Employers worldwide are faced with the question of how to juggle the demands and expectations of the incoming millennial workforce without alienating the baby boomers - and losing their valuable knowledge and experience.

If the phrase ‘employee value proposition’ has you running for the hills, relax, this essential but easy-to-compile plan is not as intimidating as it sounds.

 

An employee value proposition (EVP) is quite simply the exchange or transaction that occurs between employer and employee; the ‘give’ and the ‘get’ between the company and its staff. It details the experiences that are offered by the employer in exchange for quality performance and productivity from its people.

 

Contrary to what many people think, an EVP is not a feel-good employer branding exercise. Rather, it is a vital tool that has a direct, and very real, impact on employees’ level of engagement, which in turn directly affects productivity and business success.

 

Every company has an EVP, even if it has not yet been formally defined and communicated. By recognising this, employers have the opportunity to be deliberate in articulating their EVP and maximising it to attract, retain and engage their employees as well as prospective employees.

I was determined, when considering this insert, not to allow it to become another one of those rather boring and rather mechanical, "how to" type of articles on talent acquisition! The problem is, how do you make a "done to death" subject like talent acquisition, interesting, informative and innovative? The answer I felt was, to interview "talent" and see what "it" wanted, to allow itself to "be acquired"!