Insights

​Walk the talk at every stage of recruitment

​A compelling EVP can help you attract and retain top talent. But only if you can follow through on your promises.

When you’re looking to attract the best talent, an attractive employee value proposition (EVP) is an incredibly powerful weapon. But if you don’t walk the talk, it may also be your biggest liability.

While talent shortages are easing, just over half of employers are still having difficulties filling roles. Salary definitely plays an important role in attracting top talent, but most candidates are looking for more than just pay. A compelling EVP they can get behind is no longer a nice-to-have.

But words on a page are not enough – 61% of Australian employees would turn down a job if they learned the company had a poor culture. To get candidates over the line, you need to demonstrate your EVP at every touchpoint in the recruitment journey.

Culture begins and ends with senior leadership – not HR

Box-ticking EVPs are not convincing anyone – least of all your employees. In fact, Gartner found only a third of employees believe their organisation delivers on its promises. With two-thirds of EVPs falling short, those who get it right can really differentiate themselves in the market. But how do you do that?

Here are three things you can do to make sure your EVP is genuine and lived at every level of your organisation:

1. Talk to your employees. Use data from employee surveys to identify what people really want and create a meaningful proposition they can believe in.

2. Get the board on board. Culture filters down from the top of an organisation. I’m always surprised when CEOs simply delegate their EVP to HR, especially when you consider the world’s top executives believe culture accounts for 30% of a company’s market value. If the board and C-suite spent as much time talking about people and culture as they spend on governance and compliance, it would benefit everyone. If we had more representation from HR on the board, even better.

3. Get clear on your values. What does your business stand for? How would someone recognise that? From a plaque on a wall or from how you interact with each other, and with suppliers and stakeholders? Your senior leadership needs to clearly identify and articulate your EVP and demonstrate it every day.

If you want some inspiration, look at organisations like Canva – over 350,000 people applied to work with them in 2023.

Bring your EVP to life during the recruitment journey

Candidates will be looking to see if their experience of interacting with you reflects what you say about your EVP. If it says you value people as individuals, but your recruitment process is transactional or impersonal, you will very quickly lose their trust.

Here’s how you can make sure you’re demonstrating your EVP at every touchpoint:

1. Before they apply: Candidates may use tools like AI to do basic research on your company culture to discover whether you live up to the promises of your EVP or not. Look at what you’re posting on socials and what employees are saying on platforms like Glassdoor. Do they reinforce or contradict the values you stand for?

2. Your job ad: Make sure it clearly articulates what it’s like to work there. Consider how inclusive your language is and how that might align with your EVP.

3. The application process: How quickly do you respond to applications – or do you respond at all? A generic auto-reply followed by weeks of silence sends a clear message about how much you value people's time and interest.

4. Interviewing: Are your interviews two-way conversations where candidates can learn about your organisation and culture? Or are they an interrogation? When we assess candidates, we approach it as a discovery process where both parties get to learn more about each other over two or three sessions. Allowing us to build a picture of whether the candidate and organisation are truly aligned.

To keep your organisation’s culture strong and continue to live up to the promise of your EVP, you need to hire people who are a good cultural fit. Living your EVP at every stage of recruitment can help you more easily identify the candidates who are truly aligned – and will stay with you for the long-term.

A strong EVP benefits everyone

Your recruiters – whether internal or external partners – also need to understand your culture deeply enough to represent it authentically. They should be able to tell stories, share examples, and create connections between candidates and your purpose. If your EVP is genuine and lived by everyone in your organisation, this should be easy to do.

For help creating recruitment experiences that genuinely represent your culture and values, please get in touch with the team at BWS Recruitment.