09 March 2023

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​In a candidate-led market, standing out as an employer of choice in a competitive marketplace is probably one of your top priorities right now. How can you differentiate your business? What can you offer that no one else can? How do you communicate this with your target audience? What can you compete on apart from salary?

A key strategic move in this marketplace is to either create your employer value proposition or take some time to relook at your current one.

In this article we will uncover:

What is an employer value proposition (EVP)?

An employer value proposition (EVP) is what you as an employer offer your current and potential employees in exchange for their skills and contributions to your business. It is the unique set of benefits and rewards that your business provides to attract, retain, and engage with employees.

It is a promise made by you to your employees and what they can expect from you. It can include your vision, mission, purpose, and values, as well as what you care about and how your treat people, the environment and society. Your EVP will set the tone of your culture, the career development and training opportunities that you provide as well as the benefits and compensation on offer.

What are the benefits of having an employer value proposition (EVP)?

Now that we have covered what an Employer Value Proposition is, let's take a look at the benefits of developing one.

  • Differentiation

Candidates are spoilt for choice with many opportunities available to them. Your EVP is your chance to differentiate yourself from competitors. There is a limit to the salaries you can offer but by using your EVP, you can attract people to your opportunities for different reasons.

  • Develop recruitment efficiencies

By clearly defining who you are, what you do and what you care about, your EVP can help to attract people who are a great fit for your business. In fact, in our recent architecture and interior design survey, 95% of respondents said it was very important or important to them to work for an employer whose values matched their own.

  • Improve retention

When an employee feels connected to their employer, they are more likely to continue to be engaged, and motivated and wish to stay with their employer for the long term. The architecture and interior design survey revealed that of those who were planning to stay with their employer for the next 12 months, 17% stated it was because of their company’s values and culture, beaten only by work-life balance and career progression opportunities.

  • Drive success

When your employees believe in you and understand the direction of the business, they are more likely to want to contribute to its success.

  • Diversity, equity and inclusion

If you are working towards creating a more diverse, equitable and inclusive business your EVP can prove this to people. Creating policies and procedures to make this happen and show how you treat people from all walks of life can be very attractive to people. 90% of respondents in our survey said a potential employer’s policy on diversity and inclusion was very important or important to them.

How to create an employer value proposition

We have covered just some of the benefits you can gain from having an EVP but how do you go about creating one? We’ll take you through a step-by-step guide.

1. Define your vision, mission, purpose, and values

This is a key part of your EVP and having these formalised, shared and lived by in your team will be incredibly important to their success.

2. Speak to your current employees

This is a must. Speaking with your current employees and collecting their feedback to understand what they value, what they love about working for you and what motivates them to stay will create some great ideas towards your EVP.

3. Check out your competition

Take some time to analyse your competitors. What do they offer? Do they have a clear EVP? Why are you different? What can you offer? Why is it better to work for your business?

4. Understand your target candidates

Define your ideal candidates and think about what they are looking for in an employer.

5. Develop your messaging

Taking all your research and analysis into consideration, work with your team to develop a clear and concise message that communicates the benefits and rewards of working for your business. Check it with your current employees to see if they feel it is reflective of who you are and adjust where necessary.

6. Communicate your final EVP with your whole team

Do an official rollout of your new EVP to your whole team. Celebrate it, and share how you are going to live by it and how it will help to drive success in the business.

7. Share your EVP externally

You will want to roll your EVP out via various channels where you are trying to attract candidates, including any recruitment partners that you have.

8. Include in your recruitment processes

You will want to live and breathe your EVP in your recruitment processes. From job adverts and interviews to job offers and onboarding. Continuing your message across every touchpoint is important to the success of implementing it.

9. Don’t forget to monitor and evaluate

Nothing lasts forever, and neither might your EVP. You will want to set some dates for when you want to review your EVP. You can go back to step one in this process to ensure at every step your EVP is still aligned with who you are now.

Final thoughts

With the growing pressure on salaries, employers must find new ways to compete for the best talent. Your EVP could be exactly how you can achieve this.

If you would like to discuss this article or your own journey in creating your EVP, please reach out to us, we would love to hear from you.

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