Communicating Your Employee Value Proposition to Attract and Retain Talent

Why is it important to communicate value (and your values) to current and future employees?

Consistently communicating the beliefs of your organisation and the intrinsic value of working there, is the most effective way of attracting and retaining top talent that you will need to drive long-term growth and competitive advantage.

Job seekers are becoming increasingly engaged in the values of businesses, aiming to work for organisations that closely align with their own values. Indeed, a recent survey by Express Employment Professionals¹ indicated that nearly half (49%) of job seekers would consider leaving their job if their employer's position on key social issues differed from their own.

Whether it has been consciously articulated or not, all companies have an Employee Value Proposition (EVP). Be it through a mission statement. via job adverts, client wins, or products produced, a company's values and beliefs are communicated in all aspects of how it interacts with the world, community and industry. This combined with the ever-growing number of employee review sites and social media in general means people will have a view of what you offer employees and what you expect in return — whether it's true or not.

Not recognising the need to take a step back to identify and articulate your desired EVP risks losing valuable team members or attracting the wrong type of talent to your business.

How do businesses know what to communicate?

First things first, let's be clear on what we're talking about. An EVP is the unique promise an employer and employee makes to one another. A distinct set of offerings and benefits provided to employees in exchange for their skills, experience, attitude and performance. Essentially the 'give and the get'. It includes transactional (compensation, benefits) and emotional (culture, growth opportunities) aspects.

Your Employer Brand is the 'face' of your organization as an employer. It's the external and internal perception of your organisation. It reflects how the company is seen in the job market and among its current employees. It's aligned with an organisation's overall brand — looked at through an employment lens.

The combination of your EVP and Employer Brand creates — in our words — your People Story.

Although traditionally, 'value' has been seen as a financial framework, remuneration is just one aspect of the value a business can offer its employees.

Below are nine key areas of value that EVPs can communicate²*:

1. Purpose: Providing meaning and an opportunity to have an impact. Inspiring, credible leadership.
2. Opportunity: Career growth and development in an environment of continuous improvements and upskilling.
3. Success: Start-up vs heritage. High performance and recognition.
4. Rewards: Compensation and benefits: Delivering measurable impact — and being rewarded and recognised for your contribution.
5. Work environment: The physical and digital tools you provide and expect your people to use. With the growing impact of AI on the workplace, access to the right technology is an attractor and an enabler.
6. Empowerment: Freedom and responsibility. Providing autonomy in decision making and expecting accountability.
7. Collaboration / Connection: Teamwork and culture. Creating an open, inclusive environment built on trust and psychological safety.
8. Wellbeing: Work-life balance and support as standard — fostering a sense of joy.
9. Security: Stability and long-term prospects — fostering loyalty and a commitment to growth.

Identifying which of the above attributes you want to focus on to differentiate your organisation from your competition, as well as bringing to life your values and mission as a business, enables a full articulation of your EVP for both existing and prospective talent.

It's important to remember that what makes you special as a business is also what makes you special as an employer. Your employee communications must flow seamlessly from your brand and your values into the heart of your employees, both current and future. It's critical to ensure your EVP and Employer Brand work together with your corporate brand — and that anything you want to focus on as a core attribute of your employment offer is credible and backed up with the relevant proof points.

Communicating an EVP to attract talent

A business needs to be able to answer the question — why should the people we hire choose to work with us, rather than anywhere else?

The messaging might be compelling, the benefits and rewards packages exciting and opportunities for new starters fulsome, but these benefits may not be reaching the type of talent perfect for the business.

The most common reason for this is inconsistency.

For example, if you clearly communicate your values via a job advertisement, but these values are not backed up in peer reviews or on your website, this causes inconsistencies that confuse and put off potential talent.

This inconsistency of message can be traced back to an inconsistent employee communication strategy. For example, if the Benefits and HR teams holds one set of beliefs about a business, but the internal communications teams hold another, messaging across their outputs will always be inconsistent and confusing to their intended audience.

For communication to be effective, organisations need to ensure their internal communications are as robust as possible to ensure all aspects of the business are bought into and are aligned to the bigger picture of the EVP.

Communicating an EVP to retain talent

Having an employee communication plan that authentically engages your workforce across the board around your EVP is a key requirement for organisational success. Over the years, we have seen many researched, compelling EVP documents sit on a shelf collecting dust.

When you look at all the various touchpoints within the employee experience, it can be difficult to know where to begin. Taking ownership requires a considered approach that will engage your workforce and drive positive behavioural change in line with your business goals.

This comes down to three key areas:

1. Leadership buy-in: Your leaders are a crucial channel, and the successful embedding of an EVP will depend on their ability and openness to communicate and behave in a way that is aligned with it.
2. Champions: You know who they are. The influencers in your organisation — the people others listen to. If these people buy into your People Story, they'll encourage others to do the same.
3. Surround sound: When a new movie is released, film studios don't just put a billboard outside the cinema and hope for the best. They think about collaborations with other brands, competitions, experiences relevant to their target audience. It's the same with an EVP. We know that employees are overwhelmed with the sheer volume of communications being thrown their way — often with little thought. An effective way to truly embed an EVP can be to think less about the big splashy launches — and more about how to weave the messaging into existing programmes, policies and initiatives.

Inspire and engage—not just inform

Effective communication needs to be clear, inspiring, relevant, personable and accessible. There is no one size fits all, so it is vital that organisations find the right way for them.

In so many organisations, communications to employees tend to focus heavily on the more transactional aspects of work. It can be easy to forget that employees are consumers in the outside world and are used to receiving human-centric, consumer grade communications, which focus on emotions and stories — not just facts and deadlines.

Putting it to action

Defining your EVP and communicating it effectively to your internal and prospective talent can be the difference between organisational performance and failure.

Remember: Consistency and authenticity is key. For an EVP to truly inspire your team, everyone must see it in every interaction with your organisation. And they need to believe in it — connecting to it as humans, not just employees.

Looking for support in creating and communicating your Employee Value Proposition? Start your journey with us today.

*Inspired by Richard Mosley's Employer Brand positioning wheel — Employer Branding for dummies. Published in 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Sources

¹https://www.expresspros.com/newsroom/news-releases/news-releases/2024/10/the-price-of-silence-40-percent-of-job-seekers-avoid-companies-without-clear-stances-on-key-issues

²https://prodwebflow.dummies.com/article/employer-branding-dummies-cheat-sheet-231122