Approximately four months ago when Neil Harrison (from NH237 Consulting) and I sat down to talk about a potential research project, our main concerns touched on employee engagement and retention, labour and skills shortages, the reasons people might join an organisation and the reasons they might or might not stay.
What we wanted to better understand was the relationship between an organisation’s culture and its Employee Value Proposition. Both are increasingly seen as key, if often under-exploited, business drivers. But do they exist in splendid isolation, ships that pass in the night? In order to make more compelling and actionable use of their potential, should there be a more obvious, more structured connection between the two?
That’s what we set out to establish.
The research white paper you can download below, is the product of a number of structured conversations with leading industry professionals whose responsibility touches on culture and EVP. We are hugely indebted to them for their time and insights.
What did we learn? Quite a lot.
We wouldn’t want to pre-empt the white paper entirely, but some of the key points touch on the sorts of metrics that should be applied to both culture and EVP. How topical should the measurement and insights that inform culture and EVP be? Do we need to tear up the rule book and think much more nimbly than ever before? There are also some fascinating questions about the ownership of both culture and EVP. About how organisations could better articulate and communicate their culture and EVP.
Perhaps most fundamentally, this is about making better use of the clear and tangible link between the two. An EVP helps to welcome new talent into your organisation on the basis of the culture they see portrayed. And such new talent can also act as change agents, helping to evolve the culture within an organisation.
There should be a supportive and synergetic relationship between the two. But this feels more like a possibility within many organisations than a reality.
We hope we’ve managed to whet your appetite. Who knows the full implications of the coronavirus. In the short term, it feels unlikely to be anything even approaching positive. Whatever its impact, however, organisations will continue to need to create an engaging, inspiring cultural workplace to get the best and the most out of their people. And such people will still have to be attracted by an accurate, aspirational message that looks forward not backwards.
If you’d like to talk further to us on these two topics, we’d be delighted.
Joss and Neil.