Recruiting has changed – do you have an employee value proposition?

Patrice

For the last 30 years I’ve watched lots of changes affecting the recruitment process. From using fax machines, to the onset of job boards (which everyone thought would solve their problem but didn’t), to social media recruiting. Previously no one ever thought of an Employee Value Proposition. Why would they? People wanted a job, you had a job, and you could pick the best person from the multitudes that said “pick me, pick me!”

Today everything is different. No longer are people standing in line that want your job. They have options, they are tech savvy and have checked out your company to see if they want to work for you. They have choices and companies seeking THEM to take their job.

I’ve worked with hundreds of companies that just don’t “get it”. They still think they can recruit the same way, offer the same compensation (cheaper is always better mentality), yet don’t understand why they are struggling. They don’t know how to”sell” their company and job opportunity to a job seeker.

Who would have thought this would happen?!

Employee Value Proposition is a set of values that you, as an employer, offer to your employees, and use as a magnet for attracting new hires. Besides attracting candidates, your Employee Value Proposition can help you engage and retain employees.

Importance of Employee Value Proposition

The way we recruit has changed. Compared to just a few years ago, candidates now have far more power during the job search.

According to research as well as HR professionals’ everyday experience, the current job market is 90% candidate driven. That means you don’t pick talent anymore.

Talent picks you.

In order to make yourself their employer of choice, you have to be able to trigger your perfect candidates’ interest by differentiating your company from your competitors.

You can do that by presenting your unique Employee Value Proposition. However, Employee Value Proposition benefits are not limited only to attracting talent. Employee Value Proposition is also crucial for recruiting and hiring the best talent that is a perfect fit for your company.

Another important benefit of Employee Value Proposition is a significant reduction in recruiting expenses.

Imagine a situation where your competitors in the war for talent offer the same salary as your company. What can you do to attract talent over to your company?

You can either offer them a higher compensation or you can focus on other values you offer as an employer. You can win talent over by emphasizing other relevant components of your Employee Value Proposition, besides a bigger paycheck.

According to LinkedIn research, when candidates have to give their final answer on a job offer, the deciding factor for them is how your company would impact their career advancement and how stimulating the job will be(both financially and intellectually).

It turns out it’s not all about the money after all. Career advancement opportunities and challenging work are just as important reasons for accepting a job offer as compensation and benefits.

Finally, delivering a promised Employee Value Proposition will also help you engage and retain your employees in a highly competitive job market.

What is Employee Value Proposition?

Employee Value Proposition is the total value an employer offers to their employees in return for their work.

Employee Value Proposition encompasses everything that employees get in return for their time and effort invested in their performance in the workplace.

It is important to stress out that Employee Value Proposition is more than just a combination of compensations and benefits.

A great Employee Value Proposition strikes a fine balance between tangible rewards received by employees (such as compensation and benefits), but also intangible rewards (such as interesting and meaningful projects to work on, great company culture, flexible working hours etc.).

Defining your Employee Value Proposition is crucial for your Employer Branding and Recruitment Marketing strategy. In order to personalize your talent acquisition strategy and attract the best talent, you have to be able to clearly define all the values you provide as an employer.

What exactly is the meaning?
Simply put, the Employee Value Proposition is a compelling answer to the following candidate’s questions:

“Why should I work for your company instead of somewhere else? What’s in it for me? Why is your company a great place to work at? What can you offer me that other companies can’t?”

Main Components of Employee Value Proposition

Contrary to popular opinion, an Employee Value Proposition is much more than a big paycheck and a list of great benefits. It means so much more!

Employee Value Proposition is a comprehensive offering that companies provide to their employees, which has 5 main components:

1. Employee Value Proposition: Compensation

This component of Employee Value Proposition encompasses employee’s satisfaction with salary and additional rewards such as bonuses and promotions. In a broad sense, it is an employee’s satisfaction with a whole evaluation and compensation system, including its timeliness and fairness.

2. Employee Value Proposition: Benefits

This component of Employee Value Proposition encompasses a wide range of benefits such as paid time off (holidays, vacation and sick days), life and accident insurance and health, dental, retirement, tuition and disability benefits. In a broad sense, it’s an employee’s satisfaction with a whole benefits system.

3. Employee Value Proposition: Career

This component of Employee Value Proposition (EVP) encompasses different factors that affect employee’s career stability and a chance for its development and progress, such as opportunities for training and education, professional consultations, evaluation and feedback etc.

4. Employee Value Proposition: Work environment

This component of Employee Value Proposition encompasses different factors that constitute a positive work environment, from a clear understanding of employee’s role and responsibilities to a healthy work-life balance. Important factors are also a sense of autonomy and personal achievement and following recognition.

5. Employee Value Proposition: Company culture

This component of Employee Value Proposition encompasses different factors that constitute a great company culture, which is made up of positive relationships with colleagues, managers and company’s leaders, and characterized by trust, collaboration, team spirit and support. In a broad sense, this component of Employee Value Proposition also includes an alignment with company’s goals and plans with special emphasis on social responsibility.

What are you doing to keep your workers in this tight labor market?

How to define your company’s Employee Value Proposition?

If you’ve ever tried to define your company’s Employee Value Proposition, you know it is a very a complex task.

Step #1: Define your candidate persona

The first step in defining your company’s Employee Value Proposition is defining your candidate persona.

A candidate persona is the representation of your ideal candidate, the one you are trying to attract, hire and retain. This persona is formed by defining the characteristics, skills, and traits that make up your perfect hire.

Patrice’s TIP:
In order to successfully define your candidate persona, it is not enough to simply imagine a person that would be a perfect fit for your job. It is crucial to imagine a person who would also be the best fit for your company culture. Recruitment Culture Fit Tips & Questions

Step 2#: Define each main component of your Employee Value Proposition

The second step in defining your company’s Employee Value Proposition is specifying each of its main components with your candidate persona in your mind.

Patrice’s TIP:
To define each main component of your Employee Value Proposition follow this Employee Value Proposition questions:

What is the salary range and type of benefits that would attract this candidate persona?
What kind of career development opportunities is this candidate persona looking for?
What is the great company culture for this candidate persona?
What kind of work environment would this candidate persona thrive in?

Step 3#: Do your research

The third step in defining your company’s Employee Value Proposition is providing convincing answers to the questions from the previous step.

In order to do that, you will have to do a little research.

Current employees’ research

What do you currently offer to your employees in exchange for their time and effort invested in their job? What do they appreciate the most? What else could you do to motivate them?

Patrice’s TIP:
You can get especially valuable information from your top performers. Try to find out what motivates them to give their best each day at work.

Passive job seekers research

Passive job seekers are your ideal candidates who are not actively looking for a new job but would be willing to accept a better offer. Your goal is to find what would constitute a better job offer for them.

Patrice’s TIP:
Remember, a better offer doesn’t necessarily mean more money. It can be a flexible working time, education, opportunities to grow, benefits, cool projects, and many other.

Step 4#: Segmentation is the key

By completing previous 4 steps, you should have enough information to specify your company’s Employee Value Proposition.

Most employees stop here, which is a huge mistake.

In order to use your Employee Value Proposition successfully, customization is the key. If you want to attract the right talent for your company and open positions, you need to segment and personalize your Employee Value Proposition for your target audience.

Patrice’s TIP:
If you want to fill some entry-level positions with recent graduates, highlight your career advancement opportunities and a fun work environment.

If you’re looking to hire professionals who are parents, emphasize your child care services and work-life balance components of your Employee Value Proposition.

How to promote your Employee Value Proposition?

Defining your Employee Value Proposition unfortunately won’t mean a thing for attracting candidates if you don’t put it out there for them to see it.

There are many different types of content and communication channels which can be used for promoting your Employee Value Proposition.

Employee Value Proposition promotional content includes:

Employee testimonials
Company & team blogs
Company videos

Employee Value Proposition promotional channels include:

Career site
Social networks
Employee referrals
Talent networking email campaigns
Talent networking events

There is no magic formula for choosing the right type of content and communication channel that is guaranteed to work for every position and every company when it comes to promoting Employee Value Proposition.

What will work best for you depends on your candidate persona. If you followed our 4 step guide for defining your company’s Employee Value Proposition, you already have a clear understanding of the type of content and promotional channels which are most appealing to your candidate persona. So go on and utilize it to promote your Employee Value Proposition in the best possible way!