What Is Employer Value Proposition: How To Create?

Why does a strong employer brand need an Employer Value Proposition (EVP)? 

EVP helps to provide a consistent point of reference for everything the company communicates. When you want to positively promote a brand, EVP, and Employer Branding work in parallel, helping your company to attract, hire and retain the right talent.

Let’s take a look at the employee value proposition definition in detail!

What Is Employer Value Proposition Strategy?

The Employer Value Proposition is the basis of your company's employer brand and defines its positioning in the market and strategic direction. An efficient EVP strategy should reflect the external demand, the competition of your company, the internal reality, and the strategic context in which the company is located. In addition, it should also contain the values and principles that the company supports.

The employee value proposition definition and concept includes all the benefits that the employee receives from the employer in gratitude for the work. These include various forms of wages, benefits, and other elements of motivation: the possibility of training and development, flexible working hours, corporate meals, and wellness programs, as well as intangible factors that are also valuable for employees, for example, creative, interesting tasks, an excellent psychological climate in the team, the possibility of personal success, pride in the result, comfortable working conditions, etc.

What is the Meaning of EVP in Business?

All major brands have something in common, they are all associated with positive attributes and trustworthiness and are often built through unique and consistent brand communication. 

Businesses use EVP to attract new talents and retain those already working in the company. While personal branding includes all the practices to increase the visibility of a worker, the Employer Value Proposition represents the set of actions implemented by the company to increase its attractiveness in the eyes of potential workers.

For companies, employer value proposition meaning lies in attracting talent. But it is also a way to promote their culture and corporate brand. To see how this translates into a specific role, check out our article on the recruiting manager job description.

If, on the one hand, the practices of Employer Value Proposition facilitate the work of recruiters, who will have less difficulty in being accepted a job offer, on the other hand, the company enjoys an increase in reputation in the eyes of its customers and consolidation of the brand.

Get inspired by our blog post - Сommon Employer Branding Mistakes You Must Avoid!

Why Are EVPs Gaining Popularity?

Shifting changes in the business world. Everything evolves too quickly. Two years of pandemic affected the corporate industry too. It requires new approaches to HR management and relationship building with the staff.

Attraction and retention challenges. OnlineU research showed that job vacancies stood at more than 11.5 million in March 2022 compared with 6.2 million two years earlier (prior to the pandemic). Companies need to make efforts to find qualified employees. 

Changes in employee values. Workplace flexibility, remote opportunities, well-being, work-life balance, and diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging are now essential to integrate into EVP communication.

What to consider when designing an EVP

The set of EVP strategies to be implemented represents a crucial point that the most innovative organizations take into account. 

The proposal has two tasks - to attract specialists to the company (external EVP) and to keep them as long as possible (internal EVP). 

• External EVP is the value proposition for candidates. It is based on the expectations of future employees. Usually, these are not unique expectations and needs of the staff but common to the industry and profession. 
• Internal EVP is a value proposition for the company's employees and tells what people are getting now from work and what they consider to be the value of working for their organization.

When designing an EVP, you should consider external and internal directions. Also, you should realize that the EVP may differ according to different roles and regions. For example, software engineers have very different incentives and demands compared to retail or logistics employees. Segmented EVPs allow employers to personalize their value propositions for each talent segment. 

Top Priorities in EVP Strategy

According to Gartner, compensation, work-life balance, and stability in the workplace were the top drivers among employees globally in 2018-2020. However, all such drivers work in the complex. Thus, consider the following components of a good EVP:

Compensation. The employees must feel financially well-positioned. If the compensation is reasonable, employees feel valued, which can boost their morale enormously.

Benefits. In addition to the general remuneration, the additional benefits can represent a further benefit from the company. This is another way in which employees experience appreciation.

Career opportunities. If a potential employee realizes that the time invested in the company is paying off in the form of higher positions, motivation at work, and loyalty to the company.

Work conditions. Since employees usually spend a large part of their time in the office, don’t neglect this aspect. Is the workplace equipped with modern technology and software? Is the employee in a pleasant working environment with bright rooms, plants, and high-quality office equipment? Is work-life balance for your employees adequate? All these issues also matter.

Culture. Don't try to be something you are not - it will never work. The behavior of management, leaders, and employees strongly impacts the overall experience in your company and shapes the brand and image of the company. Employees are the best ambassadors to communicate your company's EVP.

Employer Proposition examples

Many companies are rethinking their EVP strategies to change the attitude to their employees. They try to treat employees as people, not staff, to create a better employee experience. Even at some of the world’s biggest companies – including Google, Apple, Amazon, etc. – the average retention is only 1.8 to 2 years, despite the variety of benefits they provide. 

However, some companies are really good at creating their EVP. You can always get inspiration from their statements and tailor them to your company.

Canva

Canva is a graphic design tools platform based in Australia. The company offers its employees a variety of unique benefits, such as breakfast and lunch prepared by in-house chefs, free gym memberships, and a relocation budget.

However, the great perks aren't the only valuable things Canva offers. The company website highlights the individual impact each employee has on their mission. Canva’s employer value proposition strategy also provides that with over 230 million designs created each month, employees have many opportunities to work on unique and exciting projects.

HubSpot

HubSpot is an American software company with various digital products for inbound marketing, CRM, and sales. HubSpot is all about culture. The company emphasizes maintaining a healthy work-life balance and building a culture of flexibility, learning, and belonging.

The employer value proposition meaning for HubSpot is fundamental. The company’s goal is "Let’s Grow Together" and it offers employees unlimited vacations, fully remote work, sabbaticals, parental leave, and other employee benefits.

Spotify

The Swedish streaming start-up pays great attention to its culture in corporate communication. The start-up even created its manifesto for the corporate culture, which potential applicants can read on the careers page.

The company then draws a vivid analogy to a band in this manifesto: "Like a band, we depend on each other to create the best sound experience.” The potential and current employees may feel the adherence to the global company mission - unlocking the potential of human creativity. Meaning of employee value proposition here isn’t only formal but requires much effort from the management.

EVP Development Checklist

1. The EVP should reflect the real situation within the company - you can’t show non-existent points.
2. First, you need to analyze why people choose your company. The survey should involve different categories of employees. Involve in the research former employees and independent people who fit the portrait of the target candidate. Based on the survey results, you will understand who your target employee is and what is important to him.
3. EVP is a constructor whose elements are selected from a limited set of factors. Every company has something that attracts and retains employees. You need to find it and show it at the right angle.
4. To get the most out of EVP, use the offer at every point of contact with potential candidates. You will have to change the career site, descriptions on job sites, templates for letters to candidates, scripts for recruiters, and so on.
5. You won't be able to develop an EVP once and for all. Over time, everything changes - both the candidates’ interests and the company’s corporate culture. Therefore, the meaning of employee value proposition can be reviewed and updated to reflect the company and market situation.

Also, the critical success factor in attracting, recruiting, and retaining the right employees is having a data-based approach to all your company's employer branding activities, allowing you to have a broader perspective.

To have a such broad perspective, HR managers and company owners have to eliminate the routine tasks and systematize the workflow of the bulkiest tasks. For example, think about the usage of the professional recruitment platform. As a result, you’ll be able to hire the best-fit candidates and retain them better. Also, you can apply a data-based approach by using the functionality of such platforms, f.e. performance reports, KPIs tracking, and controlling time per hire. 

With Axterior recruitment platform, you’ll be able to hire 23% faster! All you need to do is to start a free trial period right now!

Conclusion

Today, not only the applicant but also the company has to present itself from its best side. Employer branding has become much more critical, and employers with a weak identity or even a negative employer image have a more challenging time recruiting.

The Employer Value Proposition answers the question of what you stand for as an employer and what makes you unique as an employer. Think about your EVP to attract the most qualified employees to the company!