For organisations looking to secure top talent or retain existing employees, a strong employee value proposition can set the business apart by emphasising the company’s mission and values.
By Simon Kent
For HR leaders looking to attract high performers, a good employee value proposition (EVP) can work wonders. An EVP encapsulates what it means to work at an organisation and to be part of that community, not just in terms of reward and expectations, but more generally for the experience of being there.
However, as Angela Stevens, talent acquisition manager at Radisson Hotel Group, notes ensuring a steady and deliverable EVP isn’t always possible. COVID gave a particularly severe example of when external forces disrupt what a business can deliver. But even without a pandemic, organisations are not always able to fulfil their EVP promise.
To counter this, Stevens heightens the importance of maintaining conversations with employees and being clear about what is possible. “HR functions must commit to productive conversations and clarity,” she says. “Where compromise is absolutely necessary, it’s key for HR professionals to remain flexible, compassionate, and caring alongside this gold standard of two-way communication.”
This approach produces an EVP that is “realistic and transparent,” reflecting the Hotel Group’s culture, but which also evolves and takes into consideration the needs and thoughts of employees. As a result, the entire business becomes responsible for its EVP, enabling it to deliver what is required to satisfy employees and therefore retain them on an ongoing basis.
“I have recently rolled out dedicated EVP sessions with our people managers to educate them on the needs and priorities we are hearing about from talent, from salary to work-life balance and company culture,” says Stevens. “I wanted to also open their minds on how they can ‘showcase’ what this proposition looks like for those working for us, whether you’re talking to fresh talent wanting to join the Group or existing team members.”
The company’s employee engagement survey, “Radisson Listens,” helps to underpin the EVP with positive changes occurring as a result of employee input. “Efforts with employee engagement must be followed up with concrete action,” insists Stevens. “Following the results, we work with our hotels to prepare an action plan bolstered by an engagement calendar, a recognition brochure, [and] a framework with practical guidance for our people managers to bring this recognition to life.”
Ed Gairdner, chief of staff, iplicit, says their EVP is as much about managing current staff expectations as it is about attraction and retention. “It’s not just a list of benefits,” he says, “It’s a way of setting out clearly what people can expect when they join us, and what kind of organisation we are. That’s vital for any business, but particularly for fast-growth, scaling businesses like ours, where bringing in the wrong fit of candidates can be costly in terms of time and resources.”
The company is remote-first and builds its EVP around four key pillars: flexibility, well-being, connection, and purpose. The business also invests heavily in connection—from bi-annual company events to regular socials and informal chats.
Importantly, the EVP is not static. “I see it as a two-way conversation with our team, not a top-down direction,” he says.
In a recent case, the business introduced a monthly co-working allowance. “We remain firmly remote-first, but through feedback we realised some people occasionally wanted a physical workspace to meet up and collaboratively engage with their colleagues,” he says. “By listening, we were able to adapt our EVP without compromising our core culture.”
Moreover, the EVP isn’t just about creating a great place to work, it’s also about fit. “People join us because they’re motivated by our mission to disrupt the accounting software market,” says Gairdner. “We want to attract people who value autonomy, thrive in a trust-based culture, and are energised by being part of a scaling business on a collective mission.”
At clothing retail supplier Mainetti, chief people officer Phillips Pham says their EVP is not just a statement but “a lived experience where authenticity, values, purpose, and growth come together to support both people and performance.”
Pham also cites the pandemic as an example of when the EVP had to change due to external circumstances. When lockdown was over, the company had to flex to satisfy employee preferences for working remotely and achieving a better work-life balance. More recently, however, people have wanted to return to the office. “The EVP evolves with these changing expectations, reflecting the realities of how people want to work and live,” he says.
But while elements of the EVP may shift in this way, Pham says the fundamentals remain constant: the need to feel safe, to be comfortable as oneself, and to be recognised as a contributor. “If we continue to embrace these fundamentals while adapting to the context around us, the EVP will not only remain relevant but also allow both people and organisations to shine,” he says.
“From my experience, when adjustments to the EVP have been unavoidable, the most important role of senior leaders is to communicate with transparency and respect. People may not like change, but what they dislike even more is unclear goals or hidden plans.” – Phillips Pham, chief people officer, Mainetti
It is the case, therefore, that an important element of the EVP has less to do with what it offers at one particular point in time and more to do with the fact that it will change over time. In changing and evolving, it is not just something offered to employees but something that involves them, recognising their needs and engaging them with the organisation. As such, the promise isn’t around what is specifically delivered, but that the organisation will always communicate around the EVP with the employee.
“There will always be limits to what we can deliver,” says Gairdner, “but our commitment is to keep the conversation open, evaluate what’s working, and be willing to modernise or adapt when it benefits the whole organisation. That openness and responsiveness is what makes our EVP credible and, ultimately, sustainable.”
