Crafting an employee value proposition
In the current environment in which many organizations are hiring, it’s a job seeker’s market. That means you can’t just post a job ad and expect that’s all you need to do to attract candidates to your organization.
Your employee value proposition – which is your organization’s unique set of offerings, values and associations – is what will ultimately persuade candidates to take an interest in working for you.
Simply put, your employee value proposition is what employees can expect from you as an organization in exchange for their contribution as an employee.
Credit: What is An EVP?, Workology.com
This could include tangible offerings such as a flexible work schedule, extended health benefits and mentoring opportunities, as well as intangible offerings, such as being a part of an organization that is making a difference in the community or being a part of a school district leading initiatives driving social change. It’s a good idea to incorporate these and other elements of your employee value proposition into your job postings, or to share them on your website and in other communication material.
Five key elements of an employee value proposition
So what makes up your employer value proposition? Talent Lyft describes these five key elements:
Credit: “What is Employee Value Proposition”, Talentlyft.com
As a school district employer, you will be able to influence some of these elements more than others. For example, many positions are offered under the terms of a collective agreements, so you won’t have much leeway to differentiate yourself when it comes to compensation and some benefits.
But there are other areas where you have greater influence. Taking the time to identify those areas – and to then communicate them to job seekers – can help you stand out.
When developing your employee value proposition, these are the things you’ll want to communicate to candidates:
- Why your organization is a great place to work.
- What employees can expect to receive in exchange for their work and contributions.
- What is unique about your organization’s culture.
- What the candidate can expect to gain professionally and personally when they join your organization.
It’s also useful to think about your job candidates when you’re fine tuning your pitch to them. Ask yourself:
- What stage of their life and career are they at? If they’re near retirement, perhaps you’ll emphasize a high level of career satisfication in your district rather than focusing on professional development opportunities for new staff.
- Where are they from and what are they used to? If they’re an out-of-province teacher, you may want to highlight the new curriculum implementation workshops offered by your district.
- What are their expectations and assumptions about your district? If they expect that moving to your district will be expensive, perhaps highlight how this is not true in every community in the area and how other staff deal with a perceived higher cost of living.
You’ll be hiring people for a range of positions, so the answers to these questions will vary from position to position. It might be useful to think of different types of job candidates – such as teachers just starting out in their careers and senior administrative staff with decades of experience – and then develop employee value propositions that will positively influence each targeted group.
Find out how employees and candidates perceive your district
There may be a lot of excellent things that your organization can offer candidates. How do you decide what to highlight and share with job candidates? Here are a few strategies to identify your organization’s best qualities.
- Have conversations with current employees in a particular role
- Speak with recent hires and those hired within the last few years
- Send out a survey in your district
- Follow-up with applicants, whether successful or not, and ask why they applied for the position
- As part of your job application or in a follow-up email after the position has been filled, ask candidates why they applied
- Check out online reviews like those on Glassdoor.com
For an employee value proposition to be truly convincing, it should reflect your employer brand. The message you communicate should be honest and authentic, and not just lip service to portray your organization a positive light.