You got EVP questions and we’ve got answers. We sat down with two EVP maestros who between them, have executed five EVP projects across their careers. But you probably want to bypass the challenges and execute to perfection, yes? 

Here’s what Jess Bragg, ex-Ericsson, ex-Shopify Global Employer Brand Lead, and Lauren Miller, Employer Brand Lead at Commonwealth Bank Australia said were the big lessons learned building scalable EVPs. 

First, how to start your EVP project 

Before you go running off and tumbling down the EVP rabbit hole, you’ll want to carve space for quality internal reflection. 

Jess says, whether you run your EVP project internally or through an agency, success lies in first understanding the problem you’re trying to solve. Use your data and internal research to identify your challenges, strategic recruitment goals, and data trends. 

Don’t overlook this survey component. 

• Look at your competitors and assess what they’re offering and doing when they show up online (their messaging). 
• Ask your employees how they currently feel about working there. What do they like and value about the organisation now, but also consider what they may want to see in future. 
• Identify your gaps and your point of difference. 

Remember that, while aspiring for better is perfectly acceptable, you must build an EVP that accurately reflects the employee experience! 

How CBA approached their EVP 

Nothing like a global pandemic to shake up candidate and employee motivators, right? Lauren hit pause on CBA’s EVP project once the pandemic hit, forecasting the experience would dramatically shift the way we work, and the way talent appraise opportunities. 

When things restarted in 2021, they shifted language and consciously referred to the project internally as the People Value Proposition to reflect its impact on both employees but also customers communities and potential employees.

What did their EVP project look like? 

• Eighty-five 1:1 employee interviews 
• 10 different focus groups 
• Additional sense-checking panels to share and confirm insights 
• Pools of individuals that spanned all business units, tenure, seniority, and diversity 

This research was then workshopped to deliver two outputs: 

1. CBA’s people promise – what people can expect of a career at CommBank, and what is expected in return. 
2. Three internal EVP pillars 

CBA’s EVP promise is a two-way partnership approach grounded in the internal people experience. However, they also added two pillars specifically to represent pre-employment talent drivers. That’s because their research showed that while purpose internally is a key driver, external candidates are more interested in reward, recognition, and work flexibility. They ended up with 5 EVP pillars. 

Lauren’s top insight: 

Once you have the core EVP pillars and aligned messages figured out, you need to add these to your content marketing initiatives. But be specific. Lauren says, move away from subtle messaging to more deliberate messaging, as more candidates are asking ‘what’s in it for me?’ 

How Ericsson approached their EVP 

Contrary to popular belief, an EVP isn’t a lifelong, once-and-done project. Jess suggests reviewing your EVP every three years to ensure it’s still relevant to the day’s market. 

It’s for this reason, despite the tumultuous pandemic, that Ericsson pushed forward with their EVP refresh to modernise their messaging for the current talent audience. But it required some creativity and a compelling proposition to cut through and recreate their vibrant in-office culture when new starters dialled in remotely. 

Sometimes, that meant failing fast, learning quickly, and adapting on the go. 

Jess’s top insight: 

When building your EVP, how you position and shape the messaging will have the most impact. Your company’s unique attributes are what will help you create your point of difference against your competitors. 

Candidates have never had more choice than they do right now, so really consider your sell, your value, how you’re making the world a better place. Jess suggests focusing on the way you connect and communicate with candidates. Use a distinct tone of voice and tailor your communication to the people you’re trying to impress (no more generic templated InMails!). 

Focus on the emotional connection and answer, What’s in it for me? 

If you do a good job and candidates move to a new company but they still give you a 5-star review on Glassdoor or Seek – consider that a job well done in this market. 

Common challenges faced when building a scalable EVP 

Life is never all peaches, right? One common challenge to be mindful of when developing your EVP is ensuring it’s scalable across the business (now and as it grows). 

Lauren’s challenge with a large organisation like CBA, was fusing the common experience and landing on messaging that unites all staff, everywhere. From branch employees to cyber and engineering – messaging must bring the EVP to life across all the different parts of the Group. 

CBA designed an all of talent approach and a critical talent approach (engineering, cyber, lending). Using magnetic messaging and brand advocates within teams, they set out to ensure brand cohesion and consistency. 

But get help to do this well. Lauren suggests tapping into your key stakeholders, like recruiters and hiring managers. When you ignite your hiring managers and encourage them to drive referrals and social selling, they bring to life the experience of their teams. 

= Show candidates what they can expect as a member of *that* particular team. 

How to measure EVP success 

Bearing in mind, how you measure initial awareness might look a lot different to how you measure intent. Here are some metrics to consider when measuring the success of your EVP roll out. 

Lauren’s key metrics: 

• Applications per advertised role within the context of that job family. (Know what good looks like for each role) 
• Advocacy metrics – how do our employees advocate for us? The hashtag #commbanklife is measured in market. Also measure how ‘shareable’ your content is – are employees sharing? 

Jess’s key metrics: 

Jess uses an eclectic mix of tangible and some that aren’t a direct influence on employer branding now (but might be in future!). 

• Tangible metrics like time to hire, retention, employee engagement, application quality and quantity, diversity of applicants, source of hire etc.
• Social influence and employer brand reputation through dedicated channels (are followers growing or going backwards?) 

You won’t see instantaneous results. So, be prepared to track monthly and follow trends in your data over time. 

Employer branding has a lot of layers so be kind to yourself. Rome wasn’t built in a day – and neither was an EVP! 

What gets measured, gets done 

When you start your EVP project with a clear focus and desired outcomes, you can work on it consistently to get the best results. You only need to look at some top talent brands in Australia to see the culmination of their efforts.  

Want to see the full interview? 

Watch the EVP webinar replay on demand