Unfortunately, many employers are currently facing a skills shortage and are struggling to fill positions. Some organisations may believe that a healthy pay cheque and an interesting job is enough to have candidates lined up around the block, but unfortunately it is not that simple.
There is no doubt that these two elements are essential ingredients, however it has never been more important that employers consider how their employee offering stands them apart from their competitors. When the market has more jobs than skilled candidates, organisations are challenged to secure enough workers to keep the business running.
When candidates understand that there is a skills shortage, it puts them in the driver’s seat. They know that they will be able to take their pick from a range of different organisations and they start to look at what else the employer offers above and beyond the pay check. No employer has an endless bucket of money to throw at candidates, so there has never been a better time to reflect on the employee experience.
Sometimes employers have many hooks and benefits that employees enjoy, but they are not great at defining them as part of their Employee Value Proposition (EVP). It is recommended that employers define their EVP and consider aspects such as:
Whilst many companies invest in the company branding so that they are clear on their position in the market and customer offering, many forget to consider the unique value that they offer their employees. Defining a strong EVP will help organisations to attract and retain talent in the business and it works hard to secure candidates in a skills shortage.
EVP is a term used to capture what an employer is offering to attract and retain employees. It contains anything to do with the employee offering such as pay, perks, benefits, opportunities, and rewards that the employee will experience and enjoy. The EVP is the value that the organisation will provide to the employee that is considered to meet their values, motivators, and needs.
It should be noted that the EVP is only appealing if it matches the needs and wants of the candidate. If a candidate was scared of flying, for example, an airline’s EVP of cheap travel would not be appealing. To secure this candidate, the airline would need other elements of their EVP to be attractive to the candidate; such as career progression.
As no two candidates are the same, employers are encouraged to have a multi-faceted EVP strategy to ensure that they are appealing to more than one ‘type’ of employee. At the same time, it is important to not try to be ‘all things to all people’. For example, some organisations do not have strong career progression, but they do offer an excellent internal training program. A candidate that is looking to climb the ladder will not align, however a candidate that is seeking on the job training will be pulled to the business.
One of the biggest mistakes employers make in the recruitment phase is over selling their EVP. In an attempt to gauge the interest of quality candidates, recruiters will often ‘over sell’ the employee offering. The obvious risk in this is that when the candidate becomes an employee, it is suddenly clear that the EVP that they were ‘sold’ in the recruitment process is aspirational and not factual. The result is that the employee feels tricked and even manipulated and this will usually end in turnover.
It is much smarter for employers to be confident to say, “we are not a company that supports external training, but we are market leaders in employee flexibility”. Be honest and up front about what your organisation is strong at as part of the EVP as this just might be the thing that gets talent across the line.
It is important that employers remain authentic to their EVP. For example, if the organisation promotes flexibility as part of their EVP, but there is no one actually working flexibly or ‘leaving loudly’ then it is actually not an authentic EVP offering and employees will see through this. An organisation cannot be all things to all people, it is much more important to work out their own ‘sweet spot’ where they feel comfortable and let the EVP align naturally to the culture. If this is done, candidates will be attracted to it and it will be the right hook for the right candidate.
An EVP is not only critical to attracting new employees, but it forms an integral piece in the engagement puzzle for existing employees. Recruiting employees is expensive and time consuming, so it does not make sense to fail in the employment offering. Some of the key reasons an employer should have an EVP include:
The bottom line is that an EVP can help to attract and retain employees that have goals and values in line with those of the organisation. The EVP should have a unique blueprint to each organisation and accurately and authentically represent the employee offering. There is no doubt that the employment proposition is a window into the organisation’s culture, and it can make or break the success of the recruitment, retention and engagement strategy.
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Georgina is Senior HR Content Editor – Publications at Ai Group. She is an accomplished Human Resource professional with over 25 years of generalist and leadership experience in a broad range of industries including financial services, tourism, travel, government and agriculture. She has successfully advised and partnered with senior leaders to implement people and performance initiatives that align to business strategy. Georgina is committed to utilising her experience to create resources that educate and engage and is passionate about supporting members to optimise an inclusive workforce culture that drives performance.
