Why Does a Company Need an EVP?

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When deciding where to send their CV, 83% of professionals research a company’s reviews, and for 53% the process of researching the employer begins right after reading the job posting. However, attracting talent and motivating staff isn’t limited to a strong employer brand. What matters is which perks — material and non-material — you offer.

For example, in crises, the main thing is the support of your employees, providing additional sick leave, and helping to equip the home office. Such advantages and benefits constitute the Employer Value Proposition (EVP).

If you haven’t worked on the Employee Value Proposition yet, you can start today! We’ve highlighted what EVP is and how to develop it, using the examples of Airbnb, Netflix, ITExpert, and MacPaw.

Outline:

• What is the Employee Value Proposition
• What is the difference between EVP, corporate culture and HR brand
• Why EVP is important for companies
• The main components of the Employee Value Proposition
• A step-by-step guide on how to develop an EVP
• Examples of successful EVPs of technology companies
• What to do after developing the Employee Value Proposition
• FAQ: frequently asked questions about EVP

What is an EVP (Employee Value Proposition)

EVP is a set of advantages and benefits in exchange for the specialist’s knowledge, skills, and experience. The Employee Value Proposition helps both the employee and the candidate answer the question: “‎Why should I work for this particular company?”‎.

With a successful EVP, you can attract IT specialists who resonate with your company’s values and corporate culture more effectively. In addition, with a value proposition, the employer will have more relevant candidates. For example, out of the first 100 candidates, about 90 will be more likely interested in working in the company and align with its values.

At the same time, according to research, only a third of employees (33%) believe their employer consistently keeps its EVP promises.

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EVP vs Corporate Culture vs HR Brand: What’s the Difference?

“Value proposition”, “Corporate culture”, and “HR brand/employer brand” concepts are often confused. Let’s explore the difference between these ideas.

1. Corporate culture means how people work and treat each other in and out of the company. It also includes the company’s values and mission. For example, there is an internal document at Netflix that outlines all the principles and requirements of working in the corporation.

One of the points of the company’s internal culture is the policy of trust. If an employee spends money on what he needs for work, the company will return it to him. Refunds are approved in almost 100 percent of cases. The main rule to follow is “Act in Netflix’s best interest”.

For example, one of the Netflix engineers told this story:

“I flew to the conference as a speaker, thinking it was good for the company because I represent our product and Netflix itself. Nobody checked me, did not demand a report, didn’t send me there (to a conference). Then, I added all the expenses for tickets, hotel, etc. into the internal system, and the company returned the money.”

Corporate culture is the starting point before EVP development.

2. EVP is the experience that employees gain, as well as the benefits they get while working for the company. For instance, the company Obrio states on its careers page: “Ready for a challenge? Join us.”

And backs this up with information about exactly what the company does to ensure its employees keep developing and feel comfortable:

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An interesting, non-typical domain can serve as an additional “hook” for a candidate. For example, Boston Dynamics builds its EVP on the uniqueness of the work itself: the niche of advanced robotics. The chance to do truly unique engineering becomes a standalone argument in the company’s favor — especially for engineers tired of product companies with routine tasks.

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3. HR brand (employer branding) means the information about the company that the employer broadcasts in various channels to attract and retain the best tech talent.

The value proposition is used within the company. However, to implement it, you need to first survey employees, candidates, and also analyze your competitors. It is based on data, responses, and corporate culture itself. At the same time, the employer brand is about developing an IT company brand, marketing, and the ability to convey information about the company’s values, goals, and benefits for the people who work there.

The Importance of the Employee Value Proposition for IT Companies

Nowadays, professionals from all over the world are motivated not only by salary. They strive to grow their careers, offer product ideas, share the company’s values, and feel their importance. And given the 2024 HR Barometer Adare data showing that replacing an employee costs companies an average of €9,500, the conclusion is obvious: a well-thought-out EVP is key to hiring new specialists. Here are four main reasons that prove this once again.

A better understanding of the company, employees, and the candidate portrait 

With a well-developed EVP, you will better understand who you are looking for in the company, and who you definitely won’t take on board. For example, if the company is a startup with challenging tasks, you should not consider IT candidates focused on stable work strictly without overtime.

Attract more relevant candidates

With a successful value proposition, it’ll be easier for you as an employer to hire tech specialists that resonate with your company’s values and internal culture. As a result, the company will get more relevant candidates at the earliest stages of the recruitment process.

Better competitiveness

EVP reflects the company’s values and mission that help differentiate an organization from its competitors.

Reduce employee turnover and increase the involvement of current team

Nowadays, you need to attract the best talent, but also retain current IT professionals. An EVP helps to present the company’s benefits besides the salary. By constantly broadcasting business goals and the benefits of working for you, you will allow employees to understand where your business is heading. With competitive advantages and friendly corporate culture, they will think less about moving to other companies.

The Three Main Components of the Employee Value Proposition

There are three elements of a company’s value proposition:

1. Financial and intangible benefits.
2. The experience an employee gains while working for a company.
3. Emotional attachment (why an IT specialist wants to work here).

The employer’s EVP can also be divided into levels of basic expectations, additional expectations, and the unique benefits of working for the company.

Basic expectations

At this level, the specialist wants to be paid a salary within or above the market, as well as wants his direct managers to recognize the achievements and provide feedback on work.

Additional expectations

This refers to how management helps build a career or maintain a work-life balance, how many vacation days, paid sick days, maternity or paternity leave provides, etc. This level includes standard working conditions and bonuses for all IT companies.

Unique benefits and perks

This level includes something that sets the company apart from its competitors. For example, at Grammarly, employees receive compensation in company stock in addition to salary, and this practice applies equally to both the Ukrainian and American teams. For a candidate, this signals that they become a co-owner of part of the business whose wellbeing directly depends on the company’s success, not just a hired employee. It’s a strong argument that’s absent from most job offers. 

And expla, a performance marketing company, set up its own padel club for employees in Warsaw. The company creates a niche tech/product/marketing community where professional networking happens naturally — through the game. Participants are matched by role, company, and skill level, and a party with food and drinks follows the tournament.

How to Develop an EVP: Step-by-Step Guide

There are four steps to creating an employer value proposition:

• Define business goals. For example, the goal is to enter new markets, hire new Senior developers, or reduce staff turnover. This will determine the expectations and requirements for new candidates.
• Analyze what candidates and employees want to get working at your company. To offer great conditions, you need to understand exactly what specialists want and what they are looking for in employers. To do this, you can conduct a survey among employees (including among those who have already left the company).
• Develop your EVP. At this stage, the value proposition of the employer is developed.
• Determine how to communicate the value proposition creatively: decide how to talk about EVP, and where to publish the employer’s offer to convey information to the market and reach the target audience.

The following questions will help shape your value proposition: “How do employees evaluate benefits and bonuses now?”, “Which of this list needs to be revised?”, “What is the company lacking now to start attracting employees with the required qualifications?”, “What factors affect the fact that IT workers remain working in the company?”, “What makes key employees leave? What can be improved/changed from this?”

Examples of Successful Employee Value Propositions

Let’s dive into several examples of employer value propositions for companies that are not looking for talents—specialists find them themselves. 

Case Study: Airbnb

Airbnb unites employees with a mission “Create a world where anyone can belong anywhere”. It is supported by four core values that define how it is to work at Airbnb: inclusion, caring, support, and innovation. The company’s EVP is closely related to the tourism industry. Therefore, Airbnb offers a range of travel benefits: remote work, annual paid trips, accommodation discounts, and paid employee volunteer time.

Case Study: Netflix

In 2024, Netflix updated its famous culture memo. This is already the fifth edition in 15 years, a year-long effort that gathered more than 1,500 comments from employees. It’s now structured around four principles:

1. The Dream Team — keep only the most effective people on the team, following the model of a professional sports team rather than a family.
2. People over Process — inspire and empower employees rather than manage them, since people have greater impact when they’re free to make their own decisions.
3. Uncomfortably Exciting — Netflix works best when people embrace change, because success in the entertainment industry requires experimentation and fast adaptation.
4. Great and Always Better — a focus on continuous improvement, since there’s always room for a company to grow.

Co-founder Reed Hastings compares Netflix’s culture not to a symphony orchestra with a strict hierarchy and a carefully rehearsed score, but to jazz — where stable melodic elements exist, but the music itself is created during the performance. 

Employees get freedom and responsibility for their decisions, along with context instead of control. A telling example: the company still has no formal policy on expenses or vacation.

Case Study: ITExpert

Employees of the IT recruiting agency ITExpert follow these values:

• Work in a way that makes clients and candidates come back.
• Solve problems rather than create them.
• Consult, check different approaches, and ask the team for help — recruiters are never left alone with tough situations.
• Keep developing constantly.
• Be ready for challenges and stay mindful.

Over 10 years on the market, the ITExpert team (32+ recruiters and its CTO) has closed more than 1,000 vacancies for 200+ companies — from Deloitte and Sony to startups that were still picking their name yesterday. A separate and especially challenging direction is MilTech, where the team has filled roles ranging from Embedded, C++, and Computer Vision to radio engineers and circuit designers.

The team structure gives recruiters technical depth: the CTO helps them get into the context of each vacancy and speak the same language as candidates. The company regularly updates its internal knowledge base, runs an internal recruiters’ club, and covers the cost of external events and learning resources. Newcomers go through mentoring and a proprietary technical recruiting course.

Besides health insurance, bonuses, and gifts, ITExpert offers a paid sabbatical: one month for every three years on the team. The company deliberately invested in launching this program because it operates at a very fast pace, and people need proper breaks to stay comfortable and engaged in the profession over the long term.

Case Study: MacPaw

MacPaw is a product company known for its apps CleanMyMac and Setapp. Its main benefits, built into its EVP:

• Time for your own ideas: two days a month for personal projects, plus regular hackathons and workshops.
• Freedom to choose your work format. MacPaw is a remote-first company. Its Kyiv office operates as a coworking space, and in other cities the company covers the cost of a workspace.
• Trust instead of control: no one tracks what time you arrive or leave. What matters is that your core working hours overlap with the team.
• Investment in development: the company covers courses, workshops, guest expert lectures, and conference trips, and runs annual development reviews and an annual salary review that accounts for personal growth and the market.
• Care for health and meaning: unlimited vacation, health insurance, an in-office gym, plus the social projects MacPaw Cares and the MacPaw Foundation.

The company’s values are Make Impact, Create Experience, and Stay Human. According to the founder, they were developed collaboratively by the entire team during a strategy session rather than defined by leadership alone. In DOU’s 2025 survey, MacPaw remained among the most desirable employers for Ukrainian tech professionals.

You’ve Developed an EVP: What’s Next?

Constantly measure the success of your EVP—for example by tracking candidate apps or employee turnover rates. Conduct employee surveys to understand what is important to your IT teams. Change the value proposition as needed to meet employee expectations. These tips will help you to become more efficient in hiring talented candidates.