How to Build a Strong Talent Value Proposition

Talent is a scarce resource
In today's business climate, talented leaders around the world are constantly facing choices when it comes to career opportunities. It is likely that your key people will be contacted by your competitors with appealing offers on a regular basis. Do you continuously remind them of what you offer as a talent value proposition?
Turn-over costs
Staff turn-over costs can significantly impact a business, both directly through recruitment costs and more indirectly through cost of conversion, lack of productivity and less motivated staff when capable managers leave.
The solution to minimise these staff churn costs is to build and strengthen your talent value proposition, i.e. everything that talent values when choosing to join or choosing to stay with a specific company.
Build your proposition
Before you start developing or refining your talent value proposition, here is some initial advice:Know your audience: Before you start formulating key messages, get to know your target group: what do they value when selecting an employer? Who do they consider being your most fierce competitors on the talent market (you will be surprised to see they are not your closest competitors in regular business). Make sure you conduct in-depth interviews with both present and future employees.
Focus on your differentiators: Promote what is really unique and what is seen as advantageous by your current employees, not what you would like to offer in the future. What are the reasons they work for you today? A talent value proposition typically consists of the following areas:

• Compensation and benefits; considered as the base offer that should align with your competitors. However, studies of what executives value in choosing an employer tells that this is not what matters the most.
• Personal development opportunities and in a broad sense the company's corporate culture and values are what really matter. Executives make their job shift decisions based upon these two areas. They take years to build, thereby being far more difficult to copy.

Spread your brand across all channels: make sure to spread your employer brand across a wide range of channels, from the most obvious ones such as job advertisements, to the channels more often forgotten such as what interviewers tell candidates about the company. A common mistake when working with employer branding is to focus all your efforts on potential new employees, thereby forgetting your current key people.
The talent value proposition should be closely linked to your company brand. This will require a cooperative approach between HR, Corporate Communications and your marketing department. An ambitious company will work as professionally with its employer brand as it would with its corporate and consumer brands.
Case Study:How the Swedish Trade Council defines its talent value proposition"The Swedish Trade Council offers a world of opportunities:

• At the Swedish Trade Council you have a role with purpose... since our contribution to the Swedish trade and industry is significant
• The Swedish Trade Council has varied, stimulated duties to offer you... since our assignments cover many different types of clients and services
• A job in the Swedish Trade Council provides great development opportunities... and will create a good foundation for your future career"