By Laurie Baatz—In the previous installment, we acknowledged the challenges that exist in today’s business climate for business owners when it comes to hiring decisions. With the current U.S. unemployment rate sitting at 3.5%, businesses find themselves competing for workers today more than ever. As a consequence, the shortage of qualified candidates continues to make the hiring process difficult.
A critical element to a successful hiring search is establishing your employee value proposition (EVP). The term is typically defined as a set of both monetary and non-monetary benefits provided by an organization to its employees in return for the skills, capabilities and experience they bring and the contributions they make to the organization.
In short, EVP is what makes your organization different that brings value to a prospective candidate. To better quantify your company’s EVP, ask yourself how do you and your organization differentiate yourselves to attract candidates that have the desired skill set that aligns with your company culture? Businesses curate their value proposition to customers, and their teams are trained on how to position their value proposition to win business. We suggest you do the same for your employees and prospective candidates by creating and supporting your company’s EVP.
Besides the traditional compensation and benefits package, there are several ways that companies can differentiate themselves with their value proposition. Organizations can customize their EVP to fit their corporate culture to include non-monetary benefits such as:
First, offer “true” work flexibility. If you can’t offer remote work, consider offering a hybrid work week with a few days working from home in combination with a few days working in the office. Or, offer a shift in daily work hours if the remote or hybrid models don’t work for your organization.
Next, foster genuine employee connections such as in-person meetings for those working in the office. Also, look for ways to celebrate individual or collective “wins” with a happy hour at the end of the day; milestones like employee birthdays, etc.; or bring your kids/pets to work day.
Another idea is to offer paid volunteer days or team fundraising for charitable events; consider adopting a couple of philanthropic projects and volunteer together.
Lastly, plan daily huddles to share insights and spark new ideas or arrange meetings with management to discuss growth opportunities not only to another position but expansion of an employee’s current role or responsibilities.
You may not identify your EVP with some of these ideas and they may not be possible for your organization. However, the great thing about EVP is you can create one that fits with who you are as a company and what fits from an operational and financial perspective. Don’t forget, however, the most important element of all this—people. Employees respond to feeling valued and are motivated to be their best when they are validated. Taking the time to create and promote your company’s employee value proposition can be a powerful tool for your business in attracting, hiring and retaining people.
Laurie Baatz is a senior recruiter at The McSweeney Group, where she specializes in sourcing candidates for commercial flooring businesses across the country.
