As many employers are looking to bring in the next generation of talent, the topic of compensation and total rewards becomes a critical component of the recruiting process. Many of your top candidates will ask themselves, “Outside of my starting salary and bonus, how does this employer support the flexibility that I’m looking for in my place of work? Is there a clear path to growth within the organization?”
Human Resource (HR) departments have been trained to help these high potentials understand the value of total compensation, emphasizing the benefits program and additional resources that employees have access to, in addition to competitive pay. In a perfect world, we relay these messages to candidates, and they clearly understand the value of these programs and the investment that the organization is making in ensuring that their people are supported.
Unfortunately, very few candidates will understand the value of your employee benefits program and the resources that you offer.
A recent Forbes Advisor survey of 2,000 Americans who have health insurance found that over three-quarters can’t identify the term “coinsurance,” and nearly half incorrectly defined copayment and deductible. That’s just the beginning of their confusion about the U.S. health insurance system. So, why are we spending an abundance of time communicating these benefits?
Who Are Your Employees?
Part of building your employee value proposition starts with identifying the who: Who are you employing? Who are your key employees? Who are you desiring to attract and retain? Who are the next generation of leaders within your organization?
Why Do People Choose to Work at Your Organization?
Once you understand your demographics, the next step is to understand why: Why do people come to work at your organization? Why do people leave? Why do people stay?
How Do We Meet Their Needs?
Lastly, for organizations that can distinctly define their who and why, it is critical to have a clear line of sight into how: How do we currently support our people? How are we constantly evolving to meet the needs of our multigenerational workforce? How are we clearly and effectively communicating our value proposition to our current and prospective employees?
See Employee Value Proposition Work
I recently started working with a large employer that had a strategic goal to enhance their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) initiatives. In a male-dominated industry, this employer decided to take a concerted effort into hiring more diverse candidates for specific roles. With the ideal candidate falling into the early/mid-career stage of 25-35 years old, we knew that this likely meant a majority of their female candidates would include working moms and other individuals who were looking to start families in the next few years.
To appeal to this demographic, this organization needed to understand why. Why would millennial female talent come work for our organization? After reviewing data from a recent employee benefits survey, the answer became clear. The benefits they wanted were competitive compensation, flexibility, and a supportive work environment.
Salary benchmarking and incentive compensation were just two variables to consider. For this subset of employees, flexibility meant offering a hybrid work schedule, with clear expectations. And employee benefits support came in various forms, including a discretionary budget for career development, a generous stipend for childcare, and a breast milk shipping program for the working moms whose roles required frequent travel, to name a few.
While it may sometimes feel like the low unemployment environment and competitive talent market offers employers little to no control in the hiring process, I encourage HR leaders understand the who, why, and how that can set your employee value proposition apart from your industry peers.
Need help building your employee value proposition around your employee benefits package? Holmes Murphy is here to help! Contact us today.
