Employee Lifecycle // Lesson 5

The E Framework
3
The E3 Framework

To attract and retain the right talent to deliver on

your business goals, you’ll need to be clear about
who you are as an employer.

This guide will help you craft an authentic and

differentiating employer brand and value proposition
based on a well-thought-through employee promise.
Employee Employer
promise brand

EVP
The E3 Framework

The E3 framework consists of the employee promise,

employee brand, and employee value proposition (EVP).

The unspoken beliefs, values, and The internal and external reputation
Employee Employer
principles that the organization wants and experience of the organization
to encourage promise brand as an employer

EVP

The offerings, experiences, and rewards that the

employer offers to the employee in exchange for their
skills, capabilities, and experience
The E3 Framework | Employee experience

These all need to be aligned to create a meaningful

and differentiated employee experience.

Employee Employer
promise brand

EX All three contribute to a

meaningful, differentiating,
authentic experience for current
and prospective employees

EVP
The E3 Framework | How to create your own E3 framework

Follow these 10 steps to quickly and effectively

implement your own E3 framework.

1 2 3 4 5
Gather Define Build your Develop your Articulate
input personas framework proof points your story

6 7 8 9 10
Develop Launch Position Gather feedback Timestamp
collateral internally externally and monitor and review
Step 1 | Gather input: Employee promise

To define your employee promise, start by

gathering leadership input either via a short
questionnaire or one-on-one interviews.

Ask the following questions:

1. What is our business purpose? Why do we exist?

What would happen if we did not exist tomorrow?

2. Who are we as an employer and what do we stand for?

3. What should current and future employees expect

of us as an employer?

4. What do we want employees to think, feel, and do

when they think about us as a company?

5. What do we want employees to say about us when we

are not in the room?

6. What do we expect from employees?

Step 1 | Gather input: Employee promise

Consolidate the information that was received from

the interviews into three categories: what everyone
agrees on, what items are important to some but
not all, and what everyone disagrees on.

Look at the example from EdgeDotGrow:

Things that are important

Things we agree on Things we disagree on
to some but not all

A place where people can bring Being seen as Having compulsory benefits as
their whole selves to work providing innovative benefits part of salary deductions
Step 1 | Gather input: Employee promise
(Use this template to fill in the information you gathered from your stakeholders.)

Clarify your stakeholders’ different views

and decide how to deal with discrepancies.

Note the things that you agree on. To create your employee
promise, you’ll need to use what you have in the first column.

Things that are important

Things we agree on Things we disagree on
to some but not all
Step 1 | Gather input: Employee promise

Read over EdgeDotGrow’s

employee promise.
“Our business purpose is to change the way businesses manage their
customer experiences. As EdgeDotGrow, we believe that we are an employer
that allows employees to bring their whole selves to work, warts and all!
The employee promise contains the ”things
we agree on.” To come to an agreement on We want our employees to think about us as their partner on their journey of
the discrepancies in the “things we disagree growth, a place to meet great people who share a common vision, and an
on” and the ”things that are important to opportunity to think big about how we change the world together. This means
some but not all,” Lindani facilitated a our current and prospective employees can expect to find a workplace that
allows ideas to prosper, takes a tough stance on making growth happen, and
discussion so all stakeholders could align.
respects the diversity of our people.
Everyone at EdgeDotGrow agreed on their
employee promise statement. We also expect our employees to have fun, make mistakes, and always think
about the customer first.

Our commitment is to always think human.”

Step 1 | Gather input: Employee promise
(Use the template to fill in your own employee promise.)

Write your employee promise in the

box on the right. You can use the
structure below to guide you.

“As [insert company name], we believe that we

are an employer that [answer to question 1].

We want our employees to [answers to

questions 3, 4, and 5] and see us a company
that [answer to question 2].

We also expect our employees to [answer to

question 6].”
Step 1 | Gather input: Employer brand

Understand how your talent competitors

position their brands on the market.

Check competitors’ websites and platforms such as

LinkedIn and Glassdoor. Use the following questions to
guide you in collecting your data:

● Who is the organization? Look at its size, focus,

and demographics.

● How do they position themselves as an employer?

● What are the keywords they use to describe their

value proposition?

● What do you like about what they say?

● What don’t you like?

Step 1 | Gather input: Employer brand

Identify the unique selling point (USP) A USP refers to the points that will differentiate your business from the
to support your employer brand. competition, and aims to communicate an authentic and realistic picture of who
you are as an employer.

Be careful not to overreach during this phase—your guiding principle should always
be whether you can deliver on the expectations that the brand sets to current and
prospective employees.

Look at the example from EdgeDotGrow below.

Brand Employee Employer brand Key Unique selling

promise promise positioning personas proposition

What do we promise What do we promise Where do we position Who are we What do we

our clients? our employees? our employer brand? targeting? offer them?

Personalized Bring their whole Attractive, fast-paced, Digital skills Be part of an early stage
client insight self to work digital talent brand start-up
Graduate talent
player
International expansion
Talent that is highly
opportunities
mobile
Fast growth and
exposure
Step 1 | Gather input: Employer brand

Fill in the table with information from your

company to clearly define your employer brand.

Brand Employee Employer brand Key Unique selling

promise promise positioning personas proposition

What do we promise What do we promise Where do we position Who are we What do we

our clients? our employees? our employer brand? targeting? offer them?
Step 1 | Gather input: Employer value proposition

Craft your employee value proposition and align

the employee promise and employer brand.

When crafting an employee value proposition, it is a good

idea to collect information from your current employees
about the following:

● What do they believe differentiates you as an

employer?

● Why did they choose to work here?

● What do they like most about you as an employer?

● Why do they stay?

● What are the top three elements they believe

would make this an even better place to work?

● Are there any factors that act as a stumbling block

in their work environment?
Step 1 | Gather input: Employer value proposition

Look at the example of how Lindani organized the

information she gathered for EdgeDotGrow.

Reason to join Reason to stay Opportunities Stumbling blocks

to explore to remove

Competitive remuneration Employee growth Limitations on career

Talent rotation
movements due to
Family-related benefits Think human culture programs
flat structure
Step 1 | Gather input: Employer value proposition

Gather the information you need and fill in the table

to get clear on your employer value proposition.

Reason to join Reason to stay Opportunities Stumbling blocks

to explore to remove
Step 2 | Define personas

Personas help us describe the characteristics

of a group of individuals in terms of their
consolidated wants, needs, and traits.

Create two sets of personas:

● One set will be based on the talent profiles

that you want to attract.

● The other set will describe your current

employee profile.
Step 2 | Define personas

Develop personas that match your organization.

Each subculture requires a slightly different

personality—a sales culture may be competitive
while your product team may be more structured ü Born in 1948
and people- and process focused. Incorporate
ü Male
these personality traits so they match the
different subcultures in your organization. ü Grew up in England

The illustration below shows two affluent princes, ü Married twice

both male, born in 1948, who grew up in England. ü Two children
One is Charles, prince of Wales, while the other is
ü Wealthy
Ozzy Osbourne, also known by his nickname
prince of darkness. Two very distinct profiles. ü Invests in real estate

ü Lives in a castle

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Be careful not to make your

personas too generic.
Step 2 | Define personas: The employee persona canvas

Use the employee persona canvas to identify common

characteristics for your current employees. Fill it in again
for each of your prospective employee personas.

The Employee Persona Canvas

Bio Goals Job search behavior Personality Motivation

Who is your What goals is your How do they search for a job? What character traits What motivates them?
candidate persona? candidate trying to achieve? does your candidate have?
• Active/passive • Reputation
• Age • Career path • Devices • DISC model • Mission and vision
• Position • Life goals • Time/place • Personality test • Norms and values
• Salary • Culture in the organization
• Location • Remuneration
• Education • Responsibility
• Experience Frustrations Channels Skills • Work environment
• Social background What frustrates them? Where do they look What are their primary and • Work/life balance
for a new job? secondary skills and attributes? • Development and education
• Why are they changing jobs? • Colleagues
• What barriers are there to leave • Social media, job boards, referrals, • Most knowledge
the current job? career sites, LinkedIn, etc. • Experience
• Education

Influencers Content and Resources

Who influence their decisions? What information do they have and whose information do they trust?

• Family and friends • Job advertisement

• Partners • Corporate career sites
• Current work environment • Social media posts and accounts
• Recruiters • Events
• Future employer • Industry leaders and employers
Step 2 | Define personas: The employee persona canvas template

Fill in the employee persona canvas to map what

your current and prospective employees look like.

The Employee Persona Canvas

Bio Goals Job search behavior Personality Motivation

Who is your What goals is your How do they search for a job? What character traits What motivates them?
candidate persona? candidate trying to achieve? does your candidate have?

Frustrations Channels Skills

What frustrates them? Where do they look What are their primary and
for a new job? secondary skills and attributes?

Influencers Content and Resources

Who influence their decisions? What information do they have and whose information do they trust?
Step 3 | Build your E3 framework

Consolidate the information you’ve gathered to create a

simple and coherent picture. Ensure ensure alignment
between what you promise, how you position the brand,
and what you offer in your EVP to create an authentic
employee experience.
Employer brand Key Unique selling
positioning personas proposition

Employee Employer
promise brand
EdgeDotGrow’s
employee experience
“Our business purpose is to change the way businesses manage their
customer experiences. As EdgeDotGrow, we believe that we are an
employer that allows employees to bring their whole selves to work,
warts and all!

We want our employees to think about us as their partner on their

journey of growth, a place to meet great people who share a common EVP
vision, and an opportunity to think big about how we change the
world together. This means our current and prospective employees
can expect to find a workplace that allows ideas to prosper, takes a
tough stance on making growth happen and respects the diversity of
our people.

We also expect our employees to have fun, make mistakes, and Employee Reason Reason Opportunities Stumbling blocks
always think about the customer first.
offering to join to stay to explore to remove
Our commitment is to always think human.”
Step 3 | Build your E3 framework

Check the alignment between the different parts of the

framework and make sure you can realistically deliver
this to your current and prospective employees.

Ask yourself the following questions:

● Would we be proud to put this promise on a

billboard for the world to see?

● Would you use the employer brand to sell our

business to your friends in an informal setting?

● Does the employee value proposition support what

you promise? Does it reflect the experience of the
employer brand?

● Would we be able to provide this to all our

employees? What about when we are double in
size? What if we had an international footprint?
Step 4 | Develop proof points

Collect or create proof points to make your

framework believable and valid. These will allow
you to ensure that you can substantiate your
claims as an employer.

Your proof points could be:

● Feedback from employees on their experiences

compared to your promise.

● Market feedback on how the talent brand is seen

and how recognizable the brand is.

● Examples of the EVP benefits that you provide and

how they have made a difference to the lives of
your employees.
Step 5 | Articulate your story

Come up with a clear and simple way to

explain your framework and proof points.

Use the picture of your framework (see step

3; page 21) and complement it by adding
information about:

● Why the employee promise is

important to you.

● What you offer to your talent. Employee Employer

● How your people experience your
promise brand
EVP.

EVP
Step 6 | Develop collateral for your main channels

Use creative ways to share your message with your TIP

employees and later with the external market. Be as visual as possible and
ensure that you always have a
camera on hand to keep your
This step is about making employees feel your promise, content fresh.
making your brand visible, and creating awareness about
your EVP:

● Focus on a variety of mediums as people consume

information through different channels.

● Identify the relevant channels that you want to use

to launch the content, both internally, such as your
intranet or physical office buildings, and externally,
such as your website or talent platforms.

● Ensure that you cover the channels identified as

part of your employer brand canvas (see step 2),
as you need to make sure that your message
reaches your target personas.
Step 7 | Launch internally

It is crucial that you launch your framework

internally first to gauge your employees’ response
and get them excited about what you offer.

Launching your E3 framework (or a component of it)

could include:

● General education to show employees what you offer.

● Adding it to your onboarding for new employees.

● Running various campaigns to continuously make

employees aware of you offer. For example, reminding
them they have access to a financial advisor before the
end of your remuneration cycle.
Step 8 | Position externally

Infuse the content into your specific touchpoints

with the external talent market.
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Think about how your framework shows up as part of job adverts, Create social media content
websites, general advertising, and social media. and material for your
employees to share.

Methods and channels for promoting your employer brand

Social networks Career site Current employees

Lectures and workshops Inbound recruiting Job advertisements

Candidate relationship
management Application process Internal job board
Step 9 | Gather feedback and monitor

Once you’ve launched your E3 framework,

TIP
ensure you gather data-driven feedback from
Use a variety of feedback
both external and internal stakeholders.
mechanisms such as anonymous
surveys, informal
conversations, and feedback
Externally, you want to assess whether your brand is from prospective employees
reaching your target talent market and attracting them once they have interacted with
you as an organization.
to apply.

Internally, you want to see if your employees experience

your E3 framework as authentic and engaging.
Step 10 | Timestamp and review

Review this process periodically to see if

it still aligns with the business purpose.

As the business changes and grows, some of these

elements will also need to evolve to remain relevant.

Come back to this step after you’ve launched your

framework and gathered feedback.

TIP

Don't change too regularly

as this process also
requires time to settle.