Your Guide to Creating

a World-Class Employee
Value Proposition
Seven valuable ideas to stand out as an
employer of choice in today’s world
Table of Contents

3 Introduction

4 Understanding the Foundations of an Employee Value Proposition

8 Growing Culture and EVP Alignment

12 Seven Benefits to Boost Employee Engagement

15 Three EVP Stories to Inspire

23 Conclusion

Hi,
Ah, the “EVP.” Better known as the Employee
Value Proposition, it encompasses all the
parts of the employee experience that make
your organisation unique. Your EVP helps you
stand out from the competition and defines
what makes your organisation a desirable
place to work. A constantly evolving EVP
also keeps your best people where you want
them: Right beside you in your organisation.
There are so many ways to boost your EVP, you
may be wondering where to start — is it salary,
is it benefits, is it something else? We’re here
to help you sort through the options. If, like
many, an annual pay rise isn’t something your
business can afford, there are plenty of budget
friendly initiatives to put in place to improve your
EVP, and bring in and retain the best talent.
3 | Introduction
Introduction
This is especially important in tricky financial No matter what your budget is, there are steps
market conditions, where employers must you can take today to help improve your EVP.
put their best foot forward to provide a Similar to snowflakes, no two EVPs look the
top employee experience for their people same. Hopefully this eBook helps inspire your
outside of their standard salary. own EVP at your organisation, helping you to
align your business goals with your people to
There are several ways to improve your EVP
stand out out as an attractive place to work.
to make it one that fits your staff, your values
Done correctly, you’ll also wind up being the
and your budget. In this eBook, you’ll learn:
company where everyone wants to stay, too.
• The ins and outs of what an EVP is.
Robert Hicks
• How a strong EVP can help you to attract, Group HR Director
engage and retain the best talent. robert.hicks@rewardgateway.com
• How to link your EVP to your company
culture and overall engagement strategy.
• Engaging benefits that can help you
stand out as a great place to work.
• Real-life stories of how organisations
have revolutionised their own EVPs.
Understanding the
Foundations of an
Employee Value
Proposition

4 | Understanding the Foundations of an Employee Value Proposition

What does a strong
EVP look like?
Do you know why people work at your
organisation? What’s special about
your company? If you’re having trouble
answering these questions, learning
more about what an EVP is will help
you uncover what makes your business
stand out amongst the competition.
People are at the heart of any strong EVP
because it combines every aspect of the
employee experience. It excites, motivates
and engages your new starters, veterans and
everyone in between to come to work each
day and give it their all. And it’s a no brainer
that happier, more engaged employees
make stronger, more profitable businesses.
As you may already know, EVPs go beyond
just competitive salaries. When attracting
and retaining talent, there are many different
5 | Understanding the Foundations of an Employee Value Proposition
elements that go into your EVP. This
could include how you communicate to
your employees, which perks and benefits
you offer or how you show appreciation
for your workforce. Remember, your
EVP is constantly evolving and as your
company grows and matures, so should
your EVP. It’s something that you (and
your Leadership Team) should regularly
evaluate, question and if, needed, adapt.
Ask yourself, what do you want
from your people, and what will
you give them in return?
Why do I need
an EVP?
Now that we’ve uncovered what a strong
EVP is, let’s determine why it’s important
to your overall business objectives. Why
would candidates choose to work (and stay)
at your organisation over others? Similarly,
your EVP will also help you attract the right
kind of talent for your business, as it will help
people in their decision-making process, too.
In today’s highly competitive and
unpredictable market, businesses like yours
are likely looking at ways to keep costs
down overall. It’s more important than ever
to find perks and benefits that can stretch
your employees’ disposable income and
make you stand out as an amazing employer.
Further, organisations not only have to
meet employees’ expectations, but also
continue to innovate in order to maintain
their status of being a top place to work.
When you think of your
EVP it should be:
Unique
Relevant
Compelling
Put simply: Your EVP is your competitive
advantage. There is no other organisation
that’s exactly like yours. By strengthening
your EVP and overall employee experience,
you can create an engaged, aligned
and motivated workforce. Empower
employees to progress in your organisation
by making sure they feel valued and
understand the company’s direction.
When you evolve your EVP, you evolve
engagement at your organisation.
6 | Understanding the Foundations of an Employee Value Proposition
How do I start There are several steps to take, but a few
tactics we’ve used in the past include:
building my EVP?
After the “what” and the “why,” it’s time
Surveying existing employees.
for the “how.” How do you begin tackling
your EVP? The first thing to do is take a
Interviewing exiting
step back and truly look at the big picture
employees.
of what you want to accomplish with
your EVP. Do your research to help you
Focus groups.
understand what will move the needle in
exciting and engaging with your workforce,
Surveying candidates who
as well as understand what’s out there
rejected your job offer.
to compete with in the first place.
Examine the data to uncover what past Monitoring employer-review
and current employees value, so you sites like Glassdoor.
can continue reaching new starters and
veterans with your EVP. Determine what Evaluating your own
motivates your highest performers and internal employer brand.
most engaged employees so you can
expand that across your entire workforce.
Once you’ve collected your data, gather information about
your employees’ wishes and desires to bring forward better
alignment. While innovative benefits are one key differentiator
for your EVP — and we’ll dive into examples of those engaging
benefits soon — it’s important to understand the changing
landscape of employee motivators and align your people with
your company’s mission, purpose and values to boost your
EVP even further. By considering your EVP and engagement
hand-in-hand, you can influence positive change across your
organisation. Next, we’ll explore a few ways to do just that.

7 | Understanding the Foundations of an Employee Value Proposition

Growing Culture
and EVP Alignment

8 | Growing Culture and EVP Alignment

In order for employers to boost their EVP
and continue to attract, retain and engage
employees, it’s critical to listen to their
employees to match their expectations and
create understanding of an organisation’s
purpose through a variety of ways. By
enhancing your EVP to connect employer
and employees, ultimately, you increase
and improve employee engagement.
As you build your EVP, it’s important
to understand its link to employee
engagement, and how this can positively
impact your company culture (and your
company’s bottom line). While pay is still a
key component in any job, employees are
now motivated by the entire experience
an organisation provides. Consider the
pieces you put into your organisation
and the investments you make in your
people — unique perks and benefits,
employee recognition, chosen styles
9 | Growing Culture and EVP Alignment
of communication — to name a few. These are the pieces that you invest
time and resources in to improve the
Aligning your EVP strategy with your
connection between prospective and
employee engagement strategy can help
current employees and your organisation.
create a more engaged workforce. Not
surprisingly, organisations want to engage So where to start?
their people for three key reasons:
1. Engaged employees make better
decisions for their companies and
clients because they understand more.
2. Engaged employees are more
productive because they like
or love what they’re doing.
3. Engaged employees innovate
more because they deeply want
their organisation to succeed.
While you can build an engaged workforce
by investing in your EVP, your company
culture is not something you can control,
rather one that you can help influence.
As always, we like to start
Building people with your EVP
with “Why.”
One piece of the EVP that’s important to keep
Why does your organisation exist, and how
in mind is the job design and professional
can you motivate employees to join your
development opportunities that you offer.
cause, through recruitment, engagement
In keeping with our values, I believe in being
or other means? Employees are motivated
honest, so here’s what part of our EVP says:
when they’re working for a shared purpose,
but they can only get excited about that “Your job will be fun, challenging, always different,
purpose when they know what it is. Makes Think of your mission as the ever-changing, frustrating, fast-paced, innovative,
sense, right? When employers effectively “what,” purpose as the “why” and if we are honest probably the one that will
communicate their purpose, mission and values as the “how.” stretch you the most that you have had.”
and values to employees, employees will
To reinforce this, we often align our job
feel more connected to an organisation
descriptions and onboarding with our values. For
because they understand and believe in the
more on this, check out rg.co/valuesinrecruiting
direction the company is going in. This is
critical to your EVP — it’s what makes your
organisation unique.

10 | Growing Culture and EVP Alignment

Working towards one goal with a
clearly stated purpose, mission and
values empowers your workforce to
be more engaged and they’ll want
to show up to work every day.
Companies can connect their workforce
by living and breathing their purpose,
mission and values in everything they do.
This becomes all the more important
in building trust between employees
and employer, such as explaining the
“why” behind a tough business decision.
Making decisions on how and where to
communicate with employees is a key
part of an organisation’s EVP and, in turn,
your company culture — think of it this
way, does your company employ a CEO
who your employees never see or hear
from, and stays mum about company
hardships, or does your company embrace
11 | Growing Culture and EVP Alignment
open and honest communication, with
Leadership Team members setting
an example for their employees by
sharing weekly company updates?
Many decisions that are made, such as how
to recognise, pay and show appreciation
for your workforce are shaped by your
“why.” My advice? Consider your purpose,
mission and values at the heart of every
decision you make. This could be something
as simple as extending parental leave
more so than the average (we give up
to a year in paid time off for the primary
caregiver, for example), linking to our value
of “Be Human,” where we understand that
“everyone has a career and a personal life
to juggle,” which can include a new baby.
These kinds of offerings, which I like to call
your “People Deal” is what builds your
EVP and creates your company culture.
Beyond the benefits
When you think about an EVP, benefits likely
come to mind, and you’re not wrong. But beyond
benefits, building your EVP through key ways to
show appreciation for your employees can make
all the difference in a candidate’s decision (or even
a would-be leaver). We like to show appreciation
for our employees through recognition, which
keeps employees motivated far beyond day one.
When you put a spotlight on individual (or
team) impact, employees are more likely to
put in effort at work. When you connect the
recognition to something as empowering as
your company’s values, it further builds the
connections between employee and employer. By
embedding these behaviours, you can create a
culture of continuous recognition through simple
gestures such as saying “thank you” more often.
Seven Benefits to
Boost Your EVP

12 | Seven Benefits to Boost Your EVP

The first step when determining your benefits is simple:
Align your benefits with your core company values. Keep in
mind that the right kinds of benefits help increase employee
satisfaction and engagement. These benefits are your
cultural differentiator and strengthen your EVP. They can
be a top consideration when candidates decide whether to
join your organisation or join one of your competitor’s.
The sky’s the limit when determining new benefits, only
slightly restricted by your imagination and your budget.
It’s important to note that while some benefits may be amazing,
that doesn’t mean they’re right for your business. It’s about finding
the “right fit” for your company and your employees. This means
challenging yourself and your leadership team to develop benefits
principles which align with all aspects of your business, including
your culture, values, business goals and (of course!) your people.
13 | Seven Benefits to Boost Your EVP
Below are seven suggestions for benefits to boost employee
engagement. Remember, this list is infinite – use your imagination
and creativity!
1. Employee share programme
Working towards a shared purpose can be an investment in
an employee’s professional growth, but also their financial
health, too. At Reward Gateway, our employees own 5%
of the business, so when we profit, they do, too.
2. Mentor programme/ learning
and development
Professional development is essential for growth. Allow
employees access to learning and development programmes
or start a new mentorship programme at your company.
3. Days off for volunteering
Volunteering is a great way for employers to show
employees they care about their interests. Allowing
days off for volunteering encourages employees to get
involved with their local community or charities.
 4. Team socials and events
Have some fun attending different events or hosting a social, where you focus on team- Employee benefits with Reward Gateway
building activities or challenges and let employees showcase their problem-solving skills.
Our employee discounts programme and salary
sacrifice benefits can help employees stretch
5. Game night
their disposable income, while helping employers
Everybody loves a good game night, right? Easily transform your office space into an show their appreciation for their people. There
entertainment space for the night, or bring the team out to the local pub for trivia. are over 900 online and in-store discounts to
choose from, allowing employees to save on
6. Celebrate milestones their supermarket shopping, DIY goods, travel
When employees experience milestone moments, such as buying a new home or having a and clothing. Our salary sacrifice benefits
baby, come together as a group and celebrate together to recognise these special moments. include Cycle to Work, Childcare Vouchers
and SmartTech™ – which gives employees
7. Healthy office snacks instant access to free financing on over 5,000

Keep your office kitchen stocked with fruit and vegetables to fuel your workforce technology products from Currys PC World.

throughout the day. Even start the week off with free smoothies for breakfast!

Those are just seven of endless creative benefits to enhance your EVP. But let’s take a look
at real-life examples from three Reward Gateway clients who truly stand out amongst the
competition.

14 | Seven Benefits to Boost Your EVP

Three EVP Stories
to Inspire

15 | Three EVP Stories to Inspire

These three examples of strong EVPs are all different. And they
should be, since they’re particular to the organisations which
created them.

But the one thing they all have in common is how they show
their appreciation for their employees, help them stretch their
disposable income and how they communicate to their workforce.

All three of these organisations use Reward Gateway’s employee

engagement platform. With the help of an Implementation Team
and a dedicated Client Success Manager, these organisations
extend their employer brands to their engagement platforms
through end-to-end customisation. These hubs can include benefits
like discounts, plus communications and recognition, which help
them stand out as an attractive place to work and connect to their
people, no matter how long employees have been at the company.

If you’re looking for real-life EVP stories to inspire your own

EVP, look no further. We’ll explain each company’s main
challenge, the approach, how each company uses its employee
engagement platform and the results. I encourage you to use Our clients customise their employee engagement platforms in a variety of ways, whether to promote

these examples as a guideline for creating your own EVP. company news, host benefits or show appreciation to their people. We even use our own, called boom! in
our day-to-day lives.

16 | Three EVP Stories to Inspire

 The platform:
Challenges:

• Ensuring all
Oliver Bonas is a popular online communications
and in-store retailer in the UK. Its reflected Oliver Bonas’
main challenge, as with many other brand and culture.
companies in the retail industry,
was internally communicating • Creating an engaging
to an offline workforce – either and creative
working in-store or in warehouses. communications strategy.
Meaning, there was a big gap to
fill in employee communications. • Increasing traffic and
uptake of benefits
and discounts from
all team members.

• Reviewing what was

currently being offered to
ensure competitiveness.

17 | Three EVP Stories to Inspire

Once the team clearly outlined
the challenges and made sure
they were related to the overall
business strategy and employee
experience, it was time to
determine the approach, or the
how. Let’s think of the approach in
three time periods – before, during
and after. Not only is it important
to create buzz before and during
the launch of their new employee
engagement platform, but it’s
equally important afterwards so
people stay connected to the new
offering and don’t forget about it.
To kick off its engaging and
creative communications strategy,
Oliver Bonas built momentum
pre-launch with a series of
custom-designed posters and
emails to boost curiosity and
18 | Three EVP Stories to Inspire
create buzz company-wide.
With curiosity reaching an all-
time peak, each store received
specially-designed launch boxes
full of food, personalised letters,
posters and an interactive
“flapper” leaflet which displayed
different images and messages
when folded in different ways.
During this wave of excitement
and celebration surrounding
the launch boxes, managers
conveyed key information about
the company’s new employee
engagement platform. The launch
prompted employees to register
for this new offering on their lunch
breaks or while at home, making
sure communications were
accessible to all team members.
After the launch, the team
created clever competitions
through the new engagement
hub created by Reward Gateway,
and participating team members
could win exclusive prizes.
Oliver Bonas continues to use
its new customised employee
engagement platform to host
all of their benefits, including
employee discounts. The
employees also use their hub
as a recognition tool to send
eCards and Service Awards,
as well as for updates on
Learning and Development
and wellbeing. Oliver Bonas
keeps the offering going by
interchanging and updating
content regularly to freshen
up the design and imagery
Results:
20%
increase in team members
surveyed agreeing they
understand and engage with
its benefits offering – only
six weeks after launch.
78%
of team members are
now active users with a
noted increase from its
offline demographic.
65%
increase in traffic to the
offering and a 44% increase
in savings made through
employee discounts.
 The platform:
Challenges:

• Increasing employee
engagement with its
GO Outdoors is the UK’s largest retailer of outdoor predominantly part-
equipment. Similarly to Oliver Bonas’ retail industry time, offline workforce of
challenge, GO Outdoors has a largely offline 2,400 employees across
workforce. Remember when we said no two EVPs 62 locations in the UK.
are the same? Even though Oliver Bonas’ and
GO Outdoors’ challenges are comparable, the • Adopting an all
approaches to improving EVPs are entirely different. inclusive recognition
and e-learning tool
After running an employee engagement that was easy to
survey, GO Outdoors found that almost all of use and accessible
its employees felt that working at GO wasn’t to all employees.
rewarding enough – which was highlighted
further by a high staff turnover rate. Some of • Offering employees
the biggest gaps centered around accessibility innovative benefits and
of employee development tools, keeping the discounts to stretch their
workforce up-to-date with company news disposable income.
and recognising people for their efforts.

19 | Three EVP Stories to Inspire

The team began spreading
awareness to employees about
the new employee engagement
platform – which encompassed
discounts, benefits, recognition
and communication – by
attaching a flyer with key
messages about the launch
to each payslip. In order to
reach various employees, the
team placed a secret desk
drop of save the date cards on
everyone’s desks and placed
posters, table toppers and
leaflets in key areas of stores.
During the launch of the new
offering, GO’s team used
social media to create a teaser
campaign with GIFs, videos,
banners and competitions.
There was an added word of
20 | Three EVP Stories to Inspire
mouth promotion from brand
ambassadors, store managers Results:
and leadership team members
After 12 months,
who had early access. As an
incentive for spreading the word, 87%
the added bonus money went increase of participation
to their discounts account. in its engagement survey
and engagement score has
increased.
Employee development was a
key objective for GO Outdoors
with this new platform. To
integrate its e-learning offering
£200,000
spent through employee
and to make the platform discounts with staff saving
accessible to employees £20,000 overall.
from home, the team used
Reward Gateway’s single sign-
on capabilities. They were Each person is saving
around
also able to add peer-to-
peer recognition with eCards, 10%
allowing any employee to send each time they use the
a personalised “Thank you” to offering.
a colleague from any location.
 The platform:
Challenges:

• Bringing together
and engaging 2,300
employees working
numerous shift patterns
under one brand.

• Finding a new tool to

Over the past 40 years, Edwardian Hotels has built help with consistent
its business on the ideals of individuality, passion communications and
and professionalism. When the team assessed its alignment throughout
current offering, they found that their HR systems 12 different locations.
actually didn’t symbolise what Edwardian stands for.
They didn’t showcase Edwardian Hotels’ true beliefs • Offering innovative
or reach the masses of the company’s diverse benefits or discounts to
employee base, thus leading to employee turnover. help employees stretch
their disposable income.

21 | Three EVP Stories to Inspire

With a multinational and
multi-generational workforce,
Edwardian Hotels needed to
bring all individuals together
under a new brand for a
cultural shift. Next on the list?
A search for a one-stop-shop
employee engagement hub
to immerse its people in the
brand and the core beliefs.
To start their approach, the
HR team partnered with the
marketing team who had put
together external branding. This
would help tie it to their new
employee engagement hub
As I’ve noted before, it’s important to acknowledge that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach for creating your EVP. There are many
factors that go into determining what will work for your company, but hopefully these three stories have helped inspire you to get
started where you are.
22 | Three EVP Stories to Inspire
to keep things consistent and
extend the employer brand.
Working together allowed
them to create a turbocharged
strategy for the upcoming
year and this new strategy
established three core values
to connect its people: The
mind of a leader, the spirit of a
warrior and the heart of a host.
This new employee engagement
hub, called My Edwardian,
helped the company build an
internal brand for the first time
and would set the foundation for
the entire employee experience.
By offering new benefits and
discounts, Edwardian Hotels Results:
immersed its people into one
Employee registrations on
brand and created alignment new engagement platform
across the multi-generational rose from 36% to
and multi-cultural workforce.
48%
Spend increased by
£71,000
compared to February
of the previous year.
20%
decrease in projected
employee turnover.
Conclusion
Now that we’ve come to the end of our eBook, I hope If you’re interested in learning more about Reward Our employee engagement
you’ve received some starting points on how to boost Gateway’s employee engagement solutions to solutions are powered by a
your EVP and improve employee engagement among attract, retain and engage your people, please get centralised hub tailored to your
all areas of your business. In order to stand out as an in touch. We’d love to help you boost your EVP. organisation bringing employee
attractive place to work to future and current employees, For more advice on benefits initiatives and how to benefits, discounts, reward
companies should focus on their differentiators and improve your EVP, you can always find me on the and recognition and employee
what sets them apart – like benefits, communications, Reward Gateway blog of engagement experts. communications into one place.
recognition, mission, purpose and values.
Here’s to creating stronger EVPs, If you’re interested in learning
Find your own unique EVP by focussing on what’s about any of Reward Gateway’s
important to your particular business and people. Your employee engagement solutions
EVP doesn’t have to be perfect, you just have to start to help attract, engage and
making strides towards building a competitive advantage Robert Hicks
retain your people, we’d love
and increasing engagement at your organisation. Group HR Director
to help you get started.
robert.hicks@rewardgateway.com
By implementing engaging benefits which align Get in touch:
with your mission, purpose and values and shining T: +44 20 7229 0349
a spotlight on individual achievements, you’ll be E: info@rewardgateway.com
well on your way to building a world-class EVP.

23 | Conclusion