More than 80% of organizations haven’t defined a formal Employer Value Proposition (EVP), according to Brandon Hall Group research. But just because you haven’t defined it, doesn’t mean you are not experiencing the impact of your EVP.
Everyone has an EVP – whether you have defined it or not. EVP is a unique set of offerings, associations and values that influence job candidates and current employees. A company needs a unique employer offer. The EVP gives current and future employees a reason to work for an employer and reflects the company’s competitive advantage. That’s why we at Brandon Hall Group like to refer to EVP as the Employer-Employee Value Proposition. A better abbreviation might be E²VP.
Brandon Hall Group’s 2015 research, completed in September, examined how organizations look at EVP and the impact it has. Let’s look at what high-performing organizations — those shown through survey results to see overall improvement in employee engagement, customer satisfaction, organizational performance/productivity, and voluntary turnover — think about the impact of their EVP. This will help all organizations strengthen their EVP strategies:
- Developing managers. Brandon Hall Group research shows 57% of high-performing organizations consider developing managers – especially their ability to coach, mentor and lead – to have the greatest impact on an EVP and an organization’s ability to attract and retain talent. But ensuring your company develops your managers and leaders at every level is still difficult:
- 36% of respondents to our 2015 Leadership Development research reported poor leadership development initiatives.
- Half of these organizations said their leaders are not skilled to effectively lead their organizations today
- A startling 71% said their leaders are not ready to lead into the future.
- Retaining high-performers and high-potentials. A visible, focused effort on developing and retaining high-performing and high-potential employees is also viewed by 57% of high-performing organizations as having a major impact on EVP. Rewards and recognition systems, such as Achievers and Globforce, exposure to new initiatives and knowledge leaders, creating stretch assignments, and showing that these employees can “make a difference,” are just some of the ways organizations can motivate these critical employees to be fully engaged in their work.
- Enhancing learning and development opportunities. 49% of organizations said this was critical to ensuring a strong EVP. Potential employees that possess the skills and the desire to grow their careers find this to be highly attractive when choosing employers.
- Outstanding communication. Top-performing employees want to understand a company’s mission, values, successes, and losses as much as any executive does. Senior leaders should take every opportunity possible to reinforce and model their company’s EVP, and 37% of organizations in our research said this was critical.
