Rethink Your Employee Value Proposition | Harvard Business Review

As HR and business leaders reevaluate their organizations’ employee value proposition (EVP) to ensure competitiveness, this new article by Amy C. Edmondson and Mark Mortensen provides ideas to consider. They start by presenting four components of an EVP: 1) Material offerings (e.g., compensation, physical office space, location, commuting subsidies, computer equipment, flexibility, schedules, and perks. 2) Opportunities to develop and grow (e.g., helping employees gain new skills and become more valuable in the labor market through job rotations, training, etc.), 3) Connection and community (e.g., all the benefits that come from being part of a larger group and which foster a sense of belonging), 4) Meaning and purpose (e.g., gets to the core of why employees do the work they do). While the material aspects of the EVP are top of mind for employees and recruits at the moment, the authors argue material offerings are easy for competitors to imitate, and their impact on employee retention is the least enduring. The authors offer ideas for strengthening the EVP by balancing material offerings with growth opportunities, connection and community, and meaning and purpose. Integrating the four components taps into a) both short and long-term EVP attributes and b) attributes focused on both the individual and collective organization. As a bonus, I am resharing my one-page summary on employee values, preferences, and expectations according to four sources (LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Bain & Company, Mercer, and McKinsey).