The employee/employer relationship has taken a huge leap forward since 2020. There is much greater emphasis on symbiotic relationships.
In the summer of 2014, I made the decision to leave the office setting and work from home. My goals were to spend more time with my young children and have the capability to travel and work from any location. Since then, life has drastically changed, making this flexibility in working environment all the more essential. Working from home has become a core requirement, which means I might not be the right fit for every employer or situation… and that is okay! A symbiotic working relationship for me would be one in which my needs as an employee are met. In return, my employer should expect my best performance and retention in my role.
As an employer branding agency, we are often asked if we can “design” a company’s Employer Value Proposition (EVP). The real question being asked is: “Can you assess our company and document the value we offer to current and potential employees in exchange for their service and retention?”
Your organizational EVP communicates the unique qualities and benefits that an employee experiences within your organization. In an ideal match (symbiotic relationship) between employee and employer, your organization receives a set of skills and valuable, relevant experience that moves it forward. Both employees and employers thrive when values are aligned.
When we flush out the EVP for our clients, we always start with discovery. We build unique surveys and conduct focus groups to build out a complex picture of current employees’ perspectives of the organization. We include leadership separately with a goal of gap analysis. Developing a succinct EVP statement requires an analysis of all responses from all participants. The process of developing an EVP is more than responding to the query, “tell us what you offer.” It is a process of taking engagement data from multiple sources and boiling it down to the truly unique attributes and offerings of an organization so that potential employees can make an informed decision – based on those nonnegotiables and corporate culture – even before the application process begins.
Why should your organization go through the steps required to develop a winning EVP?
- Clear EVPs assist in attracting and retaining desired talent.
- An EVP provides better insight into company culture.
- An engaged workforce leads to better business outcomes and performance.
Research from Gartner finds companies that deliver on their EVP see a decrease in annual employee turnover by just under 70% and an increase in new hire commitment by nearly 30%.
In conclusion, defining an honest and succinct EVP will increase retention, attract better talent, and foster business performance – all factors that affect the bottomline. Unquestionably a wise investment of time and resources.