Demystifying EVP

Demystifying EVP and Transforming for the 21st Century

by John Raddall, Michael Taylor, Michelle Hoffman

EVP or the Employee Value Proposition is nothing new.  In fact it is as old as the hills.  Well at least the pyramids.  And that's 3000 years ago.

And now it needs an urgent overhaul.

The underlying principle of EVP is simple.  If you look after your employees they will look after your customers and shareholders.

Archaeologists have discovered that far from being built by slaves, the pyramids were built by the finest stonemasons and craftsmen. 

To attract and retain the best, the pharaohs provided comfortable homes with bedrooms and kitchens with good food and a sophisticated support structure.  In addition this was on the site of the pyramids, and wives and children were welcome.  

Fast forward three millennia and we have the same pharaonic EVP drive in the eighties and nineties. 

Companies such as Sears with their employee-customer-profit chain, Walmart with their focus on 'delighting customers with happy associates', and many international airlines such as Qantas, Virgin, Southwest, and as well as Google, all competing to deliver the best customer service from the finest and happiest employees.

In fact EVP is simply another acronym for the rather obvious, if you want to stay in business. 

And now in the third decade of the current century we have a renewed EVP focus.

Our consortium has created a novel and more scientific solution to the EVP challenge.

We take a systemic approach where organisations live or die on a complex and dynamic landscape. Where high energy organisations are more competitive and profitable than low energy organisations. And where the quality of EVP is a direct product of system energy.

In addition we recognise that leadership is the primary and only source of this organisational energy - and hence EVP.

This is the crux of our philosophy. Leadership energy drives organisational energy which in turn drives EVP.  And never the other way around. EVP can never drive system energy.

EVP IN THE 21ST CENTURY.  TIME FOR A REVOLUTION

The concept of EVP may have been fine for the pharaohs and even corporations of the 20th century.  However if we are to survive on this planet it needs a major overhaul in the current century.  

We know we are over-consuming natural resources at an alarming and generally irreplaceable rate.  We are pumping billions of tons of CO2 every year into the atmosphere.  The demand for energy is increasing exponentially and most of this is still being met by coal.  Renewables show promise but right now do not offer any hope of a zero emission future.

Davos 2020 at least recognised the challenge and all agreed that EVP strategies must now also include the stakeholder.  We believe that even this is not enough.

The current global economic model based on consumption, growth and shareholder is clearly unsustainable.  We need new and innovative thinking and technologies. To drive this we need a new breed of leader that is intelligent, ethical and expert in environmental science.

And this needs to start in the boardroom, currently a bastion of environmental illiteracy.  

Our view is that the time has never been more urgent to cross the Rubicon from outdated, outmoded and no longer fit-for-purpose leadership philosophies and principles, to a new world of high-energy and intelligent leadership that puts planet first, and everything else second.

To achieve this we cannot, under any circumstances, continue to live in an unregulated world leaving the global corporates and financial institutions to adapt the rules to their advantage.  

Can you imagine a rugby world cup final where the players decide on the rules as the game progresses?

In summary, EVP as a concept, needs an urgent overhaul.  We now need a PFP - a Planet First Proposition - as a guiding strategic principle for all leaders and their organisations.  And to achieve this we need a revolutionary next-level leadership philosophy, training and capability.