Having the right Employee Value Proposition is key to successful employer branding – but workforce expectations are changing.
When COVID-19 shutdowns began rolling out, Canadian workers went from commuting to cubicles, corner offices, and conference rooms to working from home — overnight. Now, one year into the pandemic, nearly one in three employees are still remote, an eight-fold increase from five years ago.
Remote work is just a piece of the seismic workplace shift that’s happened over the last 15 months. The pandemic has had huge implications on the world of work, including how and where people tackle their professional responsibilities. It’s also altered what employees value and expect from their employers.
This is why it’s vital for HR executives and hiring managers to understand the power of their Employee Value Proposition (EVP). In a post-pandemic world, organizations need to modernize their EVP and shift towards viewing employees as people. This article unpacks the qualities of a strong EVP and why, more than ever, having a post-pandemic EVP is critical to success.
Understanding the power of Employee Value Propositions
The shift in employee expectations and general workplace structure is driving more organizations to revisit — or launch — their EVPs.
EVPs are essential organizational documents, designed to outline all monetary and non-monetary employee benefits and perks. By having this information in a single, universally-accessible format, any stakeholder — employees, leaders, HR, new hires — can get a clear-cut look at the company culture including compensation, benefits, career development opportunities, and work environment.
To attract and activate top talent, employers must present a strong brand message that connects with modern job seekers. A thoughtfully-structured, human-centric EVP achieves this, communicating an innate understanding and sense of accommodation people want now more than ever. This is especially important in candidate-driven markets, where job seekers do their due diligence on potential employers — 34% of job seekers in Canada say they read company reviews before searching for a job and 66% read reviews after spotting a potential job but before applying.*
EVPs are also powerful tools for retaining existing talent. The right EVP effectively communicates the attributes and themes that underscore the culture, atmosphere, and overall relationship that exists between leadership and workers — the long-term foundation for your employer brand that employees can count on post-hire. Adhere to it and you’re, essentially, reaffirming a promise made during the hiring and onboarding stage.
With expectations set and adhered to, companies can expect higher levels of employee satisfaction and commitment — positive sentiments that can potentially help curb turnover and increase productivity.
The following section will highlight three areas that employers should focus on when revisiting their EVP for a post pandemic world.
Revisiting EVPs for a post-pandemic workplace
While there are many benefits to having and circulating an EVP, many companies don’t have a complete guide in place — and the majority (60%) of those that do say core values still aren’t well known throughout the business. That may sound problematic but, in reality, the lack of EVPs or EVP knowledge presents an optimal opportunity to take a step back and revisit post-pandemic employee needs and expectations. With these insights, leadership can best develop value-add and other best practices for building an EVP and overarching employer brand that’s appealing to today’s talent pool. Consider these high-value benefits and employee priorities when reviewing your EVP.
1. Radical Flexibility
In a recent Talent Accelerator report, 88% of knowledge workers want complete flexibility in terms of both working hours and location, and HR leaders are leaning in. The notion of work-life integration was already on the rise — and likely on most leadership teams’ radars — pre-pandemic. Now, with more people working from home, the lines between professional and personal are even blurrier as workers shift focus throughout the day, as needed. Having flexibility in when and where work happens enables people to keep pace with every aspect of their lives. This is key to attracting and retaining talent as we emerge from the pandemic.
According to Harvard Business School professor and remote working advocate Prithwiraj Choudhury, “The early adopters and the companies that are embracing this [remote work] model and building the organization around that remote work model will have a huge advantage in attracting talent." This claim is consistent with Indeed findings, too – 59% of job seekers in Canada say that flexibility and/or remote work are important factors when deciding whether to apply to a company.**
There are many ways to integrate more flexibility or remote work into an organization. For example, Indeed re-examined how employees will work once they return to the office. With the goal of increasing flexibility, Indeed created three categories of work and classified which roles fell into each category:
- In-office employees: People who must work in the office every day, such as receptionists and facilities teams.
- Flexible employees: Jobs eligible for flexible work arrangements. Many of these employees work from home two to three days per week and come to the office on other days.
- Fully remote: Jobs that require no in-office time.
Indeed isn’t alone. Spotify recently announced its employees will continue to have flexible working options – working full-time from home or the office, or creating their own hybrid models. IBM, too, will be adopting a more flexible model. Within their hybrid model 80% of employees will report to the office three days per week.
2. Supporting employees’ financial stability
While many Canadians report saving during the COVID-19 shutdowns, the gap between those who are struggling and those who are comfortable has widened. Forty-three percent reported being “financially stressed” in 2020 versus one in three from 2009-2019. More than half say they’re nervous about retirement, compared to 45% in 2019.
By considering these challenges and ongoing concerns, employers can better review and restructure financial wellness programs. Options like employee assistance programs (EAP) access can help workers deal with debt as well as retirement planning, while in-office and virtual financial literacy workshops can help people structure their current cash flow, savings, and long-term strategies.
Taking these steps isn’t just a pro-employee move either. Sixty-nine percent of Canadian workers say they spend work time thinking about personal finances, accounting for more than $20 billion in lost productivity each year.
In that vein, now is also an ideal time to revisit pay equity conversations. Due to decades of pay inequity, mothers in two-parent households are more likely to give up their jobs to care for children, as they are less likely to be the higher-wage earners — and that’s exactly what happened during the pandemic. During the early stages of COVID-19 shutdowns, women made up 63% of the million jobs lost in Canada alone. Supporting employees’ by providing short- and long-term disability policies, integrating benefits like on-site childcare or childcare benefits, and offering wide-reaching health services can help working women thrive in the modern workplace.
Likewise, now is also an ideal time to revisit pay equity conversation. Pay equity remains a persistent challenge for Canadian organizations with women earning 23% less in total income than men. From a branding perspective, failing to close the gap could impact future recruiting and hiring: 50% of respondents aged 18-34 say they would leave an organization if they found out that a colleague of equal standing, but different gender, received higher compensation. Closing the pay gap within your own organization as well as integrating benefits like childcare or childcare benefits, long-term care options, and more wide-reaching health services can help working women thrive in the modern workplace.
3. Focusing on mental health and well-being
The pandemic brought mental health concerns forward, with more Canadians reporting anxiety and depression than ever. In December 2020, 22% of Canadians surveyed said they’d been diagnosed with depression and 20% with anxiety. Many blamed social isolation and the stresses of working from home.
Quickly employers took note, with 68% reporting at least one new wellness benefit designed to support mental health during the pandemic. Looking ahead, many experts anticipate organizations will aim to do even more to expand mental health benefits and make mental health more of a priority and less of stigma.
Wayfair, for example, recently implemented two global “Reset Days” employees could use at their discretion. Recognizing that much of their work is collaborative, the company also integrated two organization-wide Reset Days. During these two days all employees were encouraged to “unplug” — and with no other team members reporting, these days were truly able to serve their purpose. In another example, when Indeed saw that employees were taking less time off during the pandemic, they introduced a monthly company-wide holiday, called “YOU Day,” to encourage people to take much-needed breaks.
Despite these efforts, in Canada, less than 10% of benefit plans focus on mental health. Looking ahead, companies must prioritize these essential benefits, then focus on communicating existing and new benefits to employees and prospective hires. From better mental health support, short-term disability benefits, and improved compensation claim workflows, getting these services in-check will help improve and accelerate performance, productivity, and satisfaction.
Why it pays to update your EVP — now
With radical flexibility, supporting employees’ financial stability, and enhancing mental health support services, your organization will be best positioned to evaluate and modernize your EVP — and, with that, improve your employer branding, recruitment, and talent retention.
Organizations are already seeing the benefits. By focusing EVPs on the “Human Deal” — layering in radical flexibility, helping employees grow as people, offering holistic care, and taking action on societal and cultural issues — companies have seen double-digit net promoter growth. Simply offering one element can make a significant difference. Companies that offered radical flexibility, for example, experienced an 18% increase in high performers, while those that focused on personal growth opportunities had a 6% increase in employees’ intent to stay.
These positive sentiments and employee actions, then, trickle down to employer branding including the online reviews and ratings, word-of-mouth, employee referrals, and other positive outpourings that elevate your organization’s persona. Building this level of employer branding, though, takes not just articulating your EVP but also following through, delivering both the sentiment and the definitive actions employees want and need.
In today’s modern workplace your EVP must offer a concise, clear, employee-first snapshot of how your business brings these and/or other employee-first benefits to the table. By showing your unwavering alignment to people’s evolving needs, you’ll highlight the value of human resources within your business. Your employees move your business forward every single day. Now more than ever it’s essential to have policies and an EVP that shows you’re here, you’re listening, and you’re reciprocating.
*Indeed survey, n=896
**Indeed survey, n=1,300
