NeedToKnow&NiceToKnow

Formulating an EVP requires some serious reflection on your company’s identity. In the process  of defining your EVP it is necessary to be brutally honest with yourself . And to be clear and precise .

1. Define what you do

You need to decide what your core offering is and focus on it. And no less important, also decide what you are not. It is a mistake to think that a broad offering is better than a select offering. If you try to be too many things to too many people, you will attract many who are interested in working for you. But you will also appeal to many of the wrong kind. In order to attract the right talent, your EVP needs to be sharply defined.

It is no use selling your company if what you claim to be is not what people experience in their jobs. When you say that working for your will be challenging, inspiring and fun, make sure that you define what you mean by these words. Your idea of "fun" may be quite different from an employee’s. Without the context of what these terms mean in your vocabulary, they are useless in communicating what you do.  

2. Define your values

Decide what is really important to you and use this as the backbone of your EVP. Although you don’t need an elaborate mission statement to define your values, you do need to know what you stand for as a business. And what you do not stand for.

Select no more than three of four core values to describe your organizational DNA. Those should be the values that you live every day in your work.

Think about what you are really passionate about and what shines through in everything you do. Is it being the best in your business? Is it caring for the environment? Is it continually creating innovative products?

3. Be different

A clear and unique EVP is the ideal way to stand out from your competitors, especially if your business is similar to theirs. Talk to your staff to find out what it is really like to work for you and take that as a starting point for formulating your EVP.

It is often difficult to distinguish yourself from the competition because it is likely that you resemble each other in many ways. Therefore in order to create a unique EVP think in terms of what you are more and what you are less compared to your competitors. Rank all the different characteristics and values in order of how they relate to your company rather than trying to come up with a unique set, which is nearly impossible.

Is for instance, “innovative” more characteristic of you company than “results oriented”. And how would you rank “client focused”. This approach will not only help you in getting a better understanding of your company’s identity, it will also provide you with an unique EVP.