What Actually Is An EVP?

What actually is an EVP?

Let’s first define the acronym. EVP actually stands for two things:

• Employer Value Proposition

and

• Employee Value Proposition

Which one is right? They both are. You will develop your own preference as to which one works for you.

Employer Value Proposition is an employer-centric view which is based on the logic that the EVP is what the Employer offers to Employees  - the value proposition that encourages people to work at the company and also to stay at the company.

Employee Value Proposition is an employee-centric view which is based on the logic that the EVP is the value proposition that the Employee gets from the company to encourage them to work there and to keep them there over time.

So both are right, and both are the same, so feel free to decide which one you prefer!

Ultimately an EVP is an expression of a company’s culture, values, and offerings which encourage people to work there and keeps them working there over time.

As we have already talked about in our previous post, EVP and Employer Brand are intertwined and continually exert a force on each other. A company’s EVP can be directly manipulated but the Employer Brand is how the EVP is received and understood by your audiences.

If you’re planning on understanding and making changes to your EVP you need to know what it is actually comprised of so you can understand which elements need attention in order to positively influence your Employer Brand.

For the purpose of understanding what makes up an EVP, we use twelve topic categories which allow us to break down the nebulous concept of EVP into manageable chunks.

These are (in alphabetical order):

• Career Opportunities
• Diversity and Inclusion
• Environmental, Social and Governance
• Innovation
• Job Satisfaction
• Leadership
• Learning and Development
• Purpose and Values
• Remuneration and Benefits
• Stability and Change
• Team and Culture
• Wellbeing and Working Environment

As you’ll detect as an overall theme of our blog, these items are for guidance only. You will most likely want to emphasise some of the categories over others and you may have some additional categories that are important to you that are not listed here. 

Nevertheless it is important to structure your thinking around EVP so that you can crystallise it into tangible elements which you know you can measure and talk about so that you can influence stakeholders within your company in order to influence changes which will positively affect your Employer Brand.

Our ambition is that any topic of conversation about EVP or Employer Brand will fall into one of the twelve categories.

Let’s take a closer look at each of them.

Career Opportunities

This category covers any topic or policy regarding how an individual can advance in their career and increase their scope and seniority. It is both career progression in the traditional sense and also their opportunities for career mobility. In this category we need to consider all kinds of career mobility and not just the hierarchical pyramid of seniority.

For example, a linear career progression could be where an individual increases their skills, expertise, experience and therefore reputation internally and externally in their particular field of work. 

Diversity and Inclusion

This category covers all topics about equal opportunities for everyone in the workplace, regardless of their individual attributes, circumstances and backgrounds. This covers both policies and the lived reality of diverse individuals in the company. 

Environmental, Social and Governance

This topic area documents a company’s impact on both environmental and social sustainability and it’s ethical approach to doing business. These areas are examined through both the actions taken by the company, and the governance and policies in place.

Innovation

How innovative is the company? This category uncovers how innovative a company is in its way of doing business. Does the company seize opportunities for change and innovate solutions, or does it remain static in its approach?

Job Satisfaction

Do employees find satisfaction in what they are doing or are they crushed by the daily grind? Most companies find a mixture of both within their teams but what is the overall picture? This category finds out.

Leadership

One of the largest impacts on culture is by the behaviour of leaders. Are they supportive or self-serving? Are they demanding or laissez-faire? This category looks at the impact of leadership on people in the organisation. 

Learning and Development

In order to develop your career, you need to be able to develop your skills in your chosen field. This category assesses how well your company supports people in their learning journey so that they can develop skills for the job at hand and for their futures.

Purpose and Values

Is your company purpose driven? Does it have a compelling set of values that resonate with the people who work there? This category looks at the purpose of the company and the values and how well they are enacted within the organisation, and if people remember what they are.

Remuneration and Benefits

How well does your company pay and what other benefits does it offer? This category looks at the monetary and non-monetary benefits of working for the company and what people think about it.

Stability and Change

This category reviews the recent history of the company through the lens of change. For example, is the company growing or shrinking? Have there been any seismic shifts in the company direction? Have there been mergers or acquisitions that have changed the company culture?

Team and Culture

How do people perceive their colleagues and the culture of the organisation as expressed by the way people behave? Does the company engender a competitive or harmonious environment? Does the culture vary across teams, across geographies, or even between floors in a company? This category looks at what people thing of their team and culture environment.

Wellbeing and Working Environment

This category looks at the workplace and the work-life balance offered by the company. Is the work place safe and comfortable? Does the company give its people the right tools to do their job? If there are periods of hard work, is there commensurate pay or time off? How do people feel about their wellbeing while at work in their working environment and how does the company support them?

...

As you think about the EVP of your company, categorising as you see fit using the headings above, you will no doubt find that there are certain categories that stand out profoundly positively or negatively and some that are more “average” in how they present themselves. 

We’ll talk more about how to create a baseline measure for your EVP in a future post, but in the meantime keep these categories in mind while you are thinking about your EVP and maybe add some of your own, or subtract any that don’t resonate with you and your company.