Reducing the gap between the promised EVP and reality

A study made by Weber Shandwick reveals that only 19% of employees globally perceive a strong alignment between what their employer says about itself and their experience working there.

We have been talking about the “Future of Work” for the past decades. What if the future of work is now? HR is already struggling to find playbooks on how to attract, retain and engage a diverse workforce that consists of part-time staff, contract workers, millennials, talents approaching retirement and so on.

How do companies define an attractive Employee Value Proposition (EVP)? Most importantly , how do you meet this promise?

From Employee Value Proposition to Talent Value Proposition

New technology and business practices have led to the evolution of the traditional employment relationship. Facing a skilled labour shortage and a fierce competition to attract and retain talent, organisations have no choice but to deal with a growing dependence on independent workers.

Part-time contracts, contract workers, consultants or even remote employees, the structure of the workplace has never been more diverse. A study released by Upwork announces that freelance workforce growth is accelerating and has outpaced overall U.S. workforce growth by three times since 2014.

 Just as how traditional employees who are disengaged generate a substantial revenue loss due to lost productivity, the level of engagement of contract workers is also likely to affect business outcomes.

This evolution of employment imposes HR leaders to define and deliver a talent value proposition that takes into account all workers with any contract status.

“One-size-fits-one” as the key differentiator 

As a part of the EVP, companies should focus on delivering an employee experience that truly differentiates it as an employer.

Improving the employee experience is an ongoing process and needs to be applied across the milestones of the employee journey from Day One: through Onboarding, Engagement, Development, Performance, Transition, and Separation.

More than that, in order to build a strong EVP, this needs to be cross-referenced against other variables such as the employee’s stage of life: Generation Z, young parents, employees approaching retirement and others.

Organisations need to rethink their talent strategy: how they would personalise the employee experience from a “one-size-fits-all” to a “one-size-fits-one” approach that promises to be more engaging for different employee personas and more productive for employers.

Just as organisations collect and analyse data across the customer’s journey to understand buyers’ behaviors, they should do the same across their employees’ lifecycle to build positive experiences.

Employee lifecycle analytics can help understand how HR processes are working and where there are chances for improvement to tie it back to management decisions.

New technologies allow HR to set up continuous listening architecture to collect employee feedback and powerful insights across the employee lifecycle without recruiting an army of data scientists.

How do you reduce the gap and meet the promise?

 The ability to analyse real-time signals on how employees think and feel allows leaders to take a proactive approach in talent management. Equipping managers this way would allow them to monitor and reduce the gap between the promised EVP and reality.

Another way to reduce this gap is for organisations to meet employee expectations. One of the recurring expectations of the modern workforce is the desire to grow and fulfill a purpose within their organisation.

A study published by Gallup announces that 87% of millennial workers report that development is “important” in their job.

Part of the responsibility of managers comes being actively responsible for the growth of the people they manage. Continuously identifying skills gaps and encouraging employees to develop new competencies will have a positive impact on employee engagement.

Empirical studies have shown that people join companies, but leave managers. Reducing the gap between promised EVP and reality starts with getting buy-in from managers who lead employees every day.

They need to create an environment of trust for each employee, acknowledging that each comes with her unique strengths and paths to achieving the desired outcome.

About the Author

Leong Chee Tung is the CEO of EngageRocket.

Giving out red packets or ‘angpaos’ to employees is one of the top Lunar New Year traditions practised by SMEs in many parts of Asia.

Business owners view this as a gesture of gratitude and appreciation to thank their staff for their hard work and contributions in the past year. However is this too little too late?

With employee engagement levels in Singapore consistently reported low even within Asia and a study last year which showed almost half of Singaporean workers planning to quit their job within a year, the risk of star performers leaving suddenly after the lunar new year cannot be ignored.