Developing an impactful employer brand. This Brandoos Teaser “Employer Branding” captures the essentials of Employee Value Proposition (EVP) development. It provides you the necessary knowledge, assignments and work templates to develop an EVP for your company. The EVP framework you are about to develop defines how your company is positioned on the job market vis-a-vis existing and future talents and thus helps you build an effective foundation for employee recruiting and retention.

1. BRANDOOS INSPIRATION: «HOW TO DEVELOP AN EMPLOYER BRAND» November 2014

2. ENABLING COMPANIES
BRANDOOS AG
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INTRODUCTION
Objective:
This Brandoos Inspiration “Employer Branding” captures the essentials of Employee Value Proposition (EVP) development. It provides you the necessary knowledge, assignments and work templates to develop an EVP for your company.
The EVP framework you are about to develop defines how your company is positioned on the job market vis-a-vis existing and future talents and thus helps you build an effective foundation for employee recruiting and retention.
About Brandoos:
We are a market oriented strategic management consulting firm and deliver fact based, creative and actionable strategies and recommendations that help you grow your business, brand and people.

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As such, the EVP is the foundation of all HR efforts and builds the basis for the interaction with existing or future employees across all touchpoints
An employer brand or employee value proposition (EVP) defines how a company is positioned on the job market vis-a-vis existing and future employees
WHAT IS AN EMPLOYER BRAND AND WHAT ARE ITS LONGTERM OBJECTIVES?
Effective Recruiting of Employees
WHAT
Sustainable Retention of Employees
However, communicating a promise is not enough. You have to walk the talk and bring the promise to employees to live across all touchpoints. Employees need to experience the EVP in their entire career. If executed right, the relevant EVP will help you retain talents sustainably and make your company a preferred place to work
The objective is to develop a strategy driven employer brand that offers a relevant value proposition and promise to employees that allows us to start the dialogue with future employees based on their needs and our company’s business objectives. This will help attracting talents more effectively if executed consistently and across all touchpoints
OBJECTIVES

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WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR AN IMPACTFUL EMPLOYER VALUE PROPOSITION?
RELEVANT
UNIQUE
CREDIBLE
STRATEGIC & SUSTAINABLE
EVP
The EVP needs to be relevant for employees
The EVP needs to address talent’s needs and decision drivers
Key elements that drive employee retention need to be incorporated in EVP
The EVP needs to speak to relevant trends
The EVP needs to be strategy led
To be impactful, the EVP needs to attract the right talents with the relevant competencies for future growth
The employer brand also needs to be aligned with values of the company brand
The EVP needs to be credible - walk the talk
To be credible, all employee touchpoints need to meet expectations raised by the promises we make with our EVP
All touchpoints from recruiting to hiring to daily work routine need to be assessed (thorough touchpoint audit)
The EVP needs to offer unique benefits
Facing war of talents, the EVP needs to differentiate from what everyone else communicates and offers to talents
Ideally, an employer brand offers talents a differentiating signature touchpoint

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RELEVANT – THE EVP NEEDS TO ACCOMODATE THE NEEDS OF A HETEROGENEOUS WORKFORCE
NORTH AMERICA
LATIN AMERICA
EUROPE
AFRICA
ASIA
MIDDLE EAST
Family oriented
Seeking collectivist culture
Monetary driven
Seeking career opportunity
Entrepreneurial
Reputation
Seeking flexible work opportunity
ILLUSTRATIVE STAFF SEGMENTS AND THEIR SPECIFIC EMPLOYER CHOICE DRIVERS
The most important requirement when developing an employee value proposition is relevance:
It needs to be relevant for all job profiles (e.g. techies, admin, service staff, operations etc.)
It needs to be relevant for different employee hierarchies within the company
It needs to be relevant for different regions the company is operating in In short, you need to know the needs of employee segments that drive their employer choice. As the specific needs of different employee profiles are very diverse, EVP’s are usually developed on a global scale and subsequently tailored to regions’, hierarchies’ and job profiles’ needs.

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STRATEGIC AND SUSTAINABLE – WE NEED THE RIGHT EMPLOYEES THAT WILL MAKE US SUCCESSFUL IN THE FUTURE
ILLUSTRATIVE EMPLOYEE PROFILES THAT EXCELL AT OUR FIRM
COMPANY SUCCESS
The Accountant Looking for a 9 to 5 job which he carries out with analytical rigor an precision
The Leader Looking for opportunities to lead teams or divisions to develop leadership skills
The Careerist
Is highly motivated and looking for the employer with the highest prestige factor
The Entrepreneur
Is seeking a growing and dynamic company in which he operates independently and may assume responsibility
The Balanced
Life balance and cultural fit describe the priorities of the Balanced employee
The Analyst
Is seeking to deploy his analytical skills in a well led team. Is not looking for leadership opportunities
When developing an EVP we need to ensure that strategic objectives are met. The EVP should not only be relevant for employees but more importantly should attract and retain the RIGHT employees. These are the question you should ask:
Which employee capabilities and skills do we need to develop to meet our actual and future strategic objectives?
What employee profiles make our company successful?
Which profiles usually succeed at our company given our culture and ambition? And which do not?
The Explorer Is seeking challenges and diversity of roles and assignments in a dynamic environment

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UNIQUE – IDEALLY, THE EVP OFFERS DIFFERENTIATING BENEFITS THAT SETS US APART FROM OTHER COMPANIES FIGHTING FOR TALENTS
Emotional
Functional
Structured career development
Attractive work conditions and competitive salary
Family business in which everyone counts
Positive work culture
Passion for excellence
Work Life Balance
Individual fulfilment & career perspectives
Firm 1
Appreciation, trust & respect
Firm 2
Firm 3
medium
strong
week
differentiation
ILLUSTRATIVE COMPETITOR EVP LANDSCAPE
The war for talents is ever increasing. In order to win, companies will need to provide unique benefits to their employees that are at the same time attracting and retaining the right employees to reaching the companies' business objectives To ensure our EVP will have a differentiating edge, the competitive landscape needs to be assessed:
What are competitors communicating in job advertisements and on their websites?
What are generic topics all competitors talk about (reveals table stakes)?
How are they trying to be relevant and what is their point of differentiation (reveals potential decision drivers)?
What are potential and relevant white spots (EVP territories) we can own?

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TASK: ASSESSMENT OF NEEDS
Please name the specific needs in the three phases (evaluate, onboard, advance) of the employee cycle for each employee segment in your company. You can define employee segments by hierarchy, geography or job profile.
STAFF SEGMENT NEEDS
EMPLOYEE CYCLE / PHASE
Segment A
What are specific needs in each phase?
Segment B
What are specific needs in each phase?
Segment C
What are specific needs in each phase?
Segment D
What are specific needs in each phase?
Employer evaluation: What are key drivers when selecting
a company in the
different segment?
Onboarding:
What are critical needs when joining a company and becoming acquainted?
Advance: What are key requirements to retain employees?
ONBOARD

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TASK: PROFILING OF SUCCESSFUL EMPLOYEES AND CAPABILITIES NEEDED
1
2
3
4
5
Think of all employee segments in your company and profile the “successful employee” for each of them. Note the qualities that make them successful on the right side
Successful traits and qualities
The Accountant
Looking for a 9 to 5 job which he carries out with analytical rigor an precision
The Leader
Looking for opportunities to lead teams or divisions to develop leadership skills
The Careerist Is highly motivated and looking for the employer with the highest prestige factor
The Entrepreneur
Is seeking a growing and dynamic company, independency and accountability
The Balanced
Life balance and cultural fit describe the priorities of the Balanced employee
The Analyst
Is seeking to deploy his analytical skills in a well led team. Is not looking for leadership opportunities
The Explorer
Is seeking challenges and diversity of roles and assignments in a dynamic environment

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TASK: ASSESSMENT OF COMPETITOR’S EVP STRATEGY
Emotional
Functional
Firm 1
Firm 2
Firm 3
Please screen job advertisements and websites of your key competitors on the job market and identify their EVP topics. You can distinguish between functional and emotional employee benefits. Then colour competitors according to the weight they give to the different topics.
medium
strong
week
weight
Firm 4
Firm 5

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DISCUSSION: WHAT ARE POTENTIAL EVP THEMES?
Talent needs The theme has to speak to talent’s needs
Required perspectives when developing an EVP
In the previous tasks you have gained relevant insights for three of the four key perspectives…
RELEVANT
UNIQUE
CREDIBLE
STRATEGIC & SUSTAINABLE
EVP
Business requirements The theme needs to attract the RIGHT talents and meet business requirements
Unique benefits The theme needs to provide unique benefits we can own
Walk the talk We need to be able to live up to the theme as a firm
Discussion
Based on the insights from the three previous tasks, you should be able to brainstorm and develop potential themes that are relevant to employees, unique vis-à-vis competitors EVP’s and anchored in the company’s strategy. Brainstorm at least 3-5 potential themes (common denominators of the 3 perspectives).
Illustrative example for a theme:
TALENT NEEDS
Fast career progression
BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS
the smartest
talents
UNIQUE BENEFITS
fast learning, strong career development,
reputation
Theme:
Learn from the smartest and grow your career while having meaningful impact

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TASK: PRIORITIZE THE DEVELOPED EVP THEMES & DECIDE WHICH OPTION TO CHOOSE
Please rate the developed themes by the assessment criteria below. You can use the Harvey Balls (clocks indicating low or high fulfilment) or simply use the rankings “low, medium, high”. When you are done, you should be able to prioritize a theme based on the assessment (you will go with the theme with the highest overall ranking).
Relevant for employees
Unique & we can own the theme
Fit to strategy and brand
Theme 1
Theme 2
Theme 3
Theme 4
Assessment Criteria
Can be implemented
The overall theme is relevant for all employees and can be tailored if necessary to employee segments
The theme has potential to differentiate us as an employer from competition
The theme attracts the employee profiles that make us successful as a company
To bring the theme to life is not a cultural or financial stretch for the company
Low fulfilment
High fulfilment

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TASK: DEVELOP GLOBAL MESSAGING AND TAILOR TO EMPLOYEE SEGMENTS
Global EVP theme:
Learn from the smartest and grow your career while having meaningful impact.
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE: EVP THEME FOR STATEGY CONSULTANCY
After agreeing on a global EVP theme that works across regions, hierarchies and job profiles it needs to be translated into tactical messaging for websites, job ads and brochures. The messaging should be tailored in case the needs of employees differ between cultures or job profiles. The example on the right illustrates how a global EVP theme can be translated to different job roles with a different need focus.
The Global EVP has 2 main elements: “grow career” and “meaningful impact”
For Senior Managers, “meaningful impact” is slightly more important while Juniors expect fast career growth As a result, the messaging for the two job profiles can highlight the specific needs within the boundaries of the global EVP. Ideally, the messaging contains valid proofpoints, that make the messaging credible.
Work with experienced teams and the smartest consultants
Fast career progression for high achievers
Get an internal mentor for structured coaching sessions
Formal yearly training according to employee’s needs
Lead challenging client engagements
Work on industry changing projects that have meaningful client impact
Learn from our partners and senior partners who are esteemed experts in their fields
Junior Consultant Role
(Key need: grow career)
Senior Manager Role
(Key need: have impact)

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CREDIBLE – THE EVP NEEDS TO BE IMPLEMENTED ACROSS ALL TOUCHPOINTS AND ACROSS ALL EMPLOYEE STAGES TO BE CREDIBLE
Unfortunately, with developing an EVP theme and the messaging for employee segments, you are not done yet. The question is: can our company live up to the developed EVP promise?
If we can’t deliver the promises made in our communications, the EVP is not credible and thus we could not retain the talent we have attracted with our promise.
What needs to be done is a thorough assessment of all touchpoints with our employees. To be consistent, all of them – from awareness to belonging – need to support the claimed EVP promise.
First, you have to identify all touchpoints. Once this is done, each individual touchpoint needs to be assessed based on the alignment with the developed EVP promise.
If you consider again the EVP promise “Learn from the smartest and grow your career while having meaningful impact”, this translates into specific activities at each touchpoint (on the right).
«The company is the best option for me» Agreement
Consideration «I consider to work for the company»
Awareness «I recognize the company as a potential employer»
Employee Experience
Belonging «I truly belong to the company»
Confirmation «The company delivers on the promise»
…we are known to recruit only the best talents from the best institutions
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE: EXECUTION OF EVP AT TOUCHPOINTS
Learn from the smartest and grow your career while having meaningful impact means that…
…the recruiting process is seamless and interviewers demonstrate that talents can learn a lot
…the offer is convincing, from a financial but more importantly from a development perspective
…training and development programs are excellent. Career progression is as fast as promised
…on the long, the company offers meaningful work where talents feel that their work matters and they have impact

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TASK: ASSESSMENT OF STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES AT EMPLOYEE TOUCHPOINTS IN REGARDS OF THE CHOSEN EVP THEME
«The company is the best option for me» Agreement
Consideration «I consider to work for the company»
Awareness «I recognize the company as a potential employer»
Employee Experience
Belonging «I truly belong to the company»
Confirmation «The company delivers on the promise»
Please collect all the touchpoints employees have with your company. You should then assess each of the touchpoints in respect of how they are aligned with the developed EVP promise. Touchpoints that are not aligned with the EVP need to be worked on, until they do! Note for each touchpoint if it fulfils the EVP claim and what implications are.
«Give the promise»
«Live up to the promise»
Recruiting events
Aligned with EVP? Yes / No
Implication:
Website Aligned with EVP? Yes / No
Implication:
Job ads
Aligned with EVP? Yes / No
Implication:
People, office
Aligned with EVP? Yes / No
Implication:
Job interviews
Aligned with EVP? Yes / No
Implication:
Job offer
Aligned with EVP? Yes / No
Implication:
Onboarding / work desk
Aligned with EVP? Yes / No
Implication:
Training programs
Aligned with EVP? Yes / No
Implication:
Job assignments
Aligned with EVP? Yes / No
Implication:
Team, mentors, seniors
Aligned with EVP? Yes / No
Implication:
Company culture
Aligned with EVP? Yes / No
Implication:

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IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EVP
So far, you have developed a global EVP theme with tailored messaging to employee segments and identified and assessed employee touchpoints. Now you have to implement the EVP at all touchpoints to bring it to live. Here is what you have to do:
Align touchpoints with the developed EVP: Launch necessary initiatives to eliminate identified touchpoint gaps
Develop missing programs necessary to live up to the developed EVP
Develop all communication materials based on the global EVP theme and the tailored messaging (website, job ads templates, brochures, job fair stationary etc.)
Launch the EVP across all touchpoints internally and externally

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Contact:
Brandoos AG
Limmatquai 72
8001 Zurich
+41 (0)43 243 8020
www.brandoos.com
Tobias Ammann, Partner
tobias.ammann@brandoos.com
Manuel Specker, Partner
manuel.specker@brandoos.com