The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has defined employee value proposition (EVP) as “what an organisation stands for, requires and offers, an employee”.
It is akin to a business’ mission statement or even personality, serving as a constant reminder of its values and goals.
In the modern workplace, such employee engagement is becoming increasingly significant with a strong EVP central to that goal.
Christine Ng is the Head of Talent & Media at Quantum Motion, an innovative tech start-up aiming to build a quantum computer using silicon chips.
She says working in such a niche space has both benefits and challenges in terms of recruitment – and that in both cases EVP is a vital tool to meet the company’s needs.
Christine defines EVP as “a set of collective principles and values that attracts a certain candidate to work for your company”.
She says the underlying goal of EVP “is a north star: the why.
“Why should a candidate join your company, and ultimately why should someone stay in your company, especially in this current market.”
As far as Quantum Motion goes, she is grateful the niche space it operates as a quantum computing start-up “naturally means we attract some of the brightest and smartest talent within the space”.
As an example, Christine reveals how a recent machine learning role attracted more than 80 applications, something she calls “quite rare for a tech company”.
There are challenges though. Christine says there is not enough technical talent graduating from universities and there are more vacancies available than candidates.
“As a company you need to be able to build a technology EVP to attract that talent – and not only to attract them, but to retain them as well,” she says.
One way she has worked to do this is by embracing diversity and inclusion: “It is not only about hiring technical talent, but also how you attract talent from different groups, specifically when it comes to gender and different socio-economic backgrounds.”
Christine said part of building a strong EVP is realising – particularly if your company comes from a product background – that while people will associate your product with your company, “the reality is the product and why you work in that company are two very different ideas”.
She says part of her work is to shift that perception in order to attract and retain talent, adding: “We are looking in quite specific areas where the brand needs to be built, such as electronic engineering.”
EVP, for Christine, is about “trying different things, ensuring you have good partnerships, being seen in the right places, having the right content, and importantly remembering everything is a learning [experience] – what can you learn from each experience, measure and then do better next time.”
To learn more about how to create an EVP that resonates, watch our on-demand webinar here.
