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One of the ongoing hot topics in recruitment marketing and talent acquisition is employee value propositions (EVP) and employer branding. A strong EVP and employer brand can reap numerous benefits, both internally and externally. From passive talent attraction to employee engagement and longevity, a successful recruitment marketing strategy cannot function properly without these two elements at its core.

But what exactly are the differences, if any, between an EVP and employer brand? The terms are oftentimes used interchangeably, but there is a distinct difference between the two.

What is an EVP?

The EVP, or employee value proposition, serves as the defining statement of how a company identifies as an employer. It communicates the mutual offers made by both employer and employee. This includes the value employees can expect to receive from the organization and the value they are expected to contribute.

What is an Employer Brand?

Employer brand relates to the external reputation and image of the company as an employer specifically. Through messaging, marketing and advertising, the employer brand establishes the positioning of the company not only to existing employees but publicly to active and passive candidates, as well as other key stakeholders within talent attraction.

Difference Between EVP and Employer Brand

The EVP and employer brand intrinsically connect to each other while remaining separate entities. Think of it as the difference between your company’s mission statement and corporate brand.

Your mission statement speaks to who you are as a company, the core tenets and principles your company aims to embody, and your pledge to live up to those self-instilled values. It is aspirational, but always attainable, and provides a guiding point for your company through growth and evolution.

By contrast, your corporate brand refers to the public perception and identity of your company, via messaging and advertising. With a successful corporate brand, it provides that link in consumers’ minds to your company and its reputation with a unique or positive value. A strong corporate brand should always speak to the company’s mission statement, taking those values and principles outlined and turning them into an external-facing message.

Similarities Between EVP and Employer Brand

The relationship between EVP and employer brands operates similarly. The EVP should lead the employer brand by communicating the benefits, opportunities and rewards that your company offers. The EVP should communicate this in an employee-centered approach.

In return, the employer brand takes that statement and builds it into the overall reputation and messaging of the company as an employer. This is typically don through marketing and advertising efforts.

Your EVP speaks to who you are as an employer through your employees.

Your employer brand translates that message out to your external talent market.

This alignment between EVP and employer brand is essential to the delivery of your employment promises, providing a through-line between values, messaging, behavior and action. In short, how you bring your EVP to life via your employer brand, and how you then turn your employer brand reputation into an authentic employee experience.

Looking for more information on how to get started? Visit the following articles on what employer branding is and how to craft a strong EVP to attract the right talent.

Jillian Einck

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Jillian builds brands and marketing teams from the ground up, does strategic development for DE&I, employee engagement, and brand storytelling. She has expereince in the world of branding, marketing communications, and design. From the world of private clubs, to healthcare, to now recruitment marketing, she has effectively utilized her obsessive attention to detail by channeling it into creative and successful marketing campaigns across a variety of platforms and communications channels. Jillian earned her Bachelors of Arts from San Francisco State University in Theatre Arts in 2006. She spends her free time with her family, reading, watching classic movies and baking elaborate desserts that she frequently finishes eating in a single sitting.