What is Employer Value Proposition?
Employer Value Proposition (EVP) clearly conveys the benefits/value that you, as an employer, provide to your potential candidates. It should essentially answer the question, “Why should a candidate choose to work for your company over other employers?” EVP is often condensed into the form of a crisp “positioning statement” for better clarity.
Why is it crucial to have an Employer Value proposition(EVP)?
An EVP is the core of your recruitment marketing strategy. It forms the foundation for every interaction you have with your candidates and current employees, whether direct or through content.
How to create a compelling EVP?
Now, with the help of an example, let’s see how to answer the above question, “Why should a candidate choose to work for your company over other employers?”
We can do that by identifying two aspects:
1. Benefits a candidate gets by working for you
2.Your competitive advantage compared to other employers in the market.
For the purpose of this exercise, let us assume a hypothetical company called Good AI, and their Ideal Candidate Profile (ICP), Ferris Wheeler.
Ferris Wheeler
- Current employer: All things AI
- Current job: Product Marketing Manager
- Experience: 8 years
- Skills: Go-to-Market Strategy, Content writing, SEO
- Interests/hobbies: Music and travel
- What does Ferris value the most in a job?
- Good compensation, work-life balance, and opportunities to collaborate creatively with peers to add value.
- Pain points: His work does not allow enough time for family and other pursuits. The current employer’s culture is not inclusive, and he is unable to collaborate and contribute effectively.
1. Benefits a candidate gets by working for you:
Let us start by creating a comprehensive list of all the perks, both monetary and non-monetary that Good AI offers.
- Monetary: Base compensation, bonus, and equity (Good AI’s compensation is above the industry average)
- Well-being: Insurance for employee and their family, Paid time-off, Parental leave, Mental health resources
- Career advancement opportunities: No ceiling policy, mentorship, learning resources
2. Your competitive advantage compared to other employers in the industry:
It is important to convey what sets you apart without overtly saying you are better than other employers (because nobody likes that). This is where ICPs come in handy. Look at your ICP's pain points and what you do or provide to address them. Then, research what your competitors do to address the same. You should be able to answer the following questions. Let us answer them for Good AI.
What do Good AI’s ideal candidates value?
Ferris values good compensation, work-life balance, and opportunities to collaborate creatively with peers to add value to the organization.
What pain points does he currently experience?
Ferris's work does not allow him enough time for family and other pursuits. The current employer’s culture is not inclusive, and he is unable to collaborate and contribute effectively.
How does Good AI address the pain points?
Good AI addresses its ideal employee’s pain points by offering above industry-average compensation and allowing them to work remotely, which promotes a healthy work-life balance. Additionally, they provide various benefits to support their employee’s well-being including insurance coverage for both employees and their families, paid time off, parental leave, and mental health resources.
However, they have not implemented any active measures to monitor inclusivity and address any related concerns.
How do Good AI’s competitors address these?
Some of Good AI’s competitors allow remote work too. Few of the competitors actively address inclusivity by regularly checking in with employees, penalising discriminatory behaviour, and ensuring that there is a diverse representation at all levels in the company.
What does Good AI do better than the competition?
The pay scale is higher than the leading players. Only two other companies in the industry allow fully remote work.
If Good AI isn’t providing what the ideal candidate values, and isn’t addressing all or any of the pain points, what steps need to be taken?
The hypothetical company, Good AI, needs to take steps to address the pain points of its ideal candidates. This includes monitoring whether employees of varied backgrounds feel included in the workplace. They can begin by surveying employees to understand their experience within the company. With this information, they can take actionable steps to improve inclusivity and ensure that they provide what their ideal candidates value.
Deriving the positioning statement:
Now that we have a fair understanding of what benefits Good AI provides its employees, what their ICPs value, what the competition provides, and what sets Good AI apart, we can go on to create their Employee Positioning Statement. It could look something like the below:
“At Good AI, we value our people above all else. We aim to attract and work with the best talent by offering above industry-average compensation, allowing employees to work from anywhere in the world, and fostering an inclusive and collaborative culture.”
Note: Although Good AI hasn’t addressed inclusivity yet, it can still be part of the positioning statement. The positioning statement can be used both internally (to serve as a guide for initiatives) and externally. However, while sharing the positioning statement or creating content targeting your candidates, you can exclude parts that haven’t been fully attained.
What's next?
Once your EVP is ready and there is consensus among relevant stakeholders, you can start strategizing content to attract, engage, and nurture your Ideal candidate profiles(ICP). You will ideally want to pick a tool that can support your marketing efforts such as campaigns, omnichannel outreach, and setting up a custom careers page.
.png)
