World-class managers know that adding a sales superstar to the team is a great way to improve sales performance. They also know landing a superstar seller involves a recruitment process just like it does for a top-performing college football team (go figure, teams like Alabama and Clemson win national championships after they compile great recruiting classes).
Superstar sellers know they are good and should be treated accordingly.
As part of your recruitment process, it is important to know—and effectively communicate—your Employment Value Proposition (EVP).
What is an Employment Value Proposition?
Simply put, your EVP defines what it is like to work for you and your organization and can enhance your talent acquisition efforts by attracting the very best candidates (even those superstars who are not necessarily actively looking for a new job). Don’t think of this as a tagline, slogan, mission statement, or wish list of what you would like to be; but rather, your EVP should clearly communicate:
- Who you are as a manager
- What it's like to work for your organization
- The value that employees gain by working for your organization
Elements of an Employment Value Proposition
- An effective EVP will resonate with the right candidates by communicating how you are different from other employers: your culture, values, and reputation.
- A powerful Employment Value Proposition describes what it is like, day to day, to work in your organization and should be the tipping point that persuades passive job seekers—talented performers who are almost always employed and are not actively looking for new employment opportunities—to explore a job opening within your organization.
- A successful EVP will convince them to do the one thing humans hate most… change! It must activate them to go from the devil-they-know to the one they don’t.
Once you have an Employment Value Proposition, communicate it verbally in interviews, on your website, in recruitment ads, in your internal language, and within programs and opportunities offered to employees in your organization.
Steps to Creating a Powerful Employment Value Proposition
- Identify your organization’s ideal candidates—superstar sellers—and their preferences.
- Assess your current employment image as determined by applicants and top-performing employees, and determine your strengths as an employer as well as areas your organization could improve. This can be done via a survey or by asking people for their input.
- Determine how your employment brand can be differentiated from competing firms, and develop a compelling, energizing, and realistic message that conveys your value (rewards, programs, culture, etc.).
- Determine a strategy for the various ways you will communicate your Employment Value Proposition.
- Follow through on promises.
Not all managers understand or use this concept—take advantage of this and stand out in a positive way. This might just help you land the superstar seller that puts your team over the top!
*Editor's Note: This blog was originally written in 2019 and has since been updated.