How to make sure you have a great Employee Value Proposition

Winter is coming. After the slowdown of the Christmas break comes January, the busiest month of the year for those hiring and those wishing to be hired. The first month of the year will see tens of job adverts, hundreds of resignations and thousands of applications. For employers looking to attract – and keep hold of – top talent, creating an excellent employee value proposition can make all the difference.

Understand what your employees want

As recruiters it’s something we see all too often – a disconnect between what’s on offer from employers and the benefits that employees actually want. Flexible working is a great example of this; 30 per cent of employees say they wouldn’t consider a new job that doesn’t offer flexible working, but only 18 per cent of employers offer it. Whilst the term can conjure fearful images of empty offices in the minds of directors, flexible working can be as simple as a policy which allows a worker to adjust the normal nine to five for the sake of a necessary appointment. Offering flexible working can be an excellent way to set your business apart and to demonstrate that you are open to facilitating your employees’ needs.

Practise trust and transparency

The old adage ‘give and inch and they’ll take a mile’ isn’t one that can be applied to today’s workforce; studies have proved time and again that productivity improves when employees feel happier in the workplace and trust has an important role to play in this. Increasingly, employees seek more transparency around business issues, such as salary, but don’t feel they are getting this from their employers. An open and honest approach is always encouraged between businesses and customers; it should be no different for employees.

Develop and progress potential

The second reason for employees seeking to leave their current position is lack of progression opportunities, just behind salary. Interestingly, most employers seem to feel that they are offering plenty of chances for promotion and development, whilst employees feel that this is lacking. Perhaps the issue here is proper communication, which brings us back again to transparency: it’s no good for opportunities to be available if staff are unaware of those plans.

Developing skills is not only a fantastic way to attract talent, it could help businesses reduce problems arising from skills shortages. It also increases loyalty, helping organisations with retaining staff and beating off competition from other employers.

The current business climate is a competitive one; candidates know that they are the market drivers and political and economic uncertainty means they are unwilling to move jobs until the right offer comes along. No longer driven solely by salary, candidates are seeking well-rounded, balanced offerings from prospective employers, which could create fantastic opportunities for SMEs and those with more conservative budgets. As we approach the busiest months of the recruitment calendar, your employee value proposition could be the difference between finding the perfect client or finding yourself short.