employee value proposition Archives

Ask Your Employees The Most Important Question

Understanding your Employee Value Proposition can tell you why your employees work for you (and why they might choose to leave).

Do you know why your employees work for you? Suppress the desire to roll your eyes and respond with the no-brainer statement/question, “Uh… because they get paid?!”

The question of why employees work for you, and why they choose to engage in their work, may very well be the key to winning the ongoing employee engagement battle. Yet, few organizations are able to answer it in any depth.

The Employee Value Proposition

As customers, we have a perception of a company’s brand. We reason that “ABC company is known for their high quality, but XYZ company’s products are more affordable.” Or, “I refuse to shop at the mall store because their customer service is horrible!”

The brand (or perception of that brand) dictates the clientele and, often, the experience. An important part of that brand is Customer Value Proposition or CVP. The CVP defines the value of a firm’s products or services to the consumer. It answers the question, “Why should I buy from you?”

Both customers and employees expect certain things from a company’s brand, or “employee brand.”

The Employee Value Proposition is the answer to the question, “Why should I work for you?”

Knowing why an employee chooses to work for you will tell you a great deal about your brand (and your employees’ perception of that brand). Yet, when asked about why employees make that choice, all but the most in-touch organizations come back with responses like, “We pay well,” “We have great products,” or simply, “Because we have job openings.” Few are able to describe their employer brand in any level of detail.

Playing to your EVP strengths

During the past several years, our firm, DecisionWise, has worked extensively with two restaurant companies. One of these companies is a 400-location fast food chain, specializing in Mexican food. The other is a 100-location upscale restaurant chain. Attrition and hiring challenged these companies. In order to understand the factors behind these issues, we conducted organization-wide surveys and focus groups.

Case Study 1

People know the fast food company has good Mexican food at a low price (their CVP). That’s important to know, but when we asked the question, “Why would someone choose to work for you?” we were met with blank stares.

Through organization surveys and focus groups, we found that workers remained for three reasons:

Flexible work schedules
The ability to work with family and friends who were also working at the same location
The reduced-price lunches they received once per week (a valued perk that equated to about 78 cents per employee per week).

We learned that if those factors were present, the odds of the employee remaining with the company increased dramatically (220%, to be exact). If those factors were not present, adios.

Armed with these findings, the leaders at the fast food chain implemented a recruiting referral program. They paid employees $100 per referral hired by the same restaurant location. Rather than discouraging families from working together in their restaurant, they began to promote it, bringing networks of friends and family together in the same locations. Additionally, they expanded their discounted food program to include one meal per four-hour shift. This generated tremendous goodwill. They understood and built their EVP.

Case Study 2

The upscale restaurant chain had a very positive reputation in the communities in which they operated. They were known for their extensive menus and cuisine. They clearly understood their CVP, but not their EVP. After conducting an all-hands employee engagement survey, as well as a number of focus groups, we learned something interesting about their EVP that was only suspected by company leaders, but not yet confirmed.

This company’s associates were engaged by factors that were different from those indicated by the fast-food chain. First, they took pride in saying “I work at XYZ restaurant” because of the well-known cuisine and name. Additionally, they valued the opportunities for growth and development, flexible schedules and satisfied customers.

Because this restaurant chain had concerns about employee retention, the company focused on leveraging their EVP. They established online communities, both internally and externally, where employees could “celebrate the brand” and show their pride in working for the organization. Next, they asked employees to provide input into the company’s seasonal menus, encouraging them to sample each of the dishes.

Then, they implemented an online work scheduling system in which employees could create a schedule that met their individual needs and family circumstances. The company understood its EVP, and made it a priority to build it. Employee retention increased dramatically, as did employee engagement and guest satisfaction, as a result of these positive changes.

Know your EVP

Why do your employees choose to work for you? Most organizations don’t take the time to fully understand the answer. Consequently, they miss a key component in understanding their employee experience. Understanding your EVP and the details around why they work for you begins with the answers to five questions:

What is our organization’s “employer brand” (what current and potential employees know you for)?
How will our employees respond when their friends and families ask the question, “So, how do you like working for XYZ?”
Why would someone choose to join our organization (what is the value you propose to future employees)? What would it take to attract that person?
Why would an employee choose to stay and engage in our organization? What would it take to keep that person?
Are there any gaps between what appeals to your employees and what they experience? What would it take to close those gaps?

Keep in mind, EVP doesn’t just apply to the organization as a whole. Each company, function, location, department, plant, and even manager has its own brand. Your value proposition answers the question, “Why do our employees choose to work for us?”

So, how would you answer the question? Do you know your EVP?

employee value proposition

Why Do Your Employees Choose to Work for You?

(Article originally published on August 10, 2017 by TLNT )
Just as the customer has expectations around a firm’s brand, so does an employee. While the Customer Value Proposition defines the value of a firm’s products or services to the consumer, the Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is the value — tangible, intangible, and reputational — that an employee receives from an organization in exchange for his or her work.

Download: Sample Employee Value Proposition Report

When we work with organizations on their employee engagement initiatives, we often conduct what we refer to as “engagement summits.” During these summits, we review the results of the company’s employee engagement surveys, discuss recommendations for improvement, and develop action plans. One of the key components of these summits is to discuss the organization’s EVP.
We start by asking organizational leaders, “Why would someone choose to work for you?” All but the most in-touch organizations come back with responses like, “We pay above market,” “We were just voted an employer of choice,” “We have a recognizable name,” or simply, “Because we have a lot of open positions.” Others simply look at each other, laugh uncomfortably, and say “Uhhh…we don’t really know.” Either way, few are able to describe their EVP in any level of detail.

Two companies that know their EVP

We recently worked with two restaurant companies, one a 400-location fast food chain and the other a 150-location upscale chain. The fast food employees, as we learned through surveys and focus groups, found the greatest value in flexible schedules (which allowed them to meet family, school, and social obligations), the ability to associate with friends while on the job, and getting 50% off of once-per-week lunches (a perk that cost about 78 cents per week per employee).

The upscale restaurant workers, in contrast, were engaged by completely different factors: opportunities for growth, development, and advancement; the trust of their managers; community support; and satisfied customers.

The leaders at the fast food chain, understanding their EVP, also understood that most of their workers were young and mobile-device savvy. In order to facilitate scheduling (one of the key drivers of their value proposition), they went to an app-based scheduling system their employees could access from home. They implemented a recruiting referral program that paid employees $100 per referral hired, solving the recruiting problem by bringing networks of friends and family together in the same locations. They expanded their discounted food program to include one meal per four-hour shift. Employee engagement and retention increased significantly.

The upscale food chain also looked at its EVP and discovered that the value proposition varied across job descriptions. For example, a large percentage of the chain’s servers (who made up a significant portion of the population) fit into one of two categories: students and single parents. For them, a flexible schedule with sufficient working hours to pay the bills was extremely important. The restaurants accommodated. Restaurant managers and assistant managers, however, valued the opportunity for career development, training, and advancement. For the latter group, they put in place a comprehensive manager training program, which greatly reduced attrition.

Here’s how to know your EVP

Most organizations don’t take the time to review their EVP in detail. Understanding your EVP starts with asking the following questions, but doesn’t end there. We find that many organizations think they know the answers to these questions. However, we also find that many times employees respond differently. This misalignment results in ineffective hiring, disengagement, and attrition.

Do you know your EVP? Start by answering the following questions. Then, compare your answers with those of your employees to see if you are aligned:

What is our organization’s “brand” (what you are known for by current and potential employees)?
What outcomes do you experience because of that brand, and are those the outcomes you want?
Why would someone choose to join your organization (what is the value you propose to future employees)?
What would it take to attract that person?
Why would an employee choose to stay at your organization?
What would it take to keep that person?
Are there any gaps between what appeals to your employees and what they experience?
What would it take to close those gaps?

EVP doesn’t just apply to the organization as a whole. Each company, function, department, plant, and even manager has its own brand. Do you know your EVP?

employee value proposition