What to do when half the population hates you

01 June 2010 8:28am

After a survey found 50 per cent of respondents "hated" Telstra, the company looked internally to identify its strengths as an employer and develop its employment value proposition (EVP).

The aim of the research was to "uncover what we did well", what people wanted, and where there were gaps, resourcing manager Josephine Thompson told delegates at the Australasian Talent Conference in Sydney last week.

"We went out and we asked people in the external market what was important to them," she says. Fifty per cent said they didn't know Telstra as an employer - "and 50 per cent said they hated us".

The result reflected the way Telstra was relating to its candidates (the career page of its website said, "If you're looking for an opportunity with Telstra, please contact one of the agencies below, and if you submit a resume it will not be responded to") but it did not reflect the opinion of employees.

An in-house survey generated more positive results, identifying three key strengths - "work/life flexibility", "great people" and "great work".

"And the beauty of that was, actually people externally and internally said that was really important for being attracted to an employer," Thompson says.

However, Telstra also found "a significant gap" on the engagement side. "Our people said, actually, we were rubbish when it came to people management.

"My big moment of realisation was 'well that's great. I'm responsible for this but I have no ability to actually influence that...' And this is where we started our work to drive with the HR community, their ownership of delivering in this space."

Telstra's EVP

Telstra has since developed an EVP centred around the slogan, "connect with what you love", with marketing that is based on "our people telling our story", says Thompson.

In order to communicate the message in an "authentic" way, 77 employees have been appointed to act as "brand ambassadors" in advertisements. They talk about how Telstra enables them to connect with what they love in unscripted videos which seek to convey positive aspects of the employee experience.

"No ad goes out without a person's name and title and a little bit of their story," Thompson says. "And of course, subtly within their story, is one of those EVP elements."

The employer brand and associated marketing share "common graphical elements" with Telstra's sales brand, says Pinpoint Communications' leader of employee communications Donald McNeill.

Mc Neill, who played a key role in developing Telstra's EVP, says an employer brand "needs to support and complement the work that your consumer brand or marketing teams are doing".

Working with marketing to achieve this is not always easy, but it is "key".

The challenge now is maintaining and updating the ambassador profiles, and making sure the HR team is delivering, says Thompson. The next phase of implementation involves lifting the standard of the company's people management to ensure it fulfils the EVP, she says.

Don't just "get" an EVP - use it

The EVP needs to be "the function of sound structures", and will be "absolutely useless" unless it is put into action, McNeill told delegates at the Conference.

The emphasis shouldn't be on "getting one" or "having one", but what you do with it, he says.

Drawing on figures from the Corporate Leadership Council, McNeill says employers who clearly articulate - and deliver on - their EVP retain 30 per cent more people in the first year.

When drafting an EVP, McNeill says employers should answer the following questions:

What does your target audience look for?

How do they perceive you as an employer?

What's your organisation doing really well?

What are you prepared to invest in?

What does your business need?

What qualities, attributes, and personalities do you already have?

Who are you looking for?

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