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Successful Supervisor Part 51: Employee Value Proposition

Bob Whipple, MBA, CPLP

There is a relatively new term being batted around in HR circles.  The term is “Employee Value Proposition.”  I want to discuss the concept here and suggest that some of the ideas would be helpful to any supervisor. I understand that supervisors need to adhere to policies and procedures set from a higher level, but the extent that you can lobby for more rules consistent with maximizing EVP, the better your organization will run. 

The concept of Employee Value Proposition is very simple. It is the appeal employees feel for working in your organization. The concept takes in all of the policies and procedures that impact personnel at all levels. If your HR policies are such that employees are thrilled to be working in your organization, then you are in good shape. If the rules make some people wish they were elsewhere, then there is work to be done.

The value proposition is more than rules, however. How employees are treated by all levels of supervision and all other employees is a large part of EVP. A high EVP is a reflection of a great culture where employees not only value the rules but appreciate how they feel about the work.

The vision is to be so appealing to employees that your organization becomes like a magnet for the very best resources.  It is easy to recruit the best people and also to retain them with significantly less turnover. The objective is to have people become convinced that they would be fools to ever think of leaving. They know that there is no grass greener than where they are right now.

Few organizations are able to achieve that level of appeal, but I know of several groups that are close to it, and they have several hundred people apply for any posted job. Their turnover is a tiny fraction of the average turnover in our region and those few people who leave do so because of a spouse leaving the area or some other mechanical force that literally pries them away from the organization. 

Attracting the best employees gives an immediate benefit because we all know that hiring a dud of an employee is like an albatross on the entire operation.  Having low turnover gives numerous financial benefits that really add up. The cost of recruiting and training go way down for organizations with high EVP. The savings go directly to the bottom line.

Talentsmoothie.com suggests two main reasons for a low Employee Value Proposition. They are as follows:

  1. Not differentiating your own organization from the competition.  If several groups have the same conditions for employees, then there is no sustainable competitive advantage, but it is not enough to be better than the other groups. You need to make the difference obvious to current and prospective employees. It is vital to have a solid list of the reasons why your organization is a better place to work than the similar type of organization down the street.  To do this well, you need to not only know your policies and climate well, you also need to know what other competing companies are doing.  This means doing a lot of solid research and then documenting your advantages.
  2. The second factor that is all too common is that the branding is appealing, but it does not fully reflect daily practices throughout the organization.  The hypocrisy of saying one thing but doing something different will destroy EVP in a heartbeat. It is vital that all supervisors and managers know what is being advertized and are actually doing that on a daily basis.

Pay attention to the Employee Value Proposition for your organization and for your area within it. The benefits of maintaining a high EVP are huge, but they must be earned and be real to provide the advantages.

Successful Supervisor Part 51: Employee Value Proposition (.pdf 52K)



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