Employment branding is no different than marketing in that it’s all about creating value. Just like your website must appeal to prospective customers, when trying to attract top talent to your job openings, your message must be effectively communicated to make your company stand out.
Recently, Acara Solutions and Lattice partnered to present EVP 101: How to Develop an Employee Value Proposition. In this informative webinar, Ryan Stenvick, Vice President of Business Development and Delivery at Acara and Shayna M. Bulluck Recruiting Programs Manager at Lattice, shared the step-by-step process of how to develop and implement an EVP.
The program also provided Employee Value Proposition examples and discussed why it’s the most vital part of the candidate experience and the basis of every company’s employment brand.
In today’s competitive job market, 75% of employees research a company brand before applying for a job. Job seekers look past your website at reviews, social media, and other channels to form an opinion about the customer and employee experience. An effective EVP helps differentiate your company to the ideal talent you want to attract.
Your Employee Value Proposition must be unique, authentic, and in alignment with the talent you’re trying to attract and engage.
An Employee Value Proposition is what defines the company culture, what the company stands for, and where it’s headed. It’s the promise you make as an employer to your employees in return for their commitment and loyalty.
In talent acquisition, the EVP goes well beyond recruiting and onboarding, because it has a profound impact on your company’s ability to retain employees and create a vibrant, inclusive workplace where your people feel valued and are actively engaged in the company’s mission.
Highly engaged employees are 87% less likely to leave their jobs versus their disengaged counterparts.
An authentic EVP cannot be created from the top down. Start by going straight to the employee population and conduct a survey to find out what they think. Then write a couple of paragraphs to include the company values, and what people need to know about your company – go back and show it internally to all employees for honest feedback and get it validated.
To keep it real, you must create a safe space for people to openly communicate their likes and dislikes without fear of negative repercussions. Survey everything that the employees are doing and how they feel about the company. Whatever is important to the company also needs to be in the survey in order to find out how important these things are to the employees.
You may discover things you don’t want to hear. Show the company’s commitment to “walking the walk” by identifying actionable and fixable items to move from workplace problems to corporate solutions. Make it clear that you want your company to be a place where people will be happy to come to work every day.
It can take time and several iterations to get to an Employee Value Proposition that resonates with, and is meaningful to, your people. Your initial EVP survey may reveal
employee engagement issues that the company needs to address. That starts with listening and asking key questions:
Use the answers to craft your Employee Value Proposition and unique company “voice.”
You may need to edit your first EVP draft, share, edit or re-write and share again to fine-tune the message. Meet with employee groups to shape the company’s philosophy organically.
Be sure you’ve also asked – and answered – the most important questions of all: How will management be held accountable to uphold the mission, vision, values, and EVP? How will the company keep the promises of your Employee Value Proposition?
Look at the company’s compensation package, workplace experience, employee development, and how it fosters diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging among coworkers. Use this information to showcase your recruitment message and build your employment branding, from job descriptions to messaging on your careers pages and social channels.
At SmartSearch, our applicant tracking system provides flexible options to optimize the job seeker experience from the time a resume is submitted or an online employment application is received, to providing mobile-friendly candidate onboarding to welcome your new hire. Be sure your applicant tracking system and vendor management system can deliver the technology that supports your employment brand and EVP.
Your applicant tracking system and candidate onboarding should also include task automation that gives recruiters time-saving tools they need to build relationships and have meaningful conversations in order to be more human-centric in talent acquisition.
Smart hiring, employee engagement, and retention begins with an Employee Value Proposition that’s clear and present in every step of the recruiting process from your jobs pages, applicant tracking system workflow, and easy candidate onboarding that all reflect your employment brand.
Resources:
The Importance of a Strong Employee Value Proposition with Examples
How to Develop a Compelling Employee Value Proposition and Employee Survey Template