If you are looking to hire,

or are someone responsible for hiring, you likely consider what steps you can take to improve candidate attraction and employee commitment. Both of these factors are important for recruiting and retention. 

As we discussed in a previous post, turnover will cost you. So, it is essential to understand how to increase your attractiveness as a business to top candidates.

The solution is what is known as Employer Value Proposition (EVP), and it is a simple concept that increases the interest of potential candidates to your company. 

What is Employer Value Proposition?

Before we can define EVP, it’s essential to talk about recruiting. 

Let’s review the basics:

• Attract credible and quality candidates with a competency-based job description.

• Create a contemporary job ad written to attract top talent.

• Train your hiring manager and other first-line leaders to use a performance-based interviewing process.

• Customize your onboarding process to ensure the new hire commits and engages.

All of the above are important, but what if I told you there is a more effective way to attract the right talent and keep them committed, especially in difficult times like today?

Employer Value Proposition (EVP) is the set of attributes that the labor market and employees perceive as the value they gain through employment with your organization.

It’s a comprehensive framework and set of characteristics that define your brand and differentiate you from competitors. Your EVP is the value provided to both your applicants and employees throughout their entire lifecycle—from the interview process to the overall employee experience, including the way a former employee talks about your company after they have moved on. 

EVP is how potential employees will judge and consider the appeal of working at your business over others. 

We all know that the recruitment landscape has changed significantly due to technology. The truth is that candidates, whether active or passive, know how to research companies. They have access to a wealth of information on interview preparation and can reach out to your workforce to learn about your culture. Creating an EVP gives your business a stronger stance and greater appeal while being researched and investigated by potential employees.

Building your EVP: Why and How

Creating the EVP takes some effort and expect adjustments over time due to external factors that affect your business. However, once you have built your EVP, it will act as your roadmap for building and keeping a high-quality workforce. 

Research has shown that a well-managed EVP has multiple benefits, including:

• Increases the ability to recruit passive candidates.

• Reduces the compensation required to attract candidates.

• Significantly improves employee retention.

With that in mind, consider the characteristics that will help your business achieve a higher EVP. 

Research has found that the most critical attributes to prospective and current employees fall into five categories. Their rank order of importance changes over time, but most of the characteristics continue to be valuable. 

1. Total Rewards: Compensation and benefits

2. Personal Development: Growth and transferable skills

3. Company: What your company does and how it operates. For example, values and beliefs.

4. Work: Purpose, not just a paycheck

5. People: Engaged peers and leadership.

The first step in creating your EVP is working through these five categories, writing down where your business stands, areas that need improvement, and creating plans to address issues and improve. 

As mentioned, this is not difficult to build, but it takes time and commitment. 

Once it is built, follow up by communicating the EVP to senior leadership, managers, and employees, then inform the EVP to the labor market via employment branding. 

When all of the above is completed, it becomes a matter continuously monitoring your EVP and adjusting to meet your current talent acquisition demands. 

Imagine the possibilities!

Want a little more help building your EVP?

Download our free workbook to walk you through the process by clicking the button below.

Hiring through crisis

What about hiring and recruiting during the coronavirus?

This is a great question that we have asked as well—(read more about that here).

The truth is that in this case, it doesn’t matter. Crisis or not, if your business is hiring, you still want to attract talented individuals. 

Even if you have a pre-coronavirus remote workforce or newly minted remote workforce, the EVP attributes are still the same. Future employees still want the same things, whether they are sharing a workspace or are working at home on their dining room table. 

Implement the EVP and let us know how it changes your candidate pool. We would love to hear your stories.

Don’t forget!

Access our free EVP workbook to create your own! Click the button below to download.