When considering how to make your company attractive to strong technical talent, the first thing that comes to mind is probably your employer branding strategy – and rightfully so. Company branding is a key part of successful recruitment.
But how do you create the messaging that fuels tech recruitment campaigns, job adverts, and careers pages? Well, it should all originate from your employer value proposition (EVP) which you should define on paper before launching into technical recruitment branding initiatives.
If you’re unsure what EVPs are all about, don’t worry. The term is quite ambiguous and commonly causes confusion. In this post we’ll examine what an EVP is, how you should define it, and why it matters.
What is an Employer Value Proposition?
The key to understanding EVP is to avoid confusing it with employer branding.
In essence, an EVP should answer the question: “Why would a highly talented person choose to work here?”This sounds like branding, right? Well, while both go hand in hand, they’re actually quite different.
Employer branding should be thought of as a creative expression of the promise you make internally to current and potential employees. A strong employer brand helps businesses compete for the best talent and establish credibility. It should connect with your organisation’s values and run consistently through your approach to people management.
On the other hand, your EVP is the salary, compensation, and benefits you give to employees in return for skills, experience, and productivity that further deliver your business goals, purpose, and values.
Your EVP, in combination with your Employer's Brand, will be the determining factor in retaining or losing technical talent from your organisation. Every company has an EVP, whether they know it or not. And all recruiters sell opportunities to work at a company based on this EVP. That’s why it’s important to get it right.
If you can’t easily articulate your EVP, following the exercise below should help.
How to Create Your EVP for Tech Talent
According to The Corporate Executive Board Company (CEB), the following five things contribute to a strong EVP.
Rewards– Holidays, compensation, health and retirement benefits
Work– Job-interest alignment and work-life balance
Opportunity– Career progression, learning opportunities, company growth rate
People– Management quality, coworker quality, senior leadership reputation
Organisation– Market position, product/service quality, social responsibility
Clearly, these are all important points to consider regardless of the skill set you are recruiting for. However, IT recruiting is a unique challenge, so you should understand the reasons that technical talent, in particular, should choose to work for you.
To get the ball rolling, ask yourself the following questions:
Which projects are your tech team most excited about?
Which projects are unique to your organisation?
What do we offer technical talent that other companies can’t? (Anything from better equipment to generous training budgets)
How do our current tech team feel we can improve their experience as employees of our company?
Some of these questions (especially the last one) may be difficult to answer on your own. Don’t be afraid to reach out to your current tech team to get their thoughts.
Your EVP (and consequently your employer brand) will be much easier to sell to potential candidates if it is a true reflection of how your tech team actually feels about your company.
So when drawing up your EVP, it often helps to get an independent, third-party perspective as it removes bias from the equation. Our Customer Success Team can help. By asking the right questions to you and your tech team, we can help you build a picture of what makes your company ‘great’ and unique.
