Return to Office is Back. Is Your Employee Value Proposition Ready?

By: Elissa Gurman

Return to office is back and, for many employees, it’s not exactly a welcome change. As organizations roll out RTO mandates, leaders are facing a tough question: how do you keep people engaged when flexibility feels like it’s moving in the wrong direction? One answer sits in your Employee Value Proposition. When EVP reflects what employees genuinely value – not just where they work, but how and why – it becomes a powerful tool for navigating RTO without losing people along the way.

What is an Employee Value Proposition?

An Employee Value Proposition (EVP) answers the question of why employees want to work at an organization. It answers the “what’s in it for me?” question, articulating what employees get or benefit from as a result of working for a particular organization.

What goes into an Employee Value Proposition?

An EVP is typically made up of a mix of tangible benefits and intangible benefits, including elements such as:

• Compensation
• Perks and benefits
• Culture
• Flexibility 
• Growth and development

Traditionally, an EVP was a pretty simple matter: people chose to join an organization – or stay at an organization – as a result of three factors: compensation, titles, and opportunities for advancement. 

Today, these factors still matter, but research shows that many people are looking for more from their employers. In their human-centric EVP model, Gartner articulates that employees choose to join or stay at an organization due to a variety of factors, including: 

• Deeper connections
• Radical flexibility
• Personal growth
• Holistic well-being
• Shared purpose

How can you make an EVP work, even when RTO employees are wishing for WFH?

It’s tough. I’m seeing it myself firsthand – organizations are losing out on top talent due to stringent RTO requirements, and existing employees are becoming disgruntled and disengaged. But, ultimately, an EVP is and can be about a lot more than the flexibility to work from home. In my experience, an EVP needs to be created from the bottom up and from the top down – and this still applies, even in the era of RTO. 

What do I mean by this?

Well, from the bottom up, it’s important to consult with employees about what really matters to them. Ask people: what motivated you to join our organization? What keeps you here? Sit with the responses, and determine what will move the needle in attracting and retaining key talent. 

And, from the top down, it’s important to determine – with senior leadership and decision-makers – what’s actually on the table. What are we able and willing to do to deepen our employee value proposition? This will set the guardrails for the entire process and ensure something productive actually emerges. 

With employee desires and guardrails in mind, it’s time to make the EVP real. If employees are craving WFH, but you can give them flexibility instead (the ability to take appointments during the day or work flexible hours), then you can lean into that. If shared purpose is what brought people to the organization, lean into that, ensuring every employee feels their meaningful connection to the purpose, to help mitigate the pain of RTO. Identify the levers that matter and that you can pull on, and devote time, energy, and planning to creating an EVP that makes your organization magnetic to the employees who matter most to you. 

RTO is forcing a lot of organizations to take a hard look at what they’re really offering employees. If you’re ready to rethink EVP in a way that’s honest, practical, and actually sticks, we’d love to help. Learn more about our work in employee experience and culture here.