the work they are doing has a positive societal impact somehow and they want to understand how their job contributes to fulfilling the company’s vision and mission.
More that this, people want flexibility in performing their work when, where and how works best for them and their personal circumstances.
Rewards
Salaries, benefits, bonuses and performance rewards, vacation days, gym memberships, paid tuition and employee share schemes – the possibilities for creative recognition and rewards programmes are endless. Salaries are pretty standard across industries and markets, but innovative rewards can really set you apart from your competitors.
Putting all of this together and articulating your unique EVP might seem daunting. Once you start asking for this feedback and input from your present and past employees, you will likely start seeing certain themes emerging. Use these to guide your improvement efforts and incorporate the positive feedback in your EVP planning and brainstorming sessions.
You may even want to go a little further and adapt your EVP to the key employee segments, just like you would adjust marketing messaging depending on who your target market segment is.
The data gathered during this exercise can also be used to improve your Employee Experience (EX) and we will explore this in more detail in Part III of this series.
