Everyone knows marketing your business to customers is essential, but what about marketing it to employees? Is it enough to just expect them to turn up and be grateful for the opportunity? If you want to attract and retain top talent, the answer is no. In a competitive job market, you have to be great at selling yourself as an employer. That’s where your employee value proposition (EVP) comes in. Your EVP sets out what makes you an excellent employer and clearly communicates why candidates should choose you. Get it right, and you’ll have top talent beating down your door. In this blog, we’ll explain how you can create an employee value proposition that delivers.
1. Build a Positive Workplace Culture
Building a positive workplace culture doesn’t just mean sticking a pool table and a few bean bags in your office. It’s about who you are as a company, what you stand for, and the environment you create for your employees. A positive workplace culture comes from the top down. If you can get your leadership team invested in creating a workplace where employees are respected and appreciated, you’ll have no problems building a working environment your employees love. Once you’ve got that nailed, you can start thinking about pool tables, bean bags, and fun socials.
How does workplace culture affect your employee value proposition, though? It’s pretty simple. Your employees are the best advocates you have when it comes to creating a strong employer brand. Whether it’s through testimonials, word-of-mouth, or platforms like Glassdoor, if you have an amazing workplace culture, word will spread, and you’ll have candidates lining up around the block for the opportunity to work for you. Not to mention that positive workplace environments have been shown to improve teamwork, productivity, and efficiency, as well as boosting morale and retention.
Ensure that your positive workplace culture aligns with your company's core values and mission. When your workplace culture mirrors these values, it creates a sense of purpose and job satisfaction among employees.
Be warned, though, the same can be said for negative workplace cultures. You’ve probably overheard warnings like “Oh, I’ve heard they’re not great to work for” or “they don’t pay their staff well.” The last thing you want is great candidates being warned off before they even apply.
2. Talk to Your Current Employees
In today’s recruitment landscape, offering a competitive salary, healthcare, and hybrid working isn’t enough to get candidates really excited. As more and more businesses offer these kinds of benefits as standard, you need to do more to stand out. Understanding what your current and potential employees genuinely appreciate about working for you is a great place to start. Once you’ve identified your USPs as an employer, creating a meaningful and effective EVP becomes much easier. It’s also worth taking time to review your competition to better understand your own organization's strengths and advantages.
Your employees can also help you reinforce your EVP by providing you with testimonials. Ask them to share some real-life stories and testimonials with you, which can be used to add credibility and authenticity to your EVP. It’s a genuinely important exercise as a business to review what your employees appreciate the most about working for your organization so you can build upon this. Engage with your employees through regular feedback mechanisms like surveys and check-ins to understand their evolving needs and preferences. Use this valuable feedback to refine and enhance your EVP continually.
3. Showcase a Genuine Commitment to Work-Life Balance
Work-life balance is more of a necessity than a benefit these days, as we are more aware of its impact on mental health. Any company worth working for will demonstrate a genuine commitment to the well-being of its employees. Consider how your current policies affect your employees' work-life balance and how introducing benefits like remote working, hybrid working, or flexible working hours could improve your employee experience.
You may be familiar with the terms ‘night owl’ and ‘morning lark’. Offering employee-led working hours (depending on their natural working patterns) is a great way to differentiate your company and also get the most out of your employees who are working to natural motivational cycles. Personalising your work-life balance initiatives will show your commitment to catering for different employee segments with varying needs and preferences, demonstrating an understanding that not all employees have the same work-life requirements.
Showing potential employees that you’re not stuck in an outdated 9-5 mindset and that your policies are centred around employee health and well-being is a great way to attract candidates.
4. Be Prepared to Evolve
Highlight the fact that your employee value proposition continuously evolves to meet the needs of your employees. If you don’t already, your organisation should regularly evaluate how your employees are feeling, what they appreciate, and what they feel should change. It’s important that your EVP will resonate well with both existing and potential employees.
It goes without saying that your business must comply with legal requirements regarding recruitment, such as equal opportunity and non-discrimination laws. However, you can take this further by demonstrating a genuine commitment to diversity and inclusion. Not only does this strengthen your EVP, but it also makes you an attractive workplace for people from all backgrounds widening your talent pool.
5. Demonstrate a Development and Reward-Driven Culture
Make it very clear what potential employees can expect if working with your company. From professional growth opportunities to performance-based benefits and genuine employee-led perks. Perhaps for high performers, you offer an all-expenses-paid trip away? Utilise your social channels such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram to promote activities like this to back up your EVP.
Make it very clear what potential employees can expect if working with your company. From professional growth opportunities to performance-based benefits and genuine employee-led perks. Perhaps for high performers, you offer an all-expenses-paid trip away? Utilise your social channels such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram to promote activities like this to back up your EVP.
Building and communicating a compelling EVP that your existing employees can stand behind is essential if you want to attract the best candidates. Attracting talent is only half the battle though. You have to be able to retain employees as well. The last thing you want to do is promise candidates the world and then end up with them feeling like they’ve been catfished. A great EVP has to be authentic. You have to walk the talk.
Ready to build an Employee Value Proposition that not only attracts but also retains top talent? White Horse Employment is your go-to partner for expert advice and tailored recruitment strategies. We empower you to create your own compelling EVP, shaping a standout workplace culture and offering unique benefits that set you apart. Contact us today to discuss your recruitment needs and let's transform your employer brand together.