The concept of employer branding has been with us for at least thirty years – transforming constantly as our relationships with work, media and technology have evolved. During that time, The Employer Value Proposition (EVP) has emerged as the core component in effective people branding and communications – and yet many of us still struggle to define what it is and how we can use it in practice.

“It’s a method that you can employ yourself”
Our definition of EVP? To us, it’s a summary of the unique and consistent exchange of value between the employee and the employing organisation – in other words, what is expected of employees and what is offered in return.

An EVP that works for you needs to describe this exchange in a way that’s true, distinctive, inspiring and sustainable. And when it’s shared and understood across the organisation, consistent EVP-led communications come together to deliver an employer brand that helps to engage the people and skills required to deliver strategic goals.

And in our view, it’s a method that you can employ yourself, across your organisation and throughout your career.

“EVP is a core skill that can be learned and shared”
In the past, EVP projects were often cumbersome and resource-intensive, requiring lots of interviews and focus groups to identify the distinctive and attractive features of the employee experience. Naturally, they tended to be led and owned by HR, sometimes in conflict with brand and marketing teams who were working with different objectives and information. And often, these projects delivered little in the way of measurable, long-term advantage.

Today, we’re seeing far greater alignment in creating and maintaining corporate reputation, with an acknowledgement that employees play an important role in building trust, not just in the organisation as an employer, but as advocates for its purpose and value in society.

In a multi-channel world, where social and collaborative tools are ‘always on’, employer branding has changed. How we communicate it is no longer set out in a manual, updated every few years. It’s increasingly fluid, dynamic – and responsive.

“Employer branding is now fluid, dynamic and responsive”
So defining and communicating the EVP isn’t an arcane, specialist job anymore. Instead, it’s become a core skill, deployed every day by people across the HR function and beyond. It’s a skill that can be learned and shared – and one whose results and value are increasingly measurable, in recruitment performance, employee engagement and advocacy.

Most organisations now have access to data undreamt-of thirty years ago. Real-time surveying, polling and sentiment tracking, social dashboards and performance data, networks and forums – all allow for faster, more accurate and nuanced communications without the need for months of focus groups and analysis.

“Unlocking the power of your data”
We’ve developed training tools that enable organisations to unlock the power of this data within a flexible EVP framework – quickly and with minimum disruption to business as usual. We’re helping employers to build coalitions across leadership, HR and communications functions to create a holistic and responsive employer brand which is recognised as a genuine business asset.

If you’d like to find out more about how we think and how we can help, get in touch and we’ll show you how you can acquire a skill that delivers measurable long-term advantage.

 
Andrew Platt-Higgins, EVP & Strategic Communications, PeopleStory.
andrew@peoplestory.co.uk