Charlotte Neal
In a world of constant change, today’s employers must adapt quicker than ever to meet the needs of their workforce while staying competitive in a tough jobs market.
And with new generations’ attitudes to work evolving from the traditional ‘labour for money’ transaction to being more aligned with individuals’ values, having an Employee Value Proposition that caters to every age group has never been more important.
In the five years I’ve worked at Reward Gateway, we’ve seen a notable shift from EVP transforming from a ‘nice to have’ into a business critical asset – essential for success.
What was perhaps once overlooked or bumped down the project list has now been boosted all the way to the top, with business leaders recognising that failing to prepare for tomorrow’s workforce is preparing to fail.
In our August webinar, People Experience Director Chris Britton and I teased out the various elements of a stand-out EVP and discussed how employers can adapt their offering to engage the full breadth of their workforce.
Deloitte’s 2023 Gen Z and Millennial Survey discovered that employees in that bracket want their employers to address climate change, inclusion, mental health and financial wellbeing.
EVP is far more than a reward package, recognition programme and communication – today’s workforce wants to progress their careers with learning opportunities, work for an organisation that promotes diversity and inclusion, does good in the world and, ultimately, makes a difference.
During the webinar, we journeyed through all this and more, and the interaction from our 700 attendees was incredible! So good, in fact, that we have collated the 10 best ideas and comments on additions or adaptations to your EVP below, so that you can take them away and make your corners of the world a better place to work.
Give your team and new employees an open door to suggest improvements, as this has been a benefit to me and the business. As a manager, other generations are invaluable to provide the fresh perspective and new ideas that aren’t even a seed in my uneducated mind.
Fostering a culture of continuous, open and honest dialogue empowers your employees to find their voice in your organisation – to provide feedback, ask questions and even offer suggestions – which is proven to increase employee engagement at work. It also opens your organisation to a wealth of new ideas and opportunities that it might not have otherwise considered.
We offer the wellbeing allowance, £500 each to spend on physical, mental, social or financial wellbeing – pretty much everything is covered. With c25k employees, it’s pricey, but really well received. I bought my apple watch!
Research shows that wellbeing support is in the top 5 Must-Haves for job seekers in 2023 – across all generations surveyed. Additional research shows that 39% of UK employees say that the biggest impact of the last few years of uncertainty has been on their mental wellbeing, making this type of support increasingly critical.
We’ve recently introduced an EV car scheme via Salary Deduction, and we now have Peppy, which has menopause [and] fertility [support] for all UK employees. We have also enhanced gender and mental health support under our PMI – so good to see we are up with trend.
We get things like Amazon Prime (shopping, movies, music etc.) direct from payroll. It's super simple and our employees love it.
The discounts platform offers hundreds of discounts and cashback options across several categories of spend, including grocery, travel, fashion, electronics and more. These discounts can save employees over a thousand pounds in the span of a year, depending on spending habits. (And because the discounts platform comes with the mobile SmartSpending app, employees can access these savings from anywhere, whether that’s at home or on the go – fast enough to use in the checkout queue.
We offer a paid day off, for those who have a child starting their first day at school.
Wellness Wednesdays: One hour off on Wednesdays to do something for your personal wellbeing.
Reward Gateway’s Wellbeing Centre is arranged into four sections that encompass the four branches of employee total wellbeing:
- Munch – for healthy recipes and nutritional tips
- Move – for exercise videos and training tips to suit a variety of workout modes, like strength training, cardio and yoga
- Mind – mental and emotional wellbeing tips, plus meditation exercises and more
- Money – financial wellbeing tips, from budgeting to investing and beyond
It’s critical to support all aspects of employee wellbeing to help ensure they can live their best lives and bring their best selves to work. Wellbeing support helps reduce turnover, as well as absenteeism and the distraction of overwhelming stress.
[We have a] gym in the building and access to wellbeing sessions via our shared office space – both are really impactful for our Gen Z employees, in particular.
Life Happens Days (emergency childcare, vets, washing machine broke).
In the modern business environment – especially with the aftereffects of a global-scale force to remote working – work-life balance has become ‘work-life integration,’ and employees are listing flexible scheduling as another must-have from potential employers.
Just a bit of fun, but an ice cream van for funded lollies goes down well.
A video series with our employees telling others what they value about our EVP and how they have personalised it.
We truly can’t understate the value of fostering internal brand ambassadors for your EVP. They are in the thick of things with their peers and carry the potential to drive morale and excitement for new or existing initiatives in the business. Enthusiasm is infectious – smiles all around! – and they are invaluable pillars of your organisation’s workforce.
Check out our events page to join us for our next webinar and pick up valuable tips, research and philosophy on how best to engage your employees and tailor your EVP for a multigenerational workforce.
