It was over sixty years ago that American behavioural scientist Fredrick Herzberg recognised that money, by itself, was not enough to deliver job satisfaction; that, at best, it merely served to prevent job dissatisfaction. In his ‘two-factor theory’, Herzberg, thus, highlighted the significance of ‘motivators’ like recognition, achievement, responsibility, and meaningfulness; these, he suggested enriched jobs. In short, to be an employer of choice, it’s necessary to understand the employees.
Over the decades, these motivators have become more important than ever now, not just because of the great resignations, but also since the disruption caused by the global pandemic made people re-evaluate their priorities and explore new ways of working. But recruiting and retaining top talent has always demanded innovation, and as always, the best employers are rising to the challenges posed by the rapidly transforming talent recruitment landscape. Designing a solid, comprehensive and modern EVP has thus become a must.
Also read: Employer Branding vs Employee Value Proposition: What’s The Difference?
Companies of different sizes and sectors perceive EVPs differently. Some companies have elaborate policies in place, while some are only beginning to fathom their significance. In any company – be it a startup or legacy firm – there exists a few fundamental elements that form a basis for its value and culture. Once these elements are defined and communicated to the current and potential employees, the job of attracting the best talent comes easily.
According to Niraj Seth, EVP, Naukri, “Given that acquiring and retaining top talent is one of the multiple challenges before organisations in these uncertain times, it takes not just innovation but a sincere commitment to employee welfare so that human capital managers can deliver good employee and candidate experience, and do it consistently. Those that pull this off successfully, come to build a reputation for themselves as ‘employers of choice,’ and become an organisation that people aspire to work for. Thereby, these firms make it to ‘best place to work lists.”
“We seek employee feedback through surveys, company-wide Jams, and Ask Me Anything sessions with our CEO, to understand what matters to our employees. Finally, we measure outcomes, not activities, because that is a more constructive barometer of how employees perform and support the business” – Thirukkumaran Nagarajan, VP and head HR, IBM India/South Asia
While an employee value proposition is a total of all the offerings companies have to give to their employees, these HR leaders below tell you how a path to a successful EVP starts by getting the fundamentals right.
Power of EVP
‘The employee value proposition was once about terms and conditions. In the 2000s, it expanded to opportunities around careers and skills. Now the deciding factor is whether the company’s values, mission and purpose align with the candidate’s values: issues like flexibility, transparency, social issues, D&I and environmental issues are important,’ says Thirukkumaran Nagarajan, VP and head of HR, IBM India/South Asia. This shift in the EVP, he says, impacts hiring managers and talent acquisition professionals, ‘who need to be able to talk in-depth about benefits, compensation, skills and learning opportunities, and also go deep on mission, values and purpose”.
Ultimately, the key to a powerful EVP is to move past the buzzwords and deliver on these parameters, and at IBM this is achieved by constantly engaging with employees. Nagarajan shares, “It is important to us to stay in conversation with IBMers so we remain in touch with what matters to them the most. We seek employee feedback through surveys, company-wide Jams, and Ask Me Anything sessions with our CEO, to understand what matters to our employees. Finally, we measure outcomes, not activities, because that is a more constructive barometer of how employees perform and support the business”. You know it’s not just lip service, because the organisation got rid of yearly performance reviews about six years ago.
Embed listening in your culture
For a sound employee or candidate experience, know-how of a company’s culture is also quite essential. Listening to your employees often defines the work culture to understand how aligned they are with the demands of the candidates and employees alike.
As Vivek Jain, senior executive vice president and head of HR, at Kotak Mahindra Bank puts it, “We consider our organisational culture to be one of our greatest strengths. We believe that the right workplace environment is instrumental to the efficiency of individuals and teams alike – and thus, we have established a work culture that fosters inclusion and loyalty, learning, and growth”.
Also read: Meritocracy at Work: Building a Culture That Breeds Success
In the case of IBM, the ‘growth culture’ inspires learning, performance, and technology that improves the work world. Additionally, Nagarajan says, ‘We endeavour to create an inclusive culture that promotes diversity, trust, and integrity for a more equitable workplace and society. For us, employee engagement is the foundation of transformational change. We are co-creating an evolved culture with our employees, using data to ensure our transformation is data-led. And our employees can believe in IBM’s future because they are helping to build it”.
As Vivek Jain, senior executive vice president and head of HR, at Kotak Mahindra Bank puts it, “We consider our organisational culture to be one of our greatest strengths. We believe that the right workplace environment is instrumental to the efficiency of individuals and teams alike – and thus, we have established a work culture that fosters inclusion and loyalty, learning, and growth”.
These are just a few initiatives that support employee experience, but it’s a genuine interest in employee experience that sets true leaders apart. “Crafting a great EVP, thus, begins with the development of a great work culture, one where employees are prioritised and their efforts and abilities duly recognised and rewarded – and the best leaders know this,” Seth added.
If a company wants to breed success and build a culture where employees deliver the best work of their life, it has to focus on establishing a conducive environment for the same, concludes Seth.
