Attracting and retaining the right people is a real challenge for firms, as talent remains scarce and expensive, and the advice industry is no exception.
The Covid-19 pandemic strained and tested the worker-employer relationship and people quickly expected more from their organisation.
Many employees began to reflect and re-consider who they wanted to work for and the role they wanted to play.
Against this backdrop, creating the right ‘employee value proposition’ (EVP) has become increasingly important – not only in terms of attracting and retaining top talent, but also in creating an engaged, motivated, diverse and high-performing workforce, which ultimately enables a business to achieve its objectives.
So, what is an EVP?
The EVP is effectively a deal between an employee and their employer: what they give and what they get in return. In simple terms: what’s in it for them.
The question for advice business owners is how much time has the firm spent considering its value proposition? Fundamentally, has it asked its people what they want? Or is it time to reassess an existing EVP?
Here are five considerations to help businesses create and hone a meaningful EVP, putting them one step ahead in the competition for top talent:
Employee experience
There has been a shift in the employer-employee dynamic. Employees want and expect to be seen as individuals. It’s therefore essential to empower them to achieve a desired way of working.
This means cultivating a positive and supportive workplace culture, as well as prioritising personal development and creating compelling career paths.
People are looking for the workplace to create connections and a sense of belonging.
Creating a shared purpose
Individuals are looking to join and stay with a company they truly value and believe in.
This means businesses need to create emotional proximity by achieving a connection to the organisational vision and goals.
It will be necessary to take people on a journey, provide clarity on the company’s strategy and direction, help people prioritise, ensure workloads are manageable and be careful not to overwhelm them by implementing too many organisational changes at once.
Wellbeing
In today’s social and economic climate, many workers are worried about their families, their health and whether market volatility will put them in danger.
Investing in and implementing a proactive wellbeing strategy, which recognises and strengthens financial, mental and physical health and wellbeing is good for workers and can have a positive impact on their productivity.
Work-life balance, hybrid working and creating an inclusive workplace are also increasingly important considerations for modern businesses.
Leader effectiveness
As today’s work environment changes, leaders must also continue to adapt and evolve.
Authenticity, empathy and adaptivity are no longer nice-to-have traits for leaders.
Helping stretched managers further develop or enhance these qualities will be important, particularly around subjects such as hybrid leadership (which combines a mix of face-to-face and remote management), cultivating a growth mindset, communication, and diversity and inclusion, along with understanding and supporting neurodiversity.
Material offerings
With rising inflation and salaries, it can be hard to compete on remuneration packages.
Instead, consider how you might set your business apart through alternative benefits such as recognition schemes, access to training, supporting voluntary work or flexible, part-time or hybrid working practices, among other areas.
When considering your EVP, it may be tempting to try and offer everything people ask for. However, it’s important to be strategic as, once implemented, it could be difficult to undo any new benefits or practices.
You will need to decide which levers to pull and consider what’s not easy for competitors to imitate.
What is absolutely essential is continually reviewing the EVP, gathering feedback and assessing your people’s changing needs – then making any necessary changes.
One thing that is abundantly clear for advice business owners in today’s highly competitive employment market is that you can’t afford to stand still.
Kate Sparkes is head of HR & development at Sesame Bankhall Group
