The so-called 'great resignation' has driven an interesting shift, where there's more of a focus than ever before on companies having to sell themselves to employees. While some companies have always been great at this, some are having to play in this space for the first time, and may find themselves asking "why should somebody choose to come work for us?" In swankier terms, this is called the 'Employee Value Proposition' (EVP) - the sum of all the things that make your company unique and attractive to join.
Why does this matter? Research by Gartner prior to the pandemic found organisations that effectively deliver on their EVP can decrease annual employee turnover by 69%. Even during the pandemic (2021), progress on EVP was linked with positive results across all employee metrics, versus 65% of candidates reported having discontinued a hiring process due to an unattractive EVP.
Traditionally, EVP has been viewed as what the company gives its employees - remuneration, benefits, work environment and conditions. However, there's been a growing recognition (even more so post-pandemic) of the value of the more intangibles - connection, community, wellbeing, personal growth, autonomy and flexibility.
While a compelling EVP is great, it's no longer enough.
Once upon a time, it was enough to get great people through the door. Jobs weren't as readily available, and it wasn't culturally as acceptable to 'jump ship' if the reality didn't live up to the promises. It can be challenging and time-consuming enough to attract great people, only to find yourself back at square one if they leave within the first few weeks or months.
This is where Employee Experience Design (EED) comes in - another swanky term that basically just means "making sure the experience of your employees lives up to the hype". This means if your EVP is centred around 'Freedom & Responsibility' for example (Netflix), all points of the employee's journey through the organisation need to bring this to life - from recruitment and onboarding, to development, recognition, leadership, progression, and even in exiting.
An analogy I'm sure we can all relate to is a restaurant. On its website, the restaurant claims to offer an 'extroadinary fine dining experience that is like no other' (EVP). You're intrigued and it's a special occasion (the EVP aligns with your needs), so you think 'why not?' and book. When you arrive, you expect that everything from how you're greeted, the decor and atmosphere, the attentiveness of wait staff, taste and presentation of food - will bring this description to life (EED). If it doesn't (maybe the food was great, but the atmosphere felt more like a fast food restaurant and you were rushed out the door), you're probably going to feel let down and not want to go back. The experience didn't live up to the promise of what the experience would be.
You might also be familiar with a marketing analogy, where EVP is essentially your internal branding, whereas EED is the end-to-end internal customer experience.
Stay tuned for the next two parts where we unpack this further:
Part 2: What's your 'secret sauce' (EVP)?
Part 3: Making sure your Employee Experience lives up to the hype.
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