The best employees have more options than ever, which means your employer brand matters more than ever, too. You need a strong employee value proposition (EVP), which has three parts: the internal culture people want, your own promotion of that culture, and what other employees say about you.
I recently bought a book about cricket (Why? Because I’m a cricket tragic – and that’s what we do!)
I’ve never been any good at playing cricket, but for almost fifty years now, I’ve followed cricket – going to see it live, watching it on TV, listening on the radio, subscribing to dozens of cricket podcasts, and occasionally buying a cricket book.
When I heard Jarrod Kimber had written this book about cricket, I bought it. Not because I buy every book about cricket – I don’t – but because it was written by Jarrod Kimber. I have followed him for a while, I like the way he thinks, what he thinks about, and what other people say about him. Even without reading a sample of his book, Jarrod has a strong enough reputation I’m willing to buy it.
That’s what a business calls its customer value proposition (CVP): the reason people should buy from you.
The same applies to future employees, and that’s called your employee value proposition, or EVP. Why should they work with you?
The best people have a choice of where they can work. As they are looking around, they assess organisations by their EVP. They don’t use that phrase, but that’s effectively what they do.
So what do you project from the outside? What do the best people see that makes them even want to apply to work with you – and then to accept what you offer them?
Your EVP is hugely important, and the way you create it has changed.
In the past – pre-digital days – it used to be based on your premises, where you were located, what the office looked like, how they felt when they went in for an interview.
Then, as we became more online, your EVP was defined by your website, your LinkedIn company page, the job ads you put out on SEEK, and your other public, outward-facing channels.
Now, those things are still important, but it’s also what other people – your current and past employees – say about you. People share their experiences in online forums, employer review sites like Glassdoor, Reddit threads, and so many other channels.
If you don’t have a strong EVP, it becomes much more difficult to attract the best people.
Your EVP has three components:
- Culture: Do you even offer what the best people want in a workplace culture?
- Promise: How do you promote that culture to future employees?
- Reputation: How do they KNOW you keep that promise?
That third part – which is largely driven by your employees, not by you – is just as important as the other two.
When you get all three right, you become a talent magnet – especially to attract the best people.
I’m running a public online presentation soon about your employee value proposition and becoming a talent magnet. It’s free, it’s public, and it’s open to everybody. So register here, and feel free to invite other leaders in your team and your network as well.
I’ll see you in the future.
