Reinventing the Employee Value Proposition

To attract and retain talent, HR leaders must evolve their employee value proposition to focus on the whole person, not just the employee.

A recent Gartner 2021 EVP Benchmarking Survey of HR leaders revealed only 23% of respondents believe most employees will continue working in their current organization after the pandemic ends.

Often, employee dissatisfaction relates to how they are treated at work.

“Traditionally, organizations focus on employees as workers when they define their employee value proposition,” said Carolina Valencia, vice president in the Gartner HR practice. “Instead, employers need to see their employees as people first and foremost.

Highlights from the report include:

  • Only 31% of HR leaders believe their current employees are satisfied with their employee value proposition.

  • 82% of employees say it’s important for their organization to see them as a person, not just an employee, yet only 45% of employees believe their organization actually sees them this way.

  • Employee satisfaction increases by 15% when the employee value proposition encompasses “the human deal”.

  • 53% of employees feel it’s important for their employer to provide opportunities for personal growth.

Gartner’s research reveals nearly half of employees say their work-related stress is higher now than previously in their career. Employers are offering: physical (80%), financial (67%), and emotional (87%) well-being benefits.

However, few employees are using those offerings. Managing this gap between the benefits programs offered requires HR to take three actions, according to Gartner:

  • Hold employees accountable for their wellness by helping them identify the well-being offerings that matter most to them

  • Incentivize them to use available offerings

  • Enable them to track their wellness progress

HR should also partner with experts throughout the organization to create a societal issues decision framework that prioritizes how those issues align with the organization’s goals. HR can then collaborate with the communications team to share the framework across the organization to increase transparency and help employees feel invested.

Source: Gartner