Employer value proposition example

...and why that is hard to find!

My post about EVPs not being a strapline generated more interest than I’ve had for a while, so I thought I’d expand on that in the newsletter.

A frequent question in EVP and Employer brand circles is: “what’s the best EVP you’ve seen?”

To which my – possibly unhelpful - reply is “I don’t know, because I don’t expect to see an EVP”

Let me unpick that. When I hear that question “what’s the best EVP you’ve seen?” I think people are asking about strapline / headlines / possibly campaigns. It feels like they’re making an equivalence to “Just Do It” or “I’m Lovin’ It”.

Proposition vs Expression

So, why don’t I think that’s a useful equivalence? Because those are just straplines or maybe something like “brand expressions”.

You may just have seen one lately for a British automotive firm “Copy Nothing”, but that appears to have slipped under radar, without much comment.

None of those is a “value proposition”. They don’t express the reasons why buying their product will be a better choice than Adidas, Burger King or Aston Martin.

That would be much more like:

·         “fashionable, innovative, and high-performance shoes for customers in every sport”

Or

·         "affordable, convenient food, that makes you feel good"

Or (and I’m busking a little here)

·         “radical thinking about your next car that will make you stand out and stay green”

It’s clear to me you wouldn’t stick any of them on a billboard; you wouldn’t expect to see that on a billboard. And yet somehow we expect to see EVPs presented in that way.

When a strapline IS a proposition

Let me give you a counter example, which might point to the source of the confusion.

Let’s look at Lidl. “Big on Quality, Lidl on Price. Just six words, one of them a horrible punning use of the brand name – it’s definitely a strapline. But it is also a value proposition: “Save money on your shop, without making compromises”

And, as they made a pivot from being a purely price-led, No Frills supermarket, this is the story that they told.

They had been very much price-led as a brand. But that could only get them so much market share. People have the choice to go to Asda, or shop the cheaper lines in other supermarkets, and be able to choose all the big brand names.

If Lidl wanted more market share they had to be able to attract different customers.

·         One of the biggest changes was in their advertising, which leant heavily on the provenance  - and hence quality - of the food they sold.

·         To underline this, they changed the packaging – still “own” and lesser-known brands - but now emulating the design of others.

·         They changed the stores, making them cleaner, less confusing, more upmarket. They changed staff uniforms.

·         They kept a lot of what made them a challenger brand (and cheaper): limited lines, shorter hours, no loyalty card, no deliveries. They kept the random crap in the middle aisle.

Add all of that is packed into that six words, and as part of that rebranding gained market share - and perhaps the ultimate status of recognition in Britain: parody in the Beano - The Beanotown supermarket is called Widl.

An EVP must have real meaning

Which is what an EVP is about: packing in meaning. An employment offer is – usually – a bit more complex than a consumer offer, so the chances of doing it in six words are limited.

When I produce EVPs - the real essence of the employer, the reason to join them and not others, the perception I want to move people to – it is often 2 or 3 sentences, a short paragraph. And that’s never going on no billboard.

Here’s an example:

"At THIS COMPANY, we give our few individuals the development, environment and care that means we can make a collective, global impact. You’ll have pride and stability, now and for the future, a continual opportunity to develop, the best environment to do your best, confidence that you and your views matter"

That’s a depth research project packed into two sentences. Of course, you need more to bring it to life, but this is the essence that must, at least in part, be in each communication.

Here’s a shorter one I created:

“It is our values that make THIS EMPLOYER what it is, because they determine who we employ, what they do and how they do it”

Phew! Put a call into to all the Employer Branding awards – we have a winner here!

No?

No.

What this is doing is drawing all of the meaning back to a central point, the values – which enables a story to be told about:

History, pedigree, recent success, future plans, people and teams and how they are cared for. All of that speaks to, and of, their values. It’s a tight story that can be used in many ways, but always with the underlying meaning.

Each story comes back to the EVP

Your EVP isn’t the thing you repeat to people. It’s the guide for what you tell people.

And to do that, you not only need that EVP, you also need:

·         Detail on sub-themes or pillars that sit under the EVP – the main messages in greater depth

·         Very likely, a longer narrative. Descriptive, emotive text that ties all of those pillars together, and shows one coherent story

·         Probably some kind of segmentation – which messages resonate or are most important to which audiences?

·         Evidence base – where is all this coming from, what data, what sentiment have you used to arrive at these themes, and what of that can be used to back up your argument?

An EVP must express as much about you as possible

It’s evident here that when thinking about an EVP, we’re a really long way from thinking about as three words that sit under your logo.

·         Your EVP is the core of why you exist looked at through the lens of your role as an employer.

·         Its the sum of your total worth to employees.

·         It’s the message you can express in a 1000 different ways, but must never shift away from.

So, next time someone asks YOU what’s the best EVP you’ve ever seen – you’ll know why the answer isn’t as simple as the question!