Gone are the days of being obscure regarding your employee value proposition (EVP). In the current landscape, if employees don't know what rewards and genuine value your business offers, you are less likely to attract top performers. What's worse, if you overpromise and underdeliver, those top performers will likely move on – and fast!
In fact, false promises regarding EVPs travel fast; word of mouth, social media, online reviews on job boards, and news reports all expose businesses for advertising false EVPs. It's a bad look. All it takes is a quick online search for top-performing candidates to quickly discover if your company lives up to your EVPs.
An up-to-date EVP isn't just about attracting talent, though. It's a truly clear indication of the benefits, values, opportunities, and culture of your business. It plays a vital role when it comes to the promises employees verify and expect when they work for you, while also communicating your value in the current job market.
When promises fall short, it doesn't just impact your new hires; it causes a ripple effect throughout your entire business, causing rising recruitment costs and premature resignations.
Unfortunately, many businesses continue to operate with outdated EVPs that don't currently reflect their current or future aspirations, thereby missing out on top talent. In a competitive marketplace, EVPs need to be current and attractive to the market to attract the most desirable talent.
In this blog, we’re going to go through how to take your outdated EVPs and attract the best talent there is on the market. Let’s explore.
Why You Absolutely MUST Review Your EVP TODAY
Plainly put: businesses have a bad habit of misunderstanding what attracts talent. Yes, offering a competitive rewards package is important, but it isn't the only important part of the equation. Just having desirable rewards isn't enough to fully sway a candidate's decision.
In the same survey, the World's Most Admired Companies (WMAC) identify poor employee experience as a significant risk to their reputation and overall success.
That's right: employer reputation and EVP are essential when attracting and keeping the top talent in your organization.
The Impact of an Outdated EVP
If you have a weak EVP, you're not going to end up at the top of the talent cycle. First, start with how much it costs you and your business to have a weak EVP. If you don't have a strong EVP, you'll end up paying more in recruitment costs; why? Because if your EVP is weak, the only other factor bringing in top talent is how much you're willing to pay them.
This also holds the risk of causing low employee engagement within the company due to an ineffective EVP, leading to an overall lack of productivity.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, over 47 million Americans quit their jobs in 2021, marking a 33% increase compared to the previous year. Locally, more than 70% of Canadian workers are considering leaving their jobs within the next year.
How to Truly Attract Top Talent in 2025
So, what do top talent want in 2025? We’ve scoured several job sites, listings, and statistics and found a consensus on the most desirable EVPs top talent look for:
Flexible Working Hours: Hours that work with you, rather than hinder you, provide an opportunity for work-life balance and enable greater productivity by choosing optimized hours.
Generous Compensation: Being compensated for the level of work experience you have is an absolute must-have, but it isn’t the only one.
High Job Security and Stable Company: Knowing that your job is secured for the foreseeable future with a company that has good employee retention provides serious peace of mind.
Excellent Learning and Development Opportunities: Having the opportunity to progress in your field of work is highly desirable.
Hybrid Working Options: In today’s day and age, having the option to work from the office or home sets your business apart from the rest. In fact, according to the Harvard Business Review, of 5,000 knowledge workers surveyed, 59% of respondents reported flexibility is more important to them than salary or benefits, while 77% said they would prefer to work for a company that allows them to work from anywhere.
Properly Reviewing Your EVP in 2 Steps
Are you tired of relying solely on compensation as your only attraction strategy? Is there a serious disconnection between your promises versus your employee experience? If so, it's time to review your EVP.
A comprehensive review can help you completely overhaul your organization's EVP issues, such as:
Having a distinct balance between what your business needs and what top talent expects in return.
Carefully managing an authentic approach while balancing aspirations for the future.
Maintaining industry standards while also standing out from the rest of the competition.
Balancing global consistency with local relevance.
Before you can fully address these issues, you must understand where you're at. You need to conduct a comprehensive EVP review – which starts with a little bit of self-reflection. Even if you don't end up liking what you discover.
So, what's the step-by-step? Let's break it down:
1) Examining Your Current EVP
Your EVP review paints a clear picture of where your business currently stands. A proper and comprehensive assessment can help you to fully identify where your business has strengths and detect any gaps. Doing a complete audit and comparing it to industry standards can help you determine where your current EVP stands against the competition.
You need to analyze what you offer: the career board, job description, and recruitment requirements against what drives employee satisfaction and productivity. Make sure you clarify and identify any disconnects between what you promise versus what your business actually offers currently.
Make sure you ask yourself some key questions:
Do your current recruitment messages align with your employees’ day-to-day experience?
After conducting an employee engagement survey, what gaps have emerged between your promises and reality?
What insights have recent exit interviews provided about unmet employee expectations?
By recognizing and identifying the potential gaps, you can gain some invaluable insight into the future of your EVP.
2) Addressing the EVP Issues
Your employee EVP strategy must address several key issues to be truly effective in the long term.
Ask yourself how your current EVP balances your business goals with the needs of your employees. For example, if your current strategy emphasizes lower-cost leadership, but your employees are prioritizing high compensation for their work, how do you find a middle ground? Your review must address this misalignment.
You also need to examine several other key elements of your EVP:
Strategic vision for long-term success
Anticipated future skill needs
Goals for organizational transformation
Competitive market positioning
The next key is determining what drives your employees now and into the future with your business. There are several ways to approach this, such as conducting comprehensive surveys or focus groups.
Another part of this process is tackling the question of how your EVP can be both ambitious, but also authentic/realistic. How can you do this, exactly? One straightforward way is to have two sets of EVPs: One that’s public for recruitment, which highlights what the company currently offers, and an internal EVP: which highlights ambitious goals for the future.
An additional approach is to be transparent about future intentions along with how things currently stand, but make sure you only do this if you have a concrete plan of action in place that identifies feasible improvements. You don’t want to share false promises that you can’t deliver on.
EVPs - What Makes You Stand Out
Your EVP review should highlight what makes you stand out against your competitors in the talent marketplace. Your EVP doesn't necessarily have to be super unique, as there are common EVP elements that are widely desired. But you do need to have at least one or two that truly set you apart in your respective industry.
You need to make sure your review digs deeper than what's common in your industry and clearly identifies what sets your business apart.
This requires a deep dive into your competitors and looking through multiple perspectives. You can review their public messaging through online media; you can skim through job board reviews to identify pain points and reputation, and you can scour through job listings to see what your competitors truly offer. What do current and former employees say about their experience?
The goal isn't to be a magical unicorn that's completely different for the sake of it; instead, it's more so about identifying what is needed to compete in your respective industry and how you stand out. Your review needs to examine what you offer against what top talent truly desires.
Looking to Attract Top Talent? Partner with itec group
At itec group, our people are what make us stand out. When you’re ready to attract top talent, our carefully chosen team of professionals is here to help you find skilled, long-term employees who align with your needs. We excel through collaboration, adaptability, and a shared passion for excellence. Together, we’ll propel your business forward. Contact us today for more information.
