Scott WardellQuality candidates know what they want from employers, and companies who don’t define and market their value risk losing them to competitors.
It’s no secret that top-quality candidates are more savvy than ever before, and with the majority being passive candidates, companies are realizing the value in communicating through advertising and targeted social media campaigns to vocalize why candidates want to work there. This has led many companies to reevaluate the criteria that attracts quality talent to the workplace. Spoiler: it’s more than just a great paycheck.
Today’s job candidates stress the importance of company culture, social initiative, and work-life balance more than previous generations, motivating companies to double-down on their candidate-facing strategies, namely their Employer Branding and Employee Value Proposition (EVP). Where Employer Branding speaks to the company’s reputation as an employer, the function of an EVP is to make a company or role more attractive, unique, and meaningful to candidates. Both concepts revolve around the qualities that make a company a great place to work, as well as the benefits, career growth opportunities, work-life balance, and company culture that attract top talent.
The Basic Elements of a Strong EVP
How can companies demonstrate their value as employers? Candidates who are open to new opportunities want to see the measurable value of another company, and according to the Corporate Executive Board Company, the criteria candidates find most important are:
Rewards: Salary, benefits, and vacation
Work: Job-interest alignment and work-life balance
Organization: Market position, product/service quality, and social responsibility
Opportunity: Career growth opportunities, development and training opportunities, and organization growth rate
People: Company culture, Manager and coworker quality, senior leadership reputation, and camaraderie
Employee Value Propositions are particularly important in today’s job market, as a majority of candidates heavily evaluate companies before they even consider applying for open positions. Knowing what makes a strong EVP and why it matters in recruiter marketing tactics such as job advertising is crucial to attracting and hiring great employees.
It might be tempting for organizations to list off job features and perks, slap an EVP sticker on it and call it done, but a truly successful value proposition tells candidates what an organization stands for, and the reasons employees are motivated to work there. But defining these criteria are only useful if they can be communicated to candidates through intelligent marketing efforts.
Job Advertising Gets the Message to the Right Place and the Right Time
Recruiter marketing campaigns are designed to attract candidates before they even apply, and methods like paid media advertising are ideal for appealing to passive job seekers. Candidates value transparency, so showing a look at what a day in the life of that particular role looks like is one of the easiest ways to highlight the work experience.
Job ads are many candidates’ first impression of a company, making them an ideal opportunity to communicate an organization’s EVP. While it’s all too common that companies copy-paste the same, boring job descriptions, including an accurate and compelling Employee Value Proposition can make a job ad stand out, and is far more likely to attract candidates than a template.
Alternatively, an increasing number of companies are turning to video. According to Hubspot, over half of all marketing professionals worldwide name video as the type of content with the best ROI, with one digital marketing expert claiming that one minute of video equals 1.8 million words. Video content typically holds viewer attention longer than text alone, and with social video generating 1200% more shares than text and images combined, companies need no other excuse to tap into the internet’s preferred medium of consumption.
When EVPs Fail to Attract
Even with the most airtight marketing strategies, a poorly-constructed employee value proposition can break the hiring process. Some of the ways EVPs fall short are when they don’t differentiate from competitors, the wrong attributes, or fail to deliver on their promise to employees. Before prominently featuring a company’s Employee Value Proposition in recruiter marketing efforts, it’s imperative that companies spend time researching, designing, and implementing an EVP that accurately represents the company’s value to employees.
Research, Design, Implement, Hire
Modern recruiting strategies have adapted to pace the changes in today’s job market, and with the rise of social recruiting, larger skill gaps among tech workers, and unemployment at a record low, companies require new strategies. Additionally, candidates have resources like Glassdoor to find out what employees think of an organization. Successful companies know what candidates care about, build a culture around it, and publicize it. Defining an authentic EVP is an important step to bringing that talent to the company’s doorstep; knowing how to sell it to candidates ensures that they choose your company over a competitor.
Lee Ann Prescott
