How are you fighting the war for talent?

Talent is a scarce resource, it comes at a premium and organisations are pulling out the stops to attract it. So what are you doing to attract talent? What reasons are you giving people to work for you rather than someone else?

Like the sporting elite, the best want to play and train with the best, this is how the achieve their potential. Similarly talented people with a desire to succeed will not simply seek ‘a job’, they will however seek out the right job, with the right people who can help them to achieve their personal aspirations. To stand out from the competition and to attract and retain talented people many organisations are putting time and effort into the creation of an Employee Value Proposition (EVP).

‘’leaders of companies that go from good to great start not with ‘’where’’ but with ‘’who’’. They start by getting the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats’’ Jim Collins.

Developing your Employee Value Proposition

As with your Customer Value Proposition an EVP must be unique, reflect your values and purpose, and engage and enthuse people. Just as a businesses value proposition helps to convince customers to buy from you, the employee value proposition helps to crystallise why working for your organisation will help talented people to achieve their aspirations, like a magnet, it will help tpo draw together people who share the same values and strive for similar aspirations (helping to form a focused and aligned culture).

Although this may seem like an obvious statement, the EVP needs to be delivered. Like customers, employees will expect promises to be upheld, if they aren’t then they will become dissatisfied and disengaged and will vote with their feet and leave!

Top tips for developing your Employee Value Proposition:

• Make sure it’s consistent with your values: as Jim Collins puts it, this is about getting and keeping the right people on the bus and in the right seats; they therefore need to share the organisations collective values. Think about the people you are trying to attract, what are their likes and dislikes, their aspirations and desires, what do they stand for?
• Stand out from the competition: as we’ve already said, the war for talent has never been as fierce as it is today, you therefore need to stand out from the crowd! Your EVP must spell out, what makes you different? What can you offer that others can’t? what’s unique about you? Dig deep – this must go beyond the basic remuneration package and bring to life what it really means to work in and for your organisation.
• Tune into reality: ask your existing employees to contribute to your EVP. What do they think about working for you? What’s different about working for you than previous employers? What defines your culture? What do they feel needs to be added to attract the best people?
• Ensure alignment with vision, goals and purpose: the EVP needs to clearly and consistently communicate a compelling description of values, purpose and the culture needed to deliver the businesses vision, goals and purpose. In doing so it will connect with the talented people who share your view of the world and whose aspirations align with what the organisation wants to achieve – this is critical to recruiting and retaining the right people.  

Leap the Crowd support the transformation of public sector organisations and agencies through the creation of more commercial and entrepreneurial cultures. If you want to know more about how we can help your organisation to attract the best talent and adopt a more commercial approach, then please drop us a line!