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Employee Value Propositions, part 1

This is a great example of how the wonder of the world wide interweb shapes itself.
Upon looking at the analytics for my site, I discovered that most of my search traffic came from the search term “Employer Value Proposition.” In fact, it was well over half, meaning that people are hungry to learn more about this intricate subject matter. So allow me to share.

First of all, the value proposition is a concept that’s been all but jargoned out of the marketing industry. It’s been replaced by far better buzzwords and concepts that people can charge way more money for and sound way smarter when they use them. But in reality, a value proposition is rooted in the concept of the unique selling point: what is it that your brand does exceptionally well that no other brand can claim superiority. This, foundationally, is also rooted in the Jim Collins Three Circles/Hedgehog Concept of “what can you be the best in the world at?” And while this seems like a no-brainer, theoretically, the truth is that the day to day grind of marketing any element of a brand often beats this purity out of you.

But for the employer, the overall value proposition is rooted in these ideas:
1. What is the product (the job) being offered?
2. How does it benefit me individually, both rationally and emotionally?
3. How is it differentiated/superior?
4. What is the proof?

Healthy amounts of research are required to fully understand these perceptions, because an employer or a brand cannot intrinsically understand these points. As the person spinning the plates of day to day brand management, it’s impossible to fully grasp what your publics and your candidates believe about your brand. Because, in truth, a brand is never what you say it is: it’s what your publics and your consumers say it is. Therefore, to fully grasp what your value proposition is, you have to start by identifying the real benefit a job has for a candidate, understanding the internal perceptions of working for your company and discovering the external perceptions as well. A solid EVP and employment brand are fundamentally rooted in realism. We’ll get into that later.

That’s the initial necessity for understanding your EVP, and therefore the foundational element companies need to build a successful, real employment brand.

Latest stats about Millennial workers: grab the Tums

As if employers weren’t already scratching their heads enough about Gen Y, the recession has made it even more difficult for managers to understand them. And, unfortunately, the latest round of data to surface about Millennials and their work environment will be less than comforting for most employers.

The generation that expects everything is only going to get more in the coming years, according to a recent study done by the Center for Labor Market Studies. By the spring of 2009, less than 30 percent of work-aged teens (16-19) were employed in the labor market, the lowest levels seen since WWII. So not only are mom and dad having to shell out more allowance money while they’re in high school, but they should expect to see them back in about 5 years. The same study also revealed that less than half of the nation’s 4 million college graduates age 25 and under were working in jobs that required a college degree. That’s down from 54 percent for the same period last year. And top that off with this snippet from September 4th’s New York Times:

According to today’s job report, the overall unemployment rate (the percentage of people in the labor force not working but looking for work) in August rose to 9.7 percent, its highest level in 26 years. The teenage unemployment rate, however, is at 25.5 percent, its highest level since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began keeping track of such data in1948.

And if the picture wasn’t already difficult for employers, consider some additional research done by fahrenHEIGHT360.com. According to their polling data, 70 percent of Millennials will leave their first job within 2 years. And by 2015, Millennials will comprise 40 percent of the entire labor market.

So, let’s get this straight: Only 30 percent of teenagers are currently in the work force; for every 1 that’s working, 3 can’t get a job; and when the ones that go to college get out, they can expect a job that doesn’t require a degree for the next few years. Oh, and the ones that do find a job, will leave it within 2 years. And to top it all off, this massively inexperienced labor force will dominate the entire labor market in the next 10 years.

For all the talent managers out there who just choked down a handful of Tums, just take a deep breath, swallow that mouthful of fruity chalk and read onward. There is hope. First of all, I think everyone in the HR field should read Tammy Erickson’s article about the rising leadership of Generation X. Xers possess many traits that counteract the misfortunes of Millennials and are young enough still to provide solid leadership and contribution at all levels of a company. And from our perspective, Xers should be a key target for your employment branding.

Secondly, the Millennial generation is massive; therefore, the 25 percent who worked through high school and got a good job immediately after graduating from college are a significantly larger pool of talent than you might imagine. They will be smart, competitive and ready to work hard to keep a job because they had to work hard just to get one. They will be amazingly tech savvy, resilient and able to wear many hats. They typically work well in teams, desire inclusion and are the kind of people that generally believe that there is a solution to a problem, even if it seems like there’s not one. This core group that represents the best of their generation is passionate, optimistic and ready to take on new challenges. The only problem is: everybody wants them. I guarantee your best competitors already have a plan to load up with this group to backfill for the cascading tide of Baby Boomers exiting the workforce in the next 10 years.

So the real question is, what are you doing today to attract this group and retain them? If companies don’t start this process now, they will most likely end up with the 28 year old who’s working his absolutely first job.

Employment Branding: A Defense

So, over on another blog, I read an article insinuating that employment branding was nothing more than a way for agencies to schnooker money from talent managers. You can read the initial article here.

Here’s my response:

Wow.
So let’s all take a step back from the rhetoric so we can analyze this problem objectively. First of all, I can easily say that no one of competence has ever really explained employment branding to you or shown you numeric results of how it can positively affect a company. And, I assure you from experience, it can.

So let’s start with the basics:
Employment branding refers to a larger group of services that treat recruitment and retention efforts like building a brand. It has nothing to do with creating brand-building tv spots like Nike or Apple, rather it has everything to do with using the same emotional triggers (often seen in good advertising and design) that draw someone to a brand outside of just rational benefits. Think Nike or Apple. Their products are more expensive, but their branding makes people want to buy them for the association and perception benefits.

Case in point, the EVP, or employer value proposition, is an attempt to define the intangible qualities of working with your company. Other than their balance sheet and dental plan, what motivates me to want to work for Google over Yahoo; Nike over Reebok; or The Home Depot over Lowe’s? Sure, many of those things will be tertiary employee benefits, like bringing your dog to work or not working in a sweat shop, but they make a difference. Recruitment advertising throws a laundry list up on an 8.5×11 flyer and hopes somebody notices. It’s a classic push strategy. Employment branding takes those ideas and shapes them into a message that features the benefit of working with that company to a candidate. It uses both emotional and rational messaging to draw them into that company.

Just like in a retail brand, the manifestation of an employment brand is the combination of several talent facing and employee facing concepts, including talent management software, referral programs, college recruitment programs, signature experiences, internal communications and recruitment. Shaping a consistent look and feel that delivers on a company’s core values is really where the agency comes in. They should be able to help a CTO or HR manager extract most of the core ideas for the employment brand from the company vision statement and extended intangible benefits. Then the agency can help them express that creatively in a campaign. Also, the agency should help them place it in different media that just classifieds and Monster. There are too many opportunities out there to get in front of potential candidates that just “the old standby’s.”

And with the economy in the shape it’s in, it’s more important than ever to make sure you’re getting the right people, not just warm bodies. Because your applicant flow will be far greater now, you need to be actively screening for good people that share your core values. Again, this is where EB comes in. Not only should it screen in the right people, it should effectively screen out the scrubs you don’t want. In work that we’ve done in our past, we’ve flat out told people that “this job isn’t for everyone.” You know what that effectively does? It tells the lazy dude to buzz off and encourages the competitive candidate to step up and apply. We’ve also done work that showcased different working environments that stiffer, more corporate types would hate. And in numeric, quantifiable ways, it has worked. But don’t just take it from me, take it from the Marine Corps. They used the “We’re looking for a few good men” line starting in 1776, and for over 200 years it helped them attract a different breed of soldier. Screening worked then, and iit will continue to work today.

I know you like to think that agency folk don’t know what they’re talking about because it’s easy to hate on agencies. We lie, cheat and steal just like Darrin Stephens or Mel Gibson from What Women Want. However, some of us actually do our homework, know what we’re talking about and make a difference for our clients. Some of us do great creative work that’s strategically sound and helps HR managers get better people. So before you cast wide aspersions that employment branding is throwing millions of dollars away, dig a tad deeper. It does work.

Actually, check out a presentation I did on the basic case for Employment Branding.
It’s featured on www.Insightory.com this week as their key insight.

My Presentations at insightory.com

So, I was asked by the good folks over at insightory.com to post some of my presentations. My deck on employment branding called “Causality” is currently the key insight. Check them out when you get a chance.