Employers are pouring resources into their employee value propositions, but some are failing to communicate those investments, according to a Sept. 17 report from Gartner.
Just 21% of employees responding to a survey said their organization communicates about their EVP enough, and 75% of HR leaders said they aren’t communicating their EVP well internally.
Perhaps as a result, only 33% of respondents said their organization consistently delivers on promises related to employee value proposition.
Organizations are increasing salaries, promoting people and offering better benefits — and employees aren’t always aware of these changes, Keyia Burton, senior principal, advisory in the Gartner HR practice, said in a statement. “Communication is the biggest barrier for HR leaders when it comes to EVPs.”
Gartner pointed to three challenges hindering EVP delivery that HR leaders must address for employees: understanding the EVP, connecting to the EVP and believing in EVP improvements.
For instance, in the Gartner survey of 1,300 employees, only 16% reported knowing what makes up their organization’s EVP.
To communicate EVP well, HR leaders should use as many channels as possible, Gartner said, including job descriptions, career websites, job interviews, onboarding, company intranet areas, employee working groups and more.
Managers can also help their direct reports feel connected to EVP during existing touchpoints, Burton said, such as team meetings, mentoring sessions and development conservations. According to the survey, employees who believe they can depend on their manager to deliver on EVP promises were five times more likely to agree their organization delivers on those promises.
Building employee trust plays a major role as well. Only 38% of survey respondents said they anticipated EVP offerings would improve in the future. To address this, leaders can show they are responsive to employees by demonstrating greater transparency, taking action on employee feedback and addressing challenges that occur when delivering on EVP, Gartner said.
Executive leaders tend to overestimate how much their employees trust them, and the gap has grown in recent years, according to a PwC report. Companies may not have the structures in place to identify trust expectations or gaps between stakeholders, the firm said.
For instance, while employees expect their employers to invest in their well-being and CHROs support those investments, C-suite leaders may not be on the same page, according to a report from The Conference Board. To overcome this, CHROs can link well-being initiatives to C-suite priorities such as leadership development, culture reinforcement and talent acquisition and retention, the report found.
As part of this, recent job seekers said they want honesty in the workplace, both to and from managers, according to a survey from Express Employment Professionals and Harris Poll. Job seekers and hiring managers alike said honesty in the workplace can build employee loyalty, morale and productivity.