A decade ago, employers were the ones in charge of selection processes throughout, but the current scenario has taken an almost complete turn-around. After a survey conducted in 2015 by MRINetwork, one of the most prestigious companies in the field of recruiting, among 600 HR managers all over the world, they concluded that 90% of personnel selection processes depend on candidates’ preferences already. Looking at this figure, we could say that we live in the candidate-empowerment era.
“This means that you don’t choose talent anymore. Talent chooses you instead”, claims Cristina Martic, Marketing and Employer Branding Manager at TalentLyft, a company specialized in generating software for recruitment purposes.
Organizations innovating the most in the fields of human capital and professional development are the ones that have adapted to this new paradigm successfully. Many of them have made use of diverse practices, among which the Employee Value Proposition (EVP) method finds its place.
The main purpose of EVP is to act as a magnet to attract the most talented. In order to do so, according to a study by LinkedIn called Global Recruiting Trends 2017, the deciding factors that make a candidate choose a certain company are: the impact on his professional career and how stimulating is the position, both in economic and intellectual terms.
Thus, an EVP must highlight the strengths of the offered job, so that a candidate is able to compare it against other positions within the same company and/or similar jobs in other organizations. In this sense, an Employee Value Proposition should provide a straight response to the following questions on the part of professionals: Why should I apply to this position? Why should I choose this company instead of others? What is there for me there that I won’t find within other organizations? Why is this company a good place to develop my professional career?
EVP keys for an optimal professional development
The first key factor an EVP should include is a set of tangible rewards: competitive salary and other retributions, paid holidays, health insurance or adequate equipment to perform assigned duties in the company properly.
Secondly, it must allow the applicant to visualize how attractive his career prospect is going to be within the organization. In that respect, it’s essential to highlight job stability and career development opportunities, as well as a Training Plan availability.
The best EVP strategies also include a section focused on the company. Peter K. Murdock, member of the HR management expert committee of Forbes, claims that “people want to work for organizations they can be proud of. Emphasizing accomplishments, background and future plans helps when trying to attract talent”. Everything related to corporate culture, that is, mission, vision and values should be also included at this point.
Lastly, a proper EVP should not neglect all things related to the working environment, including the existing the type of leadership within the company and a detailed description of the job itself, since these are fundamental aspects in order to achieve an adequate professional development.
Employee Value Proposition Procedure
The first step to create an Employee Value Proposition with guarantee of success is to identify and analyse the working conditions within the company. It is indispensable to rely on work team’s collaboration regarding their perceptions and needs. During this stage, it is also convenient to keep an eye on what competitors are doing.
After the EVP design stage, it is time for its implementation throughout the organization. This would correspond to the fourth stage, or awareness: a good communication plan will be useful to convey the Employee Value Proposition at all corporate levels and to build a brand image in the labour market. The last step should be to do a follow-up of the proposition, since its results are measurable in terms of quantity and quality of the talent joining the organization.
As we can see, implementing a proper EVP strategy within the company not only will enhance the professional development of workers, but it will also increase their degree of commitment with the company, avoiding the loss of the most talented employees eventually.
Sources: Forbes, Recruiter Sentiment Study and TalentLyft