3 Attracting Millennials to the Workplace
BUILDING THE EMPLOYEE VALUE VALUE PROPOSITION (EVP) TO ATTRACT MILLENNIALS Having a well-respected, strong brand was once considered critical to be able to attract top talent. It was enough to be a multinational corporation and become highly admired company. The rankings prepared by Fortune magazine reflect that perspective. In response to the question “Which firms have the best reputation?” the answer would be “Look at the Fortune magazine rankings.” Accordingly, for years these rankings have helped elevate companies’ prestige. However, is that still enough? Is a good reputation and strong brand sufficient to attract the new generation to one’s company? Young employees who in previous years would have felt obliged to have good reasons to leave employment at a large, stable corporation now expect employers to provide them a compelling reason to stay. In the “decade of the employee,” as Jamrog (2002) refers to it, or the “employees’ golden era,” as Hatum (2010) calls it, an EVP is increasingly important to be able to communicate, attract and retain top talent among today’s young workforce. The director of International Recruitment at L’Oréal agrees: As a prerequisite prerequisite to anybody who works in human resources, especially in competitive environments, we need to work A. Hatum, The New Workforce Challenge © Andrés Hatum 2013
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on our employer proposition. Both to see if it sells outside, so that we can attract and recruit the best talent, and also to see whether we can provide the environment where this talent will blossom and develop at the pace we want them to develop.1 Theories related to branding and EVP all underscore the importance of an EVP to improve attractiveness, generate greater employee commitment and become the employer of choice (Manpower, 2009). Lancaster and Stillman (2010), however, highlight the importance of “meaning” in referring to the value proposition a company is offering to the younger generation. Thus, it seems that while a strong brand is no longer enough to attract and retain the new generation, the traditional approach to EVP may also be inadequate. Hatum (2010: 38) defines an EVP as “the firm’s organizational features that allow it to promote itself outwardly and generate loyalty internally.” Those organizational features are the firm’s organizational culture, people, work characteristics and rewards. While the brand provides a message for attracting prospective employees, the EVP delivers the actions and behaviors that are attractive to the target candidates as well as to those already working in the organization. Similarly, Black (2007) 2 argues that value propositions address leadership, company, job and rewards, four areas that are critical to attracting and retaining good people. It seems, therefore, that a comprehensive EVP needs to address a broad range of elements that are important to employees. A recent study by Towers Watson (2010) points out that when companies formalize their EVP, the EVP is more likely to become a unifying experience.3 While this is true, both the company’s brand and EVP should provide a detailed understanding of critical workforce segments in the organization. And this is where things become more challenging when thinking about Gen Yers entering the force. The importance of the EVP to enhancing a company’s ability to attract the young market of Gen Yers was pointed out earlier.
