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Is it time you refined your employee value proposition (EVP)? Follow Corporate Crayon’s approach and see the difference it can make.
An effective employee value proposition (EVP) is crucial for Australian organisations.
Research by Gartner found organisations that deliver on their EVP can decrease annual employee turnover by 69 per cent.
For internal staff, EVPs serve as a reminder of the company’s mission, creating a flow-on effect in enhancing engagement while fostering a positive workplace culture.
Not only do EVPs help retain top talent, but they also play a big hand in attracting prospective candidates by allowing organisations to showcase the unique benefits and opportunities on offer.
The importance of EVPs is not lost on Corporate Crayon, which has it as one of its key objectives when supporting organisations’ growth and retention strategies.
The end-to-end creative communications agency, which is now in its eighth year running, prides itself on supporting organisations in Australia and around the world in building (and maintaining) an EVP that delivers.
‘Two-way promise’
Unlike other agencies, Corporate Crayon’s approach to helping clients define and implement an effective EVP begins by using behavioural psychology.
This helps the team understand the talent an organisation needs to attract and retain before developing an EVP that is unique to them and their business’s needs.
The team’s five-stage approach is essential in developing EVPs that are both well constructed and well communicated:
- Discovery – Uncovering the unknown that exists and bringing it to life so others can discover it.
- Connection – Linking the ambition of the organisation with the output required to build belief.
- Human – Understanding key motivators for key stakeholders and end users in development.
- Considered Design – Paying attention to the detail in design with purpose, impact, and engagement at the core.
- Individual Simplicity – Supporting the application with fresh thinking for easy adoption.
Corporate Crayon not only conducts research, consults clients, and makes recommendations, but it also creates what the organisation needs to sell their EVP – both to internal and external employees.
“It’s not like we just go, ‘Here’s a report and good luck’,” founder and chief executive Evelyn Jackson explains.
“We see it as a two-way promise between an organisation and its employees … So, after our discovery and all the research - we research both internal and external talent. This gives us a 360 degree perspective of the talent an organisation needs to attract, motivate and retain. This means that when we then share the story with them,, there’s a lot of nodding of heads, and everyone can relate to it.
“Once you do that, we move on to creating the branding or visual language for your EVP.. For some companies, they already have established corporate branding, so it might be about: ‘How do you apply it with the audience in mind?’ and ‘How do you want to see it communicated and with what tools?’ We might create assets, collateral or tools, it might be an extension of their brand or logo, and always assets that can be used directly on their intranets, websites, on LinkedIn, on their social media or on their job posts (to name a few channels).
“We recommend doing a playbook, their detailed guide to implementing the EVP across their organisation. And we often suggest that we review their careers page on their website or their careers website if they have a standalone website, because a careers website is critical to the success of the EVP.”
The user experience on any careers page or website is crucial for organisations considering their EVP. Often the difference between success and failure..
“Sometimes, we see careers sites that simply don’t match the story or the messaging the organisation describes. and it doesn't reflect who they say they are from a user perspective,” Evelyn explains, noting that the team at Corporate Crayon focuses on user experience as part of the journey.
“We focus a lot on the user flow and the seamless activation of the process on a website, looking at how easy it is for an applicant to understand the company quickly, find out information and be able to apply to a job quickly and effectively?
“Having an effective careers website that has all the information and is user-friendly is critical.”
Another key area Corporate Crayon assists in is recruitment marketing for companies.
“Once we’ve created the EVP, we ask: how are you going to communicate it externally to attract talent? And we put together a communication strategy and a communications plan, and match it to the internal communication plan.
“When we put together an internal communication strategy and develop a plan, we make sure that all their key stakeholders and leaders know what the EVP is, know how to talk about it and have the available resources to showcase it. To do this, we support them to implement the EVP with meaningful content curated and produced by us or in collaboration with us such as video content.”
Looking ahead
For those yet to review their EVP, now presents an opportune time. As attracting and retaining the right talent continues to be a focus for most organisations.
Research from HR tech group HiBob showed one in five Aussie businesses are looking to grow employee headcount in the coming months.
Key to how employers attract this headcount will be the effectiveness of their EVP.
“A well-constructed EVP certainly reduces turnover. It definitely also reduces hiring the wrong people and that can cost a lot of money,” Evelyn says.
“Strengthening your unique point of difference so that people talk about you and are proud to work for you, plays into branding and reputation, something that people don’t often talk about in relation to an EVP, but it’s certainly a significant output of an EVP.
“They used to say that employees leave managers, not companies, and I think that that’s still true to an extent, but I also think that employees join companies because of what they hear, see, and think about an organisation. So focus on your EVP as much as you do on leadership development and you will see the difference.”
Going forward, Evelyn advised HR leaders to have a good look at how their organisations are promoting their EVP, noting that support is available for those who need it.
“If you want an EVP that’s going to last three to five years and attract the right people into your organisation, then that’s where we can help,” she says.
“We take the time to get to know you, and help leaders on the journey to actively use their EVP for results. With our 3 values of flexibility, trust and imagination, we like to think of ourselves as extensions to the HR teams we have the privilege to work with.”
To learn more about Corporate Crayon, click here.
To get in touch with a member of the team, click here.
