I’m over the Employer Value Proposition (EVP).

There, I said it. Send in the troops. Tell me how great your EVP is and how it changes everything for everyone. How it’s a magical mash of words that reflects your team, your values, and every person who works at your company. Unicorn paragraphs make people apply.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Don’t get me wrong, I think there’s some value in an EVP. I just think they’re getting way too much credit, especially when the copy for most of them is a cliché fest. No joke, you can look at 30 of the most admired companies in the world and literally write an EVP that summarizes all of them.

The amazing Melissa did that for us, actually, and here’s what she found:

Over a third of the companies analyzed used these words in nearly the same exact way, and all of them think they are “best in class” and “stand out.”

Change
Work
Us, you, with
World
Ever

Yet we’re still talking about the EVP like it’s critical for success - and if you are, you’re giving that paragraph way too much credit.

You’re spending too much time and money worrying about how you phrase “collaborative environment” and sound like everyone else.

Why? My friend Ben Gledhill said it best:

“An EVP to most is simply getting paid on time & being safe. That is today's working reality.”

Let’s get real about one thing: if you’re sitting in some cushy, six-figure job with benefits and perks, you are living a really privileged life. Most people don’t have the choice to work from home or call in sick. Most people (in the United States, at least) are one healthcare crisis away from going bankrupt.

And there you are spending three weeks in a conference room to write a paragraph that’s going to tell me about your collaborative, inspired approach to creating impact.