Agencies reviewed – what does your Employee Value Proposition say about you?

An Employee Value Proposition (EVP) can be a complete game-changer for your company culture, employee development, and how much top talent comes on board. For that reason, it helps to know what an EVP is, and how you can create one that truly stands the test of time.

What is an employee value proposition (EVP)?

An Employee Value Proposition is the promise you make as an employer to your employees in return for their commitment. This promise entails the sum of all the benefits and rewards employees receive from the company they work for.

Your EVP is the core of your Employer Brand and should characterise the substance of your organisation and why it is unique.

What’s the difference between your EVP and your Employer Brand?

Put simply, your Employee Value Proposition is internal while your Employer Brand is external. Your Employer Brand is the face your company shows the outside world as a potential employer. It’s the sum of all the different things people think when someone asks them what it would be like to work for a particular company. Your EVP, on the other hand, is the face your company shows its employees.

5 key elements of an Employee Value Proposition

A strong Employee Value Proposition consists of various elements. Together, these attributes determine how both your employees and candidates will perceive your company as an employer. The following five elements make up an employee value proposition:

• Compensation – This attribute includes your employees’ satisfaction with their salary, but also additional rewards such as bonuses and aspects such as your evaluation system. You can read more about how happy professionals in corporate comms are with their salaries and bonuses in our most recent Salary Guide.
• Work-life balance – This is about benefits. Think about everything from paid time off and holidays to flexible working options. When it comes to the kind of benefits employees value, our most recent Salary Guide found that hybrid working, flexible hours, pension contributions and bonuses all rank highly. There’s no one-size-fits-all recipe and desires differ between genders too as we noted here. New parents probably value different benefits than more senior professionals, so our advice is to try to customise where possible.
• Stability – Stability as in career stability, opportunities for your employees to further their career, develop themselves and employee training. Naturally, this is where your learning and development efforts come into play as well as possible mentoring/coaching initiatives you’ve developed within the company.
• Location – This component is about much more than the simple location of your office. It has a lot to do with the employee experience which relates to three environments: technology, physical space and culture.
• Respect – Respect is about positive relationships, support, and team spirit, among other things. More than just respect, it’s about your company culture - what are your organisation’s core values and beliefs?

Why is EVP important?

An EVP is important because it tells a candidate what they’ll get in return for working with you. By communicating the experience of working at your organisation, you’ll attract professionals who are a natural fit and value the benefits they’ll receive for their skills and experience. In addition, those who do not align with your EVP will be less inclined to apply.

But defining the essence of what your organisation offers employees is not a simple matter of sitting down with your marketing team and crafting a catchy strapline or captivating image. It takes genuine reflection of the real value you offer.

How do you go about developing a clear and compelling EVP?

In a tough hiring market, one where in-house roles are 6 times more attractive over agency ones (read more here) how do you articulately convey your employee value proposition on your ‘Join us’ or ‘Careers’ page when the website is set up to attract clients rather than employees?

Historically, agencies used to not feel the need to have to show what they were like as an employer as competition was fierce to land a job in a reputable PR consultancy. The days of ‘our name speaks for itself’ are, however, over when it comes to hiring and very few PRs – whose very job it is to promote – don’t publicise themselves. It’s now more essential than ever.

Which agencies are winning when it comes to a great EVP?

We looked at the websites of over twenty comms agencies, ranging from international global consultancies to small boutique businesses, to see how the industry’s employers are presenting themselves. As part of our research, we considered these questions:

• Does the website give me a great idea of what it’s like to work there?
• Is it presented in an easy-to-understand format?
• What is the format?
• Do they feature any jobs?
• Does the hiring section excite me?

The results were mixed. We found some excellent examples that made us want to apply for a job ourselves, and some examples where we couldn’t find any information at all about what the company would be like to work for.

Stand-out agencies included FieldHouse Associates, Fleishman Hillard and APCO UK. They use a range of eye-catching images to make the navigation for candidates easier based on their expertise; job seekers can browse different sections to find exactly the type of information they’re after. For example, if they are interested in learning more about open positions, internships and apprenticeships, graduate schemes, learning and development opportunities and diversity and inclusion, they’ll find all of these options on one page – one simple click taking them to whichever area they want to explore further.

Cordelia Meacher, MD at FieldHouse Associates explained to us the rationale for their impressive ‘Join us’ page.

"In the end, a PR agency is only as good as its people. And the best agencies are full of people who are all on board with the same values and mission, and therefore work well together and for the clients. So we know how important it is to showcase what it's like to work at FieldHouse on our website - and indeed on our Instagram - because we want to attract people who would enjoy the lovely culture we have, and the sort of work we do - and the sorts of things we get up to both professionally and socially. Nothing could be more important!"

Our research also revealed that there are plenty of agencies needing to spend time considering their EVP and ensuring their websites truly reflect that. A few lines of text and a link to current vacancies no longer makes the cut; if a prospective candidate cannot get a feel for what it might be like to work for a company, they won’t stay on the page. They will move swiftly onto the next one on their list.

Time to reflect

Is your company conveying a really great EVP? Have you looked at your employee proposition recently and translated this to your website? Think about what makes you stand out; maybe it's time to start shouting about it!

This is what we think is great to feature on your ‘Join us’ page:

• Core company values
• Testimonials from current employees
• Photos and videos of the working and social environment
• Benefits offered
• Training opportunities; learning and development
• Diversity & Inclusion
• Recognition for being a great place to work
• Current job vacancies
• Links to social media sites, contact email address
• And don’t forget – make it easy to navigate, so that visitors stay on the page!

We also recommend that you constantly measure the success of your EVP, such as by monitoring candidate applications and employee retention rates. Run employee surveys to understand what’s important to your team.

If necessary, adapt your EVP to ensure it remains relevant and is brought to life throughout your employees’ day-to-day experience. Reshape your EVP when required to authentically align with employee expectations. It’s a constant work in progress!

For a free download of our full Annual Salary Guide 2022, click here.

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