How to Drive Talent Attraction & Retention
In his 2001 book, ‘Good to Great’, business management and company sustainability and growth consultant, Jim Collins likened hiring the right talent to ‘getting the right people on the bus’. He goes on to explain that ‘those who build great organizations make sure they have the right people on the bus and the right people in the key seats before they figure out where to drive the bus’.
The growing war for talent is creating a shift in the supply and demand for employees to fill vacant positions, making it a challenge for companies to attract and engage top talent. An Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is a great way to deliver what the company can offer to their employees in return for their contribution to the business. Now that hybrid working has become the new normal, it is no longer 'a nice to have' but a work arrangement that candidates now expect to be included in an organization's EVP. By articulating and implementing a strong company EVP, you can drive talent attraction and retention.
Establish your Employee Value Proposition (EVP)
An Employee Value Proposition should be unique to your company and should go beyond stating the monetary benefits. Think through the perks that may appeal to the type of employees you want to attract. These may be elements that outline the positive company culture or the organizational structure and system in place. You could state the career advancement and professional development opportunities that your company offers, and the recognition and empowerment they can gain through it. Although these elements may not be associated with any costs for your company, they can be an essential attraction point for talents. As work trends and employment dynamics transform in rapid speed, candidates are starting to prioritize flexibility, agility and work-life balance when choosing their career. The Adecco Groups 2021 Reset Normal whitepaper revealed flexibility is key for the next normal with over two-thirds of workers surveyed indicating they want to maintain flexibility and control over their working schedule and 75% think it’s important to retain flexibility going forward. Ensuring that your company has a culture that can help employees flourish in flexible environments is crucial, as well as being able to communicate these benefits with clarity.
The most important point to remember when creating an EVP is to make sure that you are who you say you are, and that your company lives and breathes what you promise. It is crucial that you get your internal staff to review and provide feedback on your EVP, to ensure that you cover all dimensions of the EVP in the most transparent and accurate way possible. The last thing you’d want is to have candidates join the company and leave shortly after, complaining that the company is not living up to the statements and promises claimed in the EVP.
What next?
It is important to plan out your recruitment strategy from A to Z, so that you don’t find yourself struggling to retain the candidate after drawing them in.
Whilst an attractive EVP can help draw prospective employees in, it takes continuous effort and action to keep those high caliber employees in your organization. Instead, adopt a holistic view of the entire employment cycle from the interview process, onboarding and orientation through to career development and planning to ensure employee needs and expectations are being met. If high caliber employees are dissatisfied and unhappy, you are at risk of losing them to another employer who can better meet or exceed their needs and expectations.