How to stand out as the company everyone wants to work for
23 May, 2023
With workforce expectations changing and key talent in short supply, your Employee Value Proposition (EVP) – what you as an employer can offer to your people in exchange for their time and skills – is more important than ever.
Why do you like working where you do? Would you recommend it to a friend? What would you change if you could? The answers to these questions are a good starting point for thinking about your organisation’s EVP and why it’s so important to the success of your business.
What is an EVP?
Every employer has an EVP if they’re conscious of it or actively manage it, or not. Your EVP is what you offer current and prospective employees, and what you expect from them in return. It’s far more than just pay and prospects, as important as these are.
Your EVP should include the way in which you want your people to work and vice versa – 75% of Channel Islands’ organisations believe they attract talented people by providing good work-life balance and flexibility over hours and working locations. In embracing flexibility, this could include considering different types of flexible requests – people of different ages and other sections of your workforce will have different needs. As competition for talent intensifies across all industries and sectors, some businesses are going further in the flexible options they offer their people. This ranges from the introduction of job sharing for certain roles to sabbaticals for staff who want to study, travel or simply refresh.
Crucially, your EVP also includes what you stand for as an organisation at a time when people want greater purpose and meaning in their day-to-day work. Globally, PwC research reveals that more than 80% of employees now prefer to support or work for companies that care about the same issues as they do, such as diversity, sustainability, and social inclusion. This would include focusing on supporting the mental health of your people, working closely with charitable organisations, or promoting sustainable workplace practices.
Culture at the heart of your EVP
Culture should be at the heart of both your employee experience and your values as an organisation.
Clearly, cultures vary and people are attracted to different types of organisations. But if you’re able to define your culture and align this with your EVP, you’ll be able to make this a lived experience for your employees and be in a better position to attract, retain and motivate the talent you need to achieve your strategic goals.
In practice, this comes down to living up to your promises. For instance, if you promote yourself as an organisation that prizes diversity and inclusion, but this isn’t reflected in your gender pay gap or employees don’t feel they can be their true selves at work, then this could be damaging to your reputation as an employer, especially as word quickly gets around within close-knit island communities like ours.
Developing a winning EVP
So how do you create an EVP that is both compelling and credible? Drawing on our experience of working with a wide range of Channel Islands’ organisations, three key priorities stand out:
- 1. Take stock of your EVP
- 2. Create an active dialogue with your employees
- 3. Keep adapting and responding
1. Take stock of your EVP
The starting point is charting what you offer employees, what you’re known for, and what characterises the culture that underpins this. Little details such as social get-togethers or flight allowances for people with family abroad can be as important as big picture items such as your rewards package here. Once you’re clear about the make-up of your EVP, you can begin to build on the strengths, while working on any gaps and weaknesses that might put off potential recruits and existing staff alike.
2. Create an active dialogue with your employees
Engage with employees across your workforce to find out what they like about working for your organisation, what could be improved, and what more you could do to support them in their work, wellbeing, and mental health. You can then augment this dialogue with data from areas such as exit interviews and publicly available analysis of workforce expectations and trends. Objectivity is key here, especially as some employees will simply tell you what they think you want to hear. Independent evaluation and insight can be helpful.
We often find that management is surprised by what they learn. For example, they might assume that it’s pay or benefits that are by far the important attractions for employees when PwC research shows that it could just as well be factors such as job fulfilment or the ability to be one’s true self at work. Similarly, benefits such as gym membership might seem like a good attraction, but isn’t being taken up, so alternatives such as lifestyle allowances may be better.
There are also some attributes that are especially important in the Channel Islands. Employees might prize the kind of flexibility that would help them to take advantage of all our islands have to offer – being able to leave early in the summer so employees can be on the beach by five, for example.
3. Keep adapting and responding
The framing and strengthening of your EVP aren’t one-off exercises that can be put on the shelf once complete. It’s important to keep listening to employees, tracking developments in workforce expectations, and looking at how you keep up-to-date and stand out from the pack wherever possible.
If you would like to know more about how to develop, evaluate and strengthen your EVP, please get in touch.
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