Just 33% of employees report that their organisation is consistently delivering on the employee value proposition (EVP) promises it makes, according to a survey by Gartner.
A March 2024 Gartner survey of more than 1 300 employees found that only 21% of employees said their organisation communicates about their EVP enough.
“Organisations are pouring resources into their EVP – increasing salaries, promoting people, and offering better benefits – but employees are not seeing these upgrades,” says Keyia Burton, senior principal, advisory in the Gartner HR practice. “Communication is the biggest barrier for HR leaders when it comes to EVPs. Our survey found that 75% of HR leaders admitted they are not doing a great job of communicating their EVP internally.”
There are three key challenges currently hindering EVP delivery for employees that HR leaders must address when revamping their EVP communication strategy:
- Understanding the EVP;
- Connecting to the EVP; and
- Believing in the EVP improvements.
Help employees understand: Position EVP in the context of the employee journey
The March 2024 survey of 1 300 employees found that just 16% of employees reported knowing what makes up their organisation’s EVP. To help combat employees’ lack of understanding, HR leaders should communicate the EVP at the most relevant moments in an employee’s experience.
HR leaders have a variety of channels through which they can communicate about their EVP – job descriptions, career websites, job interviews, onboarding, team meetings, the company intranet, employee working groups and more.
Among 3 500 respondents to the March 2024 Gartner survey, for each additional channel through which employees learn about their EVP they are 24% more likely to agree that their organisation delivers on its EVP promises.
“It is imperative that HR leaders are thoughtful about which channels they are using and when,” explains Burton. “EVP communication should occur at all stages of the employee lifecycle, starting from the interview process all the way through the alumni experience.”
Make employees feel connected: Embed EVP communication into workflows
Managers are the day-to-day touchpoints for employees, but they don’t often communicate with employees about EVP. Yet, among the 3 500 respondents in the March 2024 survey, Gartner found that employees who believe they can depend on their manager to deliver on EVP promises are five times more likely to agree that their organisation delivers on its promises.
Unfortunately, managers today are already overburdened and don’t necessarily have the capacity, or the knowledge, to communicate about and help deliver on EVP to their direct reports.
“A great way to ease the burden for managers is to encourage them to signal EVP during their existing touchpoints with employees,” says Burton. “This could be during a team meeting, a mentoring session, or during development conversations. By discussing EVP in their existing touchpoints, managers are creating connective tissue for employees to be able to connect things that they are doing in their day-to-day back to the organisation’s EVP promises.”
Build employee trust: Demonstrate responsiveness and intent to act
The March 2024 Gartner survey revealed just 38% of the 1 300 employees surveyed anticipated EVP offerings would improve in the future, showing a lack of trust in their organisation.
“Employees are wondering if their employer is taking their feedback seriously,” explains Burton. “HR must show that they are responsive and intend to act on any hiccups or missteps that happen throughout the employee experience.”
One way that organisations can show they are responsive to employees is through greater transparency. Organisations can share information at greater depth by going beyond just defining their EVP and aligning it with the organisation’s mission. This shows up by taking action on employee feedback, as well as addressing feedback that the organisation cannot act on or speaking to challenges faced when delivering on EVP.