Finding employees to fill very specific roles in your business can be a pain – especially if you’re a company that primarily provides niche or novel services.
And perhaps your marketing and sales are pretty much on point, but to take on more growth and demand, you need certain skilled individuals to fill these often unconventional roles.
This usually brings up two issues; the scarce skills in your industry make it that much harder to do and finding a starting point to draw in the perfect employees isn’t always easy.
So how do you attract new potential employees to your business and get them eager to work for you rather than the competition?
Well, your favourite business coach is here to let you in on a little trick:
The Value of an EVP
We all know that branding is critical to the success of any business, that’s why you’ve probably already worked on a value proposition for your clients.
In case you need a reminder – a value proposition is usually a statement that provides clear detail around the value, benefits and advantages that your company is capable of giving to potential clients and is used to spark interest and attract new clients to purchase your solution.
By using what’s called an EVP (Employee Value Proposition), you’re able to draw in new, skilled employees and let them know what your business is about and why they’d be stupid not to work for you.
The EVP is pretty much the same as a value proposition for clients, just reworked to focus on potential employees, instead.
Ultimately, it allows you to position the employer (your company) as a desirable brand to work for. It’s used to market your business as a favourable and tempting choice for new employees and gives them a clear indication as to why working for your business is an ideal choice for them.
In using an EVP that is both well thought out and desirable to the employee, you increase the likelihood of acquiring top talent and retaining your staff for longer – while giving yourself a competitive edge over the competition.
Marketing to Attract ‘Scarce Skills’
Known by many as ‘scarce skills’, there exists a demand for a range of roles that need to be filled within growing industries. Think about software and web development, network and information security, engineering and healthcare professionals – each one of those skills is highly sought after and companies often struggle to fill those roles.
Other than the fact that it’s challenging to get those ‘scarce skills’, it can be an even bigger struggle to position yourself as the ideal business to work for.
Seeing as there is already a lack of people to fill those roles, you’re automatically put up against bigger companies that also require those skills, but that have more to offer potential employees; they often have bigger budgets (giving better salaries and benefits), nicer work environments (office space, meals, beverages, etc.), and reputations that provide their staff with credibility, network and exposure.
So the big question becomes: ‘what value can I bring to my staff?’
With an EVP, you can flex your brand to potential candidates, by showing them the opportunities and advantages that come with working for you, as well as why you’re a better choice than the competition.
It’s your job as a business owner to determine what the best offerings are to attract and acquire talent in the most effective way possible.
So What Does An EVP Look Like?
In constructing an employee value proposition that works well, you need to look at your own company’s strengths and unique offerings. This way, you’re able to offer value that your competition struggles to compete with and that potential talent can’t seem to find in other businesses.
For your EVP to be effective and work well, you need to consider a few important factors:
Firstly, you need to think about and map out the financial advantages of working for your organisation; how much are employees able to earn, what bonuses or incentives exist for them and do you offer any other financial benefits that come with working for you (stock options, shares, etc.).
Make sure to then address and give clear indication of the benefits that they can receive if they become an employee; do they get paid leave, retirement funds, health insurance or gym benefits?
Also look at and list any advantages aimed at career growth; do you offer paid education (sponsored courses), any training or mentoring (leadership, technical, career guidance), and opportunities for development (promotions, different positions and areas)? Bear in mind that if your financial advantages aren’t the best in the industry, beneficial career growth opportunities will help with attracting new talent.
And finally, your company culture and work environment; is there a healthy work-life balance that you can offer, are the hours flexible, will you be recognised for your efforts, is there a well-functioning team that you will be a part of and does your environment resemble a strict and formal set-up or is it relaxed, fun and dynamic?
Your EVP should contain and market the advantages of working with/for your company and include as much information as possible regarding the financial, cultural and developmental benefits that you’re able to offer.
How Do We Begin Construction?
Knowing what your employee value proposition should contain will help you understand the steps that you need to take in order to construct it as effectively as possible.
You need to first assess what it is that you can offer the potential talent, identifying and understanding how your business can impact the employee.
With that in mind, gauge and evaluate your current and past employees to see what they love and hate about working for your company. This way, you can figure out your strengths and market them – and you can discover your weaknesses and work towards fixing them.
Now that you’ve identified what makes your company great, start writing out and constructing your EVP. There are loads of templates and examples on the web to get you started.
Next, you want to promote that EVP through the right platforms and channels, so that people can see and respond to it. If it lands up in the right places, it’ll attract far more attention and either draw in the potential talent or be shared by people that know people.
As with any strategy, your final step is to evaluate, measure and determine whether or not this approach is working. If it needs to be reconfigured, reworked or rephrased, then identify where you might have gone wrong, rectify any issues and try it again.
And there we have it.
A great trick to use for attracting new talent and identifying new ways to retain your existing employees.
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