FMCG major Hindustan Unilever (HUL) has taken a biggest step towards helping its employees to battle domestic abuse. For the first time in India Inc, HUI has coded a policy to protect its staff from domestic abuse. This is significant as it extends the responsibility of a company towards employees’ well-being beyond the office and into the employee’s personal and home life. HUL has designed and implemented this policy at a time when a significant number of its workforce is working from home. The HUL policy aims to protect and provide assistance to staff members who are fighters of abuse, or acts of emotional and physical abuse beyond the office.

Anuradha Razdan, HUL executive director (HR), says “We want to stand up as advocates for change that we would like to see in society by proactively coming up with a policy which calls out to our employees: ‘If you are someone who has faced this and wants to come out and talk, the organisation is here to support you’.”

The UN has described the worldwide increase in domestic abuse as a “shadow pandemic” alongside Covid-19. Globally cases have increased by 20% during the lockdown, as many people are trapped at home with their abuser.

Workplace is evolving; in the area of human resources organizations are adopting and encouraging practices to improve employees’ well-being. Working from home affects every employee perversely depending on their responsibilities and living situations. For example, workers with younger children need to balance keeping them occupied while trying to keep up with work tasks. And the same goes for those with elder-care responsibilities. Understanding employee needs is crucial. For the first time in history, organizations have realised that they need to have open conversations with their employees about how and when work can be accomplished without intruding on employees’ privacy. Organizations are offering a wider range of options for flexibility, such as more freedom when assignments need to be turned in or adjusting work hours per day to allow more time to care for children and elders. Employee mental and physical health is important for effective work – life balance. 

Domestic violence cases are increasing, as employees began working from home after worldwide lockdowns imposed to combat covid-19, and has become a greater concern for organizations. According to HUL, one in three women and one in seven men are abused at some point in their life. HUL looked at this fact, which is the right direction. The new policy will certainly increase productivity positively and contribute to the well-being of their employees.

According to a law firm DSK Legal, the policies of harassment, the POSH Act, are limited to workplace harassment. Now, as the home is extended workplace, it may be a good idea to actually cover up even those bullies. HUL’s initiative could set a precedent for India Inc., which has adopted HR policies with the aim of making workplaces fair and inclusive.

Standard Chartered has developed a toolkit that provides examples of the various mechanisms that can be taken into attention when attempting to support victims of domestic abuse. It also provides a range of available resources for doing so. Standard Chartered Bank has made announcement for its LGBT + employees. It will extend medical and domestic relocation benefits to its LGBT+ employees and their partners in India. All personnel will now be able to declare an LGBT+ partner as an eligible beneficiary under the bank’s medical reimbursement policy. The declared partner will also get covered under the domestic relocation policy. Organizations are showing they care for their employees.

Last year Tata Steel introduced a policy on employee partners who identify themselves as part of the LGBT + community to take advantage of HR benefits permitted by law.

LaliT Suri Hospitality group too proudly identifies itself as an LGBT-friendly workshop. The idea is to provide more appropriate opportunities to people in the community and to stop any form of stigma attached to them that could prevent them from getting employment.

More recently, cricketer Virat Kohli’s decision to leave the on-going India-Australia tour as his wife Anushka Sharma expects their first child has also highlighted more men seeking paternity leave and increasing participation in chores at home. Kohli truly personified a perfect example of how men must be evolved in wife’s pre and post childbirth event.

In a new policy announced in August, Zomato’s food ordering platform allowed all women (including transgender people) to use up to 10 days of periodical leaves in a year. Zomato wants to foster a culture of trust, truth and acceptance. Zomato understands that men and women are born with different biological realities. The organization wants to make sure that it brings out innovative HR polices as 35% of Zomato’s employees are female.

Today, organizations are faced with an ever-increasing complexity on their side of the employment pact. Purpose for working and respect has gathered central importance for employees. This fact calls for strong relationships between employer and employee and is expanding the management thought process in strengthening employee value. Success is not simply about creating a good customer experience; it is also about generating a more engaging and rewarding employee experience.

Today’s workforce which includes a cross-section of Boomers, Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z has distinct wants, needs and ways of thinking. This has increased the level of leadership complexity and requires more tailored solutions catering to desires for both flexibility and sovereignty in terms of Employee Value Proposition (EVP). To attract and retain talent, leaders must demonstrate their commitment to the needs and success of their incongruent workforce.

From recruitment to retention activities such as getting the best employees on board, engaging them significantly and managing their retention for longer period is not a cakewalk for the HR teams. For engaging and retaining employees for longer term defining interesting employee value proposition is a must. So what is Employee Value Proposition (EVP)? EVP is a set of associations and offerings provided by an organization to their employees in return for the skills, capabilities and experiences an employee brings to the organization. EVP is an employee-centered approach that is aligned to existing and future workforce planning strategies.

Only high salary packages and variety of perks no longer works enough to attract and retain top talent from an industry. The most sought-after global employers are treating employees like internal clients and are strengthening their employee value proposition as a strategy for attracting and retaining top performers. It is also become closely related to the concept of employer branding. In the recent times EVP is also referred to as the Employer Brand Proposition (EBP).

The value proposition should consist of people policies, processes and programs that exhibit the organization’s commitment to employee growth, management development, ongoing employee recognition, corporate social responsibility etc. Depending on the value proposition, employees choose to commit themselves to an organization. Progressive organizations actively communicate their value propositions in all recruitment efforts, and in offer letters. Frankly speaking, the EVP should take the focus away from compensation as the ‘primary offer’.

EVP at Goldman Sachs is “At Goldman Sachs, you will make an impact”. Goldman Sachs is leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm that provides a wide range of financial services to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and individuals. Founded in 1869, the firm is headquartered in New York. This firm recognizes its people as its greatest asset; Goldman Sachs believes that the determination and dedication of their people can only help them serve their diverse clientele to generate long-term value to their shareholders and contribute to the broader public.

At every step of their employees’ careers GS invests in them, and ensure their interests are maintained. Excellent HR policies, competitive work environment, meritocracy, and good compensation inclusive of other benefits remains focused in GS’s work culture. The firm believes in maximizing individual potential for increasing commercial effectiveness. It reinforces the firm’s culture. That’s the reason the firm has most competitive employees wanting to join them.

There are two sides to an employee value proposition: 1) the value (skills, experience, personality, culture, intelligence etc.) a candidate has to offer an employer and 2) the value (growth opportunities, recognition, work culture, benefits, career growth etc.) an employer has to offer candidates.

The employee value proposition should not be mystified with a company’s vision and mission statements, core values or culture code. The EVP is about the reciprocity between employers and employees mutual benefit and value to one another. It is about employment opportunity and employer brand.

When organizations encompass the wrong attributes or fail to differentiate their value propositions from their competitors they fail to retain their talent. Also, when organizations   show a major gap between promise and reality, it results in reduced employee commitment.

It is always good to present an authentic, differentiated employee value proposition. HubSpot’s EVP is “We’re building a company people love.” HubSpot is a developer and marketer of software products for inbound marketing and sales. It was founded by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah in 2006. Its products and services aim to provide tools for social media marketing, content management, web analytics, and search engine optimization. HubSpot is growing bigger in size. They have about 44,500 customersand more than 2,200 employees on their roll. Their annual revenue is more than $375 million.

HubSpot believes in documenting company’s culture to illuminate their values and guiding principles and mapping where it wants to go. Codifying company culture is more than just putting the current culture into words. There is an element of aspiration added to it. By outlining the definite roadmap, the company has defined the core values and actions. Employees who are already working in the company and those who want to join it know what they are getting into. HubSpot’s clients like the company’s employee engagement and therefore the company’s business is growing.

In the modern management styles organizations are realizing that when they invest in developing and delivering a strong EVP, they attract significant talent and boost employee engagement. For example, an organization can reduce the compensation premium by 50% and reach 50% deeper into the labor market when candidates view an EVP as attractive one. Organizations that effectively deliver on their EVP can decrease annual employee turnover. The EVP must define the people essence of the organization – how it is unique and what it stands for. It must encompass the central reasons what will make people proud to work in the organization. An inspiring vision is crucial to make sure that EVP is unique, relevant, and compelling. When integrated into all aspects of a business, a strong EVP will help retain top performers and attract the best external talent. It is better to understand that building a company culture to present in the EVP does not come solely from business leaders but from the team members living and breathing organization’s business values. It’s the people who work in an organization who develop ideal company culture from its vision to reality. It’s vital question to answer why someone would choose to work at your organization.