Employee Value Propositions (EVP) can be considered too abstract, complex or costly to tackle. Yet none of these misconceptions are true. In their session at Gallagher’s Beyond Today conference, Matt Frost, Director for People Experience Consulting, Gallagher Benefit Services and Chris Andrew Head of Caburn Hope, a Gallagher company, debunked some of these myths, and here is a summary of their key points.
The audience poll at the start of the event showed a mixed understanding of EVP, which is likely to be representative of UK businesses in general. While 39% of attendees said an EVP is fundamental to their culture and future business success, 30% didn’t actually know what an EVP was.
Why create an EVP?
Gallagher has seen a sharp rise in clients wanting to devote more time, effort and attention to their EVP as they become increasingly aware of the importance of looking after their employees’ wellbeing.
There are a variety of stats that illustrate the connection between an effective EVP and productivity and performance. Edelman's Trust Barometer found that in 2022, employees are now the most influential group in a company's long-term success, overtaking shareholders and customers for the first time1.
There are three core components within an EVP that must work together: package, amplification and experience. An EVP bridges the gap between employer and employees; it convinces candidates to join and represents the lived experience that motivates employees to stay. The package itself is the combination of the organisation's purpose, vision values, culture, policies, working environment, flexibility, internal processes, tools and technologies, reward and recognition.
Where to start?
An EVP is not a one-off proposition, but a living, breathing, and constantly evolving part of what makes an organisation unique. Leaders should consider it as an emotional promise that represents their way of doing work and demonstrating value. The EVP should also be clear and upfront about what the business expects from its employees in return and reflect the exchange of values between the employer and the employee.
The EVP must authentically capture the realities of an organisation today and balance this with the ambition and vision of where it is going and what that will enable the employee to achieve both at a personal and professional level.
There are six pillars that help to answer the question of what makes an organisation special:
From a Gallagher perspective, we're looking at an EVP as a combination of these six pillars. We use our PX (people experience) Framework with clients, which brings leaders together from across the business to assess their strengths and weaknesses and agree on the current state, what makes them unique, and what things they need to fix.
