Published on August 14, 2023
Every company in the world has an Employer Value Proposition (EVP) whether it’s defined or not. If you were to ask an employee ‘what is your companies EVP?’ I believe many would struggle to answer, however having a robust and engaging EVP can be the determining factor in attracting, retaining or losing talent from your organisation. Let's start by defining what EVP is.
What is the definition of Employer Value Proposition (EVP)?
“Employer Value Proposition is the salary, compensation and benefits that the employer pays to an employee who’s contracted to deliver skills, experience and productivity that further delivers the company’s business goals, mission, purpose and values."
The law of attraction states that like attract like. We, therefore, form relationships with people who have the same beliefs, values and aspirations. That’s why business’ have a duty of care to clearly define the employee value proposition and articulate the company’s business goals, mission, purpose and values, so they can attract and retain the right talent for their brand. If successful relationships are the heartbeat of every successful organisation, it makes sense to attract, engage and retain the right people that will build ongoing successful relationships across your business.
Your culture is defined by the way in which the people in your organisation behave, so it follows that if you want to influence or change the culture, you need to start by influencing the thinking…
Thoughts become words.
Words become actions.
Actions become behaviours.
Behaviours become culture.
How to define your companies values
Company values are what support the vision, shape the culture and reflect what the company stands for as a brand. They are the essence of the company’s identity – the principles, beliefs or philosophy of values. Many companies focus mostly on the technical competencies but often forget what the underlying competencies that make their companies run smoothly are — core values.
So why do so many businesses struggle to define and effectively communicate their core values when they are vital to the overall success of building a business? Organisations need to take ownership and define their company values and they need to be constantly reinforced and reviewed as they are important to the long-term growth and value of the business.
Establishing strong core values provides both internal and external advantages to the company, as if your employees are living and breathing the values each day, then this will undoubtedly impact on the relationships between your people, your customers, your brand and reputation. How your people behave (both internally and externally), maybe the reason a customer decides to do business with you.
Now let’s spin this around and see what happens when an organisation does have a robust set of core values that are communicated across the organisation in an engaging and exciting way… below there are six sets of company values from six of the larger global organisations. As a consumer, do you think you can match the values to the brand?
Clearly define your companies EVP
Every EVP should be clearly defined because in doing so you can not only actively attract and retain talent but also communicate to your customers through your defining brand purpose. As you begin the process of defining your EVP, you have the opportunity to correct parts that don’t fit with your company vision; comprehend which parts are really unique and can become a key selling point for your company, and articulate this EVP clearly to both current employees and potential new recruits.
I’m quite often amazed when I’m privy to the budgets to design and deliver an EVP project when compared to the marketing spend in the same organisation. The percentage split for HR budgets v’s marketing and advertising budgets have traditionally been vastly different, however, we are now starting to see a shift in ‘internal marketing spends’ – that is exciting and engaging your current and future employees to buy in your brand.
The premise is a simple one – if you engage and inspire your people to live and breathe your mission, vision, values and culture – your brand reputation for having attentive, happy staff that build relationships with your customers (because they are fulfilled and happy!) would negate a lot of the need to go out to market for new customers. Time and money spent on your internal culture is eternally valuable to the success of your organisation.
“Your people are your biggest opportunity and your biggest risk”
At Laws of Attraction, we work with organisations to help create and define the values that support your vision and shape your culture. We also work in collaboration with you to design your communication strategy and create integrated visual communications plans to permeate the thinking of your people, ensuring those values become more than words by actively influencing employee behaviour.
Our suite of design collateral can range from a complete brand overall to short videos from your CEO communicating the values, and everything in between.
If you’re interested in learning more about EVP and the work we do around culture and values, please get in touch attract@lawsofattraction.com and let’s talk.
Answers: 1. Amazon 2. Adidas 3. Facebook 4. Virgin Atlantic 5. IKEA 6. Starbucks