Effort is Attractive: Get the Talent

Steve Jobs said, “Hiring the best is your most important task.”

If you believe that, the first step in hiring the best is attracting the best. If you have open positions, plan to grow, or want to improve your employment brand, consider thinking about your company’s Employment Value Proposition today.

The United States unemployment rate stands around 3.9 percent and North Carolina’s, around 4.5 percent – both historically low. Although there is plenty of research to refer to, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that attracting great talent to our businesses takes more than faith and winging it.

So, how exactly should employers differentiate themselves from competitors when it comes to attracting talent? A good place to start is with a solid discussion about what sets you apart in the market. This can best be described as an Employment Value Proposition.

What is an Employment Value Proposition?

An EVP is a strategic document that is comprised of five main buckets and drives attraction and commitment from talent:

1. People – the quality of those working at the organization and their reputations, camaraderie amongst the team.
2. Organization – awards, caliber of customers, customer branding and recognition, ethics, social and environmental responsibility.
3. Rewards – Compensation and benefits, wellness aid, perks.
4. Opportunity – onboarding, feedback, pay-for-performance, learning and development, education assistance, career growth.
5. Work – impact to organization, physical office space and location, hours, travel.

Building a strong EVP requires commitment from senior leadership, a committed team with dedicated time, budget and management. And then it requires a branding strategy.

What is Employment Branding?

Once you have your EVP defined, you will need to communicate all this great information to both internal and external talent – this is employment branding!  Whether you use your website, YouTube, Facebook, Glassdoor, new-hire orientation, commercials, all-hands townhalls, small staff meetings or 1:1s, an employment branding strategy should be thoughtful, defined and executed by people across the organization.

You should develop and use metrics like quality of hire, brand awareness, employee satisfaction and employee referrals to assess the effectiveness of the employment brand.

Why Spend Time Talking About EVP and Employment Branding?

Having a strong EVP can be especially helpful for small and mid-size businesses. When it is viewed as attractive, new hires demand less of a compensation premium when deciding to join. That means the average 8.5-percent increase(i) a candidate typically expects when changing jobs can be cut in half!

According to Charles Sinclair, Head of Employer Branding at Oddwork, “More candidates start to apply for open positions, employees turn into brand ambassadors and they stick around and develop their skills for a longer period of time. The workplace gets happier and more motivated….”(ii)

Creating an EVP and employment branding plan that works for your business is far from an impossible task – it just takes some effort.  If you want to plan, develop and communicate how attractive your company is through EVP and employment brand, give Leath HR Group a call!