What Are You Selling? Improve Your Results Through a Powerful Employment Value Proposition

Developing a High Impact Employment Value Proposition

Presented by: Dan NielsenTowers Watson Recruiting Segment Leader

How to Stand Out From the Crowd

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Agenda

Defining the Employment Value Proposition (EVP)

10 Steps of Creating and Disseminating a Powerful EVP Steps 1 – 6: Developing the EVP Messages Steps 7 – 10: Building and Delivering Your EVP

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Defining the Employment Value Proposition

The sum of everything you invest in your employees — financially and nonfinancially — defines your organization as an employer, and influences who joins, stays and leaves

Retention

Engagement

Today, we will focus on AttractionAttraction

Steps 1 – 6:Developing the EVP Messages

towerswatson.com 4Presentation2

Scope the EVP

Research and draft a “straw man”

Gain buy-in from leadership

Define message categories

Debrief participants

Analyze and test

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Step 1:Scope the EVP

Company

Business Unit CBusiness Unit BBusiness Unit A• Line of Business #1

• Line of Business #2








• An entire Unit may seek common candidates or offer synergies attractive to all prospects

• This EVP should be created at the Business Unit level

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Business Unit CBusiness Unit BBusiness Unit A• Line of Business #1









Company structure may not map directly to your EVPs

Company

• Some Units have such fragmented candidate populations that it would be awkward to force common messages across the groups

• Separate EVPs should be developed

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Business Unit C• Line of Business #1




Scope your EVP based on what makes sense to your candidate population

Company

• Within a Business Unit, there may be logical groupings of Lines of Business

Business Unit BBusiness Unit A• Line of Business #1





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Step 2:Draft a “straw man” based on research Use what already exists to create a vision for the project Business plan Sales/marketing materials Intranet/internet research Industry trends and competitor information Employee surveys Exit interviews Industry awards and rankings Community involvement, environmental sensitivity Social aspects of job Intangibles such as on-site gym, proximity to public transit,

shopping or restaurants, etc.

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Step 3:Build a business case for leadership An EVP is needed to address changing candidate

attitudes

* Source: 2010 Towers Watson Global Talent Management and Rewards Survey

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The data is clear: Today’s messages need to address security and loyalty

Source: Towers Watson 2010 Global Workforce Study

76% of the workforce want a secure position above all else

Job changes are at a decade-long low as employees sacrifice career advancement for security 81% are not actively looking for other jobs, even though 48% see no advancement in their current job and, 42% think they have to go elsewhere to advance

Candidates are tough to move 33% want to work for just one company 67% want to work for no more than three companies over

their careers

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There are many other benefits to rolling out clear EVP messages Engage and attract desired talent

Define the future state and give interviewers confidence about delivering “aspirational” messages

Recognize talent that matches your culture

Help off-target talent self-select out of the process

Sustain desired candidates through counter-offer

Boost engagement of high-performers through interview team training led by leadership

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Step 4:Define categories of messages you will address

Make sure you cover your past, present and future Strong company history can indicate sustainability Current marketplace position may be quite attractive Candidates react to a clear plan for the future

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Seek out the “Active Security” your company provides

Source: Towers Watson 2010 Global Workforce Study United States

Emphasize your organization’s

flexibility, adaptability, and responsiveness

to a relentlessly changing global

business environment

Highlight employees’opportunity to build skills, plan their financial future, and live healthy lives —“active security” vs. “passive security”

Segment the workforce, personalize key elements of the deal

Personalization

The New Deal

AgilitySelf-Reliance

Highlight how you equip employees with skills and tools that make them valuable – able to secure their own future

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Job security is fundamental, but don’t overlook underlying attraction drivers

10Competitive retirement benefits

910Reasonable workload

99 Competitive benefits

7108Vacation/paid time off

557Flexible schedule

476 Organization’s reputation as a good employer

345Convenient work location

234Challenging work

68Organization’s financial health

63Learning and development opportunities

821Career advancement opportunities

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Gen X

1

Boomers

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Gen Y

Competitive base pay

Attraction Drivers

Source: Towers Watson 2010 Global Workforce Study — Global

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Engage leadership to solve your toughest issues

Gain agreement on your primary challenges, which could include: Unable to rely on compensation to convince people to join Candidates’ unwillingness to relocate because of housing

market Perception that the competition may be the employer of

choice Candidates’ hesitancy over company’s recent downsizing

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Step 5:Debrief employees Ask leadership to identify trusted people for you to debrief Effective interviewers, managers, and sales people Recent hires from competitors and outside the industry Subject matter experts and thought leaders Longstanding employees Corporate support partners from marketing,

compensation, etc. Working from an organized list of questions, collect the

thoughts of leadership and those they identify Consider focus groups to debrief people with similar

backgrounds

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Make sure to gather information that gets candidates over each “decision hurdle”

Industry Company Unit Job

• What makes this a vibrant industry in which a candidate can build a long term career?

• Why should a candidate choose our industry over others?

• Why will this industry continue to thrive in today’s economy?

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Ask challenging, realistic questions


• How are we better than our competitors?• What trends are we setting in the industry?• What is our financial strength?• What industry awards or rankings have we earned?• What strengths would our competitors claim for

themselves? What weaknesses would they cite about us?

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Gather information that describes where candidates fit into to the bigger picture


• Do we have recognized thought leaders?• What are we doing to better position ourselves vs.

competitors?• What investments in tools, technology, structures,

etc. give us an advantage?• How does this unit contribute to the company’s

overall mission?

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Continue to probe for how this job builds active security


• What new skills will this job give that make this person valuable to employers?

• How can this job secure a candidate’s future?• Why would a successful candidate leave a secure

job for this one?• What can we customize based on the candidate’s

skills and interest?

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Step 6:Test and analyze information

“We have the largest market share.”

Business stability/job security

Diversity of challenging projects that help build “active security”

Possible EVP Implications

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Constantly ask yourself: “What does this mean to a candidate?”

“We have the best resources.”

Opportunity to learn within a world-class process

Division of labor allows more focus and increased efficiency


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Even obvious business strengths need to be translated into career advantages

“We have strong global presence.”

Opportunity for challenging, international projects

Potential for travel or future permanent transfers


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Selling points are good ……but differentiators are required!!

Your Company The Competition

You are global

You’ve got great people

Your customer base is world-class

You support learning & development

What sets you apart?

They are global

They’ve got great people

Their customer base is world-class

They support learning and development

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Steps 7 – 10:Building and Conveying Your EVP

Produce a formal EVP for internal use

Create/refresh external messages

Tailor messages to audience

Keep the EVP refreshed

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STEP 7: Produce a formal EVP for internal use

Key messages drive all other communications

Recruiter’s Pitch and Talking Points

Positioning of the OfferInterview

Topics and Responses

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STEP 8: Create/refresh external messages

Marketing Materials & University Brochures

Job Descriptions

Videos

Cold-Calling Scripts

EVP Drives Consistent

Messages to Prospects

Careers Site

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STEP 9: Tailor messages to audience when dealing with candidates one-on-one


One candidate may be interested in the job, but unsettled about the future of your industry

Another may be comfortable in your industry, but unsure how your job differs

from theirs

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STEP 10: Refresh your EVP Make a revised EVP an annual deliverable for the

business Synchronize updates with logical, cyclical activity, such

as: Staff planning Business planning

Keep pace with your company – and the competition Create a folder to track ongoing messages throughout

the year Keep updated on the industry (Google Alerts, follow

companies on LinkedIn, etc.)

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An EVP is worth the hard work Creating an effective EVP supports your business It helps your company stand out to the talent you wish

to attract It can position you for success tomorrow

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Questions?

Let’s Connect!

Dan [email protected]/in/dannielsen