Crafting an Authentic EVP That Attracts and Retains

Shannon Ogborn here, your host of Offer Accepted! In this episode I sat down with Cara Brennan Allamano Co-founder of PeopleTech Partners to discuss what it really takes to build an Employer Value Proposition (EVP) that resonates with both candidates and employees. Cara shares her expertise on aligning stakeholders, understanding why top employees stay, and creating a framework that reflects your company’s true values while supporting your hiring goals.

We also broke down the role of the CEO in owning the EVP, why authenticity is non-negotiable, and how a well-executed EVP can reduce time-to-hire and improve offer acceptance rates. Cara’s insights are full of practical advice for talent leaders ready to create meaningful connections and align hiring strategies with business goals.

Whether you’re building your first EVP or revisiting an existing one, this conversation offers practical takeaways to guide you in creating a roadmap that resonates with talent and aligns with business strategy.

Takeaway 1: An EVP Serves as a Roadmap for Hiring ??

An Employer Value Proposition (EVP) isn’t just a marketing tool — it’s a strategic framework for attracting and retaining the right talent.

Why It Matters:

A strong EVP aligns the expectations of candidates, employees, and leadership, creating clarity and consistency across hiring and retention efforts. It’s not just about branding; it’s about building trust and reinforcing the unique reasons your employees choose to stay.

Quick Tips:

• Start with Employee Insights: Survey employees to uncover why they stay, what they value most, and where they see room for growth. Use these insights to ground your EVP in the authentic experiences of your team.
• Align with Business Goals: Work closely with leadership to ensure your EVP reinforces strategic objectives, including growth targets, cultural priorities, and your company’s vision for the future.
• Communicate Your EVP Clearly: Integrate the EVP seamlessly into every stage of the candidate journey, from job postings and career pages to interview conversations and onboarding materials.

Takeaway 2: Why Your CEO Should Own EVP ?

Building an EVP requires input and alignment from stakeholders across the organization. Cara highlights the CEO’s role in owning the EVP, as it should ultimately reflect the company’s business strategy. She also stresses the importance of ensuring buy-in from leadership and key teams before rolling out the EVP internally.

Why It Matters:

Stakeholder alignment ensures the EVP is more than just words. It becomes a strategy that resonates across every level of the organization. Unified messaging and buy-in make it easier to attract and retain talent while fostering credibility.

Quick Tips:

• Engage Leadership Early: Partner with leaders from day one to align on the EVP’s purpose and messaging. Early buy-in ensures smoother implementation and organizational cohesion.
• Host Stakeholder Workshops: Organize collaborative workshops with HR, recruiting, and department heads to collect feedback and align on shared messaging that reflects the company’s core values.
• Vetting is Key: Before rolling out your EVP, get final sign-offs from leadership and department heads to ensure consistency, accuracy, and alignment across teams.

Takeaway 3: Misaligned Claims Break Trust ??

Cara stresses that authenticity is the cornerstone of a successful EVP. Misaligned or exaggerated claims can lead to broken trust and higher turnover. An authentic EVP reflects the real employee experience and evolves with the organization over time.

Why It Matters:

Candidates can see through inauthentic messaging. A genuine EVP that reflects the real employee experience builds trust and strengthens your employer brand, creating loyalty among employees and attracting candidates who align with your culture.

Quick Tips:

• Anchor Your EVP in Reality: Use employee feedback and engagement surveys to validate every claim in your EVP, ensuring it mirrors the real company culture.
• Keep Your EVP Relevant: Regularly revisit and revise your EVP to keep pace with evolving employee needs and shifting business priorities.
• Be Transparent About Challenges: Acknowledge areas where the company is still growing to set realistic expectations and foster trust with both candidates and employees.

What Hiring Excellence Means to Cara

For Cara, hiring excellence begins with alignment among stakeholders, hiring managers, and employees. She emphasizes that it’s unfair to expect recruiters or employees to succeed without clarity around expectations, values, and the organization’s direction. Clarity in hiring processes, realistic job previews, and alignment with business strategy are essential for fostering engagement and retention. By ensuring clear communication and reducing friction in systems, organizations can achieve long-term success that benefits both employees and the business.

Cara's Recruiting Hot Take ??

"We don’t trust our recruiters enough." Cara emphasizes that talent acquisition leaders are often sidelined in critical hiring decisions. She explains that recruiters are deeply embedded in the hiring process and should be among the most trusted individuals in the organization. Systems that impose unnecessary oversight, such as excessive veto power, undermine their expertise and create inefficiencies. Instead, Cara advocates for empowering recruiters to take ownership of hiring strategies and lead with confidence. By trusting recruiters, organizations can streamline decision-making, build stronger teams, and achieve more impactful hiring outcomes.

You can check out José's full episode on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and our blog.

Up next, Jan Tegze , Director of TA and author of Full Stack Recruiter

Until next time,

Shannon Ogborn

Community @ Ashby