Employee experience: only promise what you can deliver

Last month, the fifth edition of our book ‘The employee journey’ was published. It’s been updated for the post-corona world, because while the importance of investing in happy employees has increased over the years, this has become even more true in the aftermath of corona.

“A good EVP clearly sets out the USPs of working at the organisation”

Value creation begins with employees and research has confirmed that employees are the most important stakeholder group. Currently, thanks to the chronic shortages squeezing the labour market, attracting and retaining employees has become a topic of discussion at boardroom level. This is good. However, I do have a question: Is the goal simply to fill vacancies in the short term, or do organisations want sustainable success? If it’s the latter, doing so requires a strong and sustainable employer brand, and that begins with having an attractive promise for employees.

The promise is the starting point

What strikes me in talking with HR directors and managers is that they often do not know the EVP (employee value proposition) of their own organisation. Yet this promise (EVP) is the starting point for improving the employee experience – for which HR, among others, is responsible.

The EVP is derived from insights into the motives of current and potential employee target groups. It makes clear how the organisation distinguishes itself from its main competitors and spells out the identity of the organisation. A good EVP sets out the USPs of working there and indicates, clearly, what new employees can add to the organisation and expect from it. In this way, a good EVP becomes crucial for both attracting talent and retaining it.

Give meaning to the promise

Here comes a caveat: only promise what you can truly deliver. That sounds obvious, yet research shows that this is too often a challenge. The consequences are painful, in many cases resulting in people departing within the first 12 months of their employment. The Randstad Employer Brand research has good insights into why, but it ultimately boils down to this: make sure your employer branding activities are based on a truthful, ambitious and appealing EVP, and that this EVP is given meaning throughout the employee journey.

Begin working on your employee journey model

So my advice is this: If you want to develop and invest in a strong and sustainable employer brand, begin by clarifying your EVP and make sure that you only promise what you actually deliver. Next, figure out your employee journey model and use it to determine, step by step, what you can do to improve the employee experience. The beauty of this model is that instead of being purely theoretical, it enables you to take concrete action immediately. This action is based on insights that help you determine which phase of the journey should be the first to receive attention, plus what work is being done to improve the underlying influencing factors.

In our experience, taking a step-by-step approach to creating a stronger employee journey works best. We see this in the many successful cases we have been involved in, whether with Croonwolter&dros or Royal FloraHolland. Promise!