Think Like A Silicon Valley Tech Giant

The very well-known Silicon Valley tech companies are famous for their work culture…free food, free coffee, alternative therapies, free bicycles…and that’s even before anyone even thinks about the career opportunities available. Hardly anyone has actually been into these offices…they still make up a tiny part of the global workforce, but everyone feels they know what it would be like to work for them.

That’s brilliant PR. And would attract a lot of people who like free, fun things in the workplace.

But the hugely successful Silicon Valley companies don’t want to just attract people who are motivated by freebies. (They wouldn’t be where they are today if they did.) What they do want is top talent to know what makes their company a great place to work, and how their career can be nurtured there. They do this by having a brilliant Employer Value Proposition, or EVP. They have all the fun free things of course, but an EVP is the real reason why top talent choose to work at one company over another. 

An EVP is a shared set of values that touches every part of a company, from its HR strategy and internal comms to social media posts and recruitment ads. It’s an opporunity to build on your positive PR and articulate in one pithy line what you stand for. Ideally it’s a set of values that everyone is happily part of, from the board room to the front desk. These values not only make people working for you feel they are all working to a shared value system, but importantly, attract the talent who share those values (and may not have been aware you had them). These values could range from the freedom to try your own initiatives, monthly training, a great location, company growth rate, camaraderie…it just depends on what a company stands for.

The good news is, your company can have this buzz too. And you don’t have to move to Silicon Valley to do it. You just need to find and celebrate what is unique and attractive about your company – and show it off with a strong EVP.

Here are some EVPs from Silicon Valley:

Google -- Do cool things that matter.

Facebook – Connecting the world takes every one of us

Apple – Amaze yourself. Amaze the world.

The ABCs of EVP

Here at Avvio Reply we’re good at helping organisations define their EVP. We make sure that what made them truly unique ran like a thread through the organisations. During our work we found these were the main touch points to getting a great EVP: 

Develop the EVP so it works for both employees and the business.

Make sure it is attractive, true, credible, distinct, and sustainable, but keep it clear and simple!

Differentiate yourself from your competitors – this is your chance to stand out

Develop it collaboratively and holistically to ensure it is relevant for the whole business and that EVP promises can be delivered

Effectively communicate the EVP to employees with a focus on the deployment and long term planning

Ensure it resonates and is understood internally and externally – for existing, as well as prospective employees across age ranges and tenure

Reflect ‘one brand’ – as a disconnected brand can be harmful to a brand image, as well as creating employee dissatisfaction.

Of course, you don’t have to do this yourself. You can contact Avvio Reply. Our consultants and creatives are the best there are at ensuring your company will get an EVP to attract and retain the brilliant staff you need and make sure you stand out from the herd. We’d love to hear from you!