Finding it hard to recruit and retain talent? Sorry to say it, but you ain’t seen nothing yet. The labor market is going through seismic, gigantic shifts. Demand for talent far exceeds supply. Your competitors are poaching your top performers via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Thanks to the transferability of the provident fund, it’s easier than ever for your employees to switch jobs. No wonder then, that Thailand has the highest employee turnover rate in the region, at a whopping 17% (Mercer 2014). As an aging society, the Thai workforce is expected to decline from 2018 onwards, further adding to your recruitment and retention woes.
With hot talent so much in demand, how do you catch ’em and keep ’em?
Well, for a start, treat your employees like customers. To attract the best minds, give them a compelling value proposition, just as you’d do with your customers. An employee value proposition (EVP) is what the employee gets in return for putting in their energy, time and commitment (a.k.a. blood, sweat and tears) into delivering your business results. The EVP encompasses not just rewards, but also benefit, a challenging environment, career opportunities, working for a reputable company, quality of peers and supervisors.
Admit it or not, every org has an EVP. Not everybody has it in writing though. Only great organizations have a formal EVP, and that gives them a competitive advantage in attracting talent. The EVP is their promise to employees, an assurance that employees have every opportunity for advancement, for learning and development, opportunities for growth, and that policies are in place that allow for employees to move around and experience new things. Fulfilling the promise of the EVP is what gives companies an excellent employer brand.
The top-5 employer brands in Thailand are PTT, SCG, P&G, Unilever and CP*. Both Gen-X and Gen-Y graduates of top Thai universities assert that their most important criteria in deciding upon a place of employment are 1) Opportunity to learn and develop, 2) Opportunity for career growth, 3) Competitive compensation and benefit, 4) Interesting & challenging work, and 5) Job security/stability.
Your EVP will help you retain your employees and you’ll spend less. Yes, a great employer brand actually reduces your compensation expenses. Real Madrid (worth $3.44 billion / squad value $820.57 million) has the best players on the planet yet their wage bill is $290.4 compared to $300.4 million of Manchester United (worth $2.81 billion / squad value $484.5 million)**. Players are willing to accept lower pay in order to be part of a great team (EVP).
Company success alone does not translate to a strong employer brand. Coming up with an attractive and unique employee value proposition requires looking at your strengths, weaknesses and what your competitors are doing. HR, Marketing, Communications departments and management must work together. Embed your EVP in every-day experience among your employees. Communicate it relentlessly, internally and externally. Give your EVP a brand. Google has an EVP, it’s “do cool things that matter”. Aside from attracting and keeping the best talent, there’s one more benefit to having a great EVP: your employers will fall in love with you.
As we know, all you need is love.
Suvit Chansrichawla, next-generation HR consultant under the brand Serendipity&Co., partner of the Curve Group in Thailand. We believe in #peopleadvantage
*2014 survey by Aon Hewitt & CareerVisa Thailand
**Based on Forbes’s The World’s most valuable soccer teams 2014, Transfermarkt.com and TSMplug.com
