In an increasingly competitive labour market, it’s been a no-brainer for many businesses to invest in their Employer Branding and create or strengthen their employee value proposition. With so many challenges against both recruitment and retention, a refreshed employee value proposition is essential.
Now, with signs of potential layoffs on the horizon in some industries, it’s more vital than ever that businesses anchor their promise to employees in a compelling and clearly communicated EVP. This foundational message is the most cost-effective way for businesses to provide employees with the sense of stability and direction that they most crave in a time of change — ultimately powering the kind of employee impact necessary for companies to navigate through times of uncertainty.
Even in tough times, people remain your most valuable—and most fragile—resource
When contending with a downturn, organizations need to focus on retaining their people more than ever. Of course, retention of your most valuable team members is just the tip of the iceberg. Organizations going through restructuring need their employees to be engaged, productive and focused because they are the essential ingredient that can help an organization weather the storms of a shifting marketplace.
As vital as people are to an organization and its success, it’s easy for them to be forgotten in times of change. When business leaders turn their focus to the calculations of cost savings, it’s easy to forget the very real humans in the equation. An employee value proposition can act as a powerful tool keeping company leaders focused on the people they are relying on in a crisis, and reminding them of their promise to deliver a certain kind of employee experience. Without this kind of attention, it’s easy for employees to enter into a downward spiral of poor morale and diminishing business returns.
An EVP can also bring an organization together when it’s communicated and executed with authenticity, directness and empathy. Even those who end up leaving the company — due to restructuring or for other reasons — can be left with a better opinion of the organization if it’s committed to its EVP. This is important to consider in this era of online employer reviews, word-of-mouth-driven job applications, and boomerang hirings.
How to refresh and leverage your EVP in times of change
An EVP can be scaled to the available resources, allowing companies to invest in employee experience, even amid cutbacks. Creating an EVP strategy within a company’s means can be simplified down to a few key steps.
1. Have a compelling employee value proposition
If you don’t already have an EVP, it’s possible to create a “starter” EVP with limited resources, that can later be refined and expanded upon when there are additional funds for more in-depth research and co-creation.
2. Integrate your communications
An EVP is just a deck of slides until your organization commits to integrating it into all aspects of your communications strategy. This is especially important to your internal communications; your town halls, newsletters, and employee events should all be created with your EVP in mind. External messaging, such as social media posts, can be used to acknowledge organizational challenges with authenticity while also highlighting the stories and performance of individual employees.
3. Involve your leadership team
Hold a session with company leaders to educate them about the EVP and convey its importance. Once they’re onboard, they can be enlisted to co-create ways to best leverage the employee value proposition to motivate the organization.
4. Activate employee ambassadors
The high-performers who are your employer brand ambassadors can also be enlisted to help identify low-cost and impactful initiatives to ensure the promises of your EVP stay a reality. For example, an organization that prides itself on offering growth opportunities may cut back on individual professional development budgets while launching a more economical lunch-and-learn series. The stories these ambassadors tell about these experiences, internally and via social media, can boost employer brand reputation over time.
Blog Author:
Leandra Harris
Managing Director & Co-Founder
Blu Ivy Group
About Us
Blu Ivy Group is a global leader in employer branding, organizational culture, and recruitment marketing. We help organizations across the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors build extraordinary employee experiences, magnetic employer brands, and high-performance cultures.
From C-Suite to Employer Brand and Talent Acquisition leadership, we partner with our clients to transform their organizations and design the most compelling workplaces of the future.
For inquiries, please contact sparker@bluivygroup.com.
