In a competitive labour market, it is becoming increasingly important for companies to know how they want to position themselves as a competitive employer. In a similar way to how marketing formulates a unique selling proposition for products, HR defines a value proposition for current and future employees by means of the Employer Value Proposition (EVP). The EVP provides statements about what a company offers its workers, or in other words, how the company differentiates itself from others in the labour market. In this way, the EVP gives the company a distinctive profile that sets it apart from the competition and helps it to find and retain the right employees.

Interview

Gioia Gempeler-Jaussi worked on reviewing PostFinance’s EVP as part of a temporary job change. In the interview, she tells us how she went about it, what specific value propositions came out of it and where the biggest challenges lay.

Gioia, how did you approach the task of reviewing PostFinance’s EVP?

In order to define an overarching value proposition for PostFinance across all the units – based on the corporate and HR strategy – it was important for me to carry out a broad based review of the EVP. Each unit had the opportunity to put forward one person who contributed to the review in constructive workshops. The discussions were very intensive, as the needs for workers can be very different in different areas such as IT or legal.

Let’s get more specific. What exactly does PostFinance promise its current and future employees in the revised EVP?

I’ll repeat the promise in the “official” wording: as an employee of PostFinance, you will find a flexible and modern environment in which you can pursue your personal growth, share your opinions on an equal footing and have your say. Networking within the company is a straightforward way of empowering yourself so that we can celebrate successes and learn from failures together. We not only give you responsibility but an excellent work-life balance.

To what extent is the EVP an important instrument for PostFinance as an employer?

We need an overarching opinion on how we want to appear as an employer in the market. Especially in times of skilled workers shortages, clear positioning helps us find the right employees. The EVP outlines this positioning simply, clearly and in easy to understand terms. We are now ready to take our value proposition to the labour market in a new communication campaign and to devise further employer branding thrusts and measures. By the way, we are launching the campaign based on the guiding idea: “Your courage takes us further.”