Unlocking your hiring superpower. Why EVP is the new MVP.

Let’s talk about ‘Employee Value Proposition’ and why it’s your superpower for attracting great talent.

Right now, one of the biggest challenges in the scale-up world is hiring and attracting great talent.

We recently spoke with Stephen Mangham - the ex-Chairman of Ogilvy (Asia, Singapore). Stephen has worked with some of the world's biggest brands, enabling them to stand out from the pack. In our conversation, Stephen highlighted the importance of defining company value - differentiating ‘what’ a business does from ‘why’ they do it - in order to attract and retain talent.

Here are some highlights from our chat…

What is an EVP?  How do you define an EVP?

Stephen: I find when I talk to a number of business leaders - whether they’re startups, scale ups or well-established businesses - they have difficulty in defining the value of what they do. They tend to talk transactionally about what they do. 

AI and data-driven companies that have created something very sophisticated and unique struggle the most when it comes to condensing what the company does into an elevator pitch. Companies must think about why they have developed what they have developed. 

The more you can think about the ‘why’ as a group (including the Founder, leadership team, HR, marketing), and the more you can condense this into a clearly defined and concise short summary about why the talent pool should be interested in your company, the higher your chances are of attracting and hiring the best talent. 

It’s no coincidence that the fastest growing scale-ups have the strongest value propositions.

Here are three great EVP examples…

Tesla 

Their purpose is ‘to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport’. This is both clear and compelling. It’s an exciting journey you’d want to be a part of.

Patagonia

They have a very clear mission and identity: “Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.”

Monzo 

As a ‘poster-child’ for FinTech, Monzo’s mission clearly demonstrates the importance of a distinctly defined EVP. They said themselves that having a strong EVP and a sense of why they do business aids company growth, which is crucial for startups and scale-ups. 

Monzo pledges to operate their business around a shared belief and trust amongst employees, building a globally impactful company that positively influences society. Even the unique colour scheme for the cards makes a huge difference.

Why is it important to create a distinctive and compelling EVP?

According to the Harvard Business Review (HBR), the importance of EVP has been accelerated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

EVPs are now top of mind for both established companies and those looking to scale up, and are a useful tool in helping organisations differentiate themselves from competitors fishing in the same talent pool. 

There is a huge ecosystem of startups in London, with many companies very similar to each other. It’s very hard for potential future employees to see what the differences are.

Having a strong value proposition that has a clear sense of purpose is the key to attracting talent. When a business’ sense of purpose is well-defined and articulated, it is attractive to both its employees and its customers.

How do you explain new and never-been-done-before businesses like crypto or NFTs?

There is no difference when it comes to B2B or B2C companies. The fundamentals remain exactly the same. In either case, a company still has to constantly be able to define and articulate what their value is. 

This is true in unregulated markets and new and never-been-done-before businesses like crypto. In this case, the conversation needs to change from ‘what’ you do, to ‘why’ you do what you do.

Who should be in charge of the EVP?

Stephen: The Founder, CEO, or person who is driving the business. 

Even in the world of tech scale-ups where the founders may be more well-versed in software development as opposed to marketing, they should still be responsible for defining the value proposition. There can be a team helping them do that, but ultimately they need to be the one to sign it off.

To unlock an EVP, you need to question the right people (Founder, CEO) in the right way. And you need the right person asking the questions.

Is it the HR department? Is it a VP of Marketing or CMO that has been brought in? Or, and this is ideal, can you do this as a team effort?

In order to create an EVP, you must ask:

1. What is the usefulness of the business? 

2. What is its purpose? 

3. What problem does it solve? 

4. How is it useful to its customers? 

Clearly, this is something which has a profound impact on your company’s marketing strategy. But this is not just about marketing. This goes to the heart of the business.

In conclusion, here’s six questions to help you define ‘why’ you do what you do

1. In starting your business, what did you see that you wanted to change?

2. How does the pursuit of that change make a bigger difference to the world (that you operate in, or the world as a whole)?

3. How does your brand fit in?

4. What makes your purpose authentic and credible (both externally and internally)?

5. How will your purpose motivate those who you work with?

6. How can you articulate the purpose in a way that would inspire your audience to trust to support your brand? This is the crux for establishing an EVP and understanding why the people who work for you are motivated to do so.