Why developing your EVP is like knitting (with love)…an ode to Tom Daley

When we start collaborating to define a client’s employee value proposition (EVP), I often spot a common concern (cynicism even) among wider stakeholders. The suggestion is that we're collectively about to add yet another layer of 'stuff' to the existing ‘stuff’ the organisation is grappling with. I’m talking about the purpose, mission and values statements, the lists of behaviours (and then the new lists explaining the lists), the endless strategy frameworks and pathways, etc, etc.

I felt this most recently when supporting a UK property business to define and activate its new EVP. The business had, within the last couple of years, already invested in a rich process to discover and articulate its purpose and values.

Joining up – not adding

As experience designers, we rarely (if ever) seek to create more layers of stuff. Rather, we want to enhance an experience as simply and effectively as possible. We see our role as helping organisations join the dots – to make sense of and bring to life the most important things that already exist: your purpose and values. And do so in a way that addresses the needs, desires and expectations of your people. This is the magic of experience design.

The metaphor I use is knitting.

We work with clients to find those balls of wool that really matter to the organisation – purpose, values, brand proposition…and the needs, desires and expectations of your people. Then we bring them together in a coherent way that moves you closer to delivering every day.

Once the knitting metaphor has landed, the process of creating the new EVP becomes clearer, more efficient and a whole load more enjoyable.

So what's this got to do with Tom Daley? (I promise I wasn't looking for an Olympics-themed topic, it just jumped into my lap).

In a 2022 interview with TODAY, Team GB diver Tom Daley explained his fascination with knitting and said he likes to do it as a way to relieve stress. After first being spotted knitting at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Tom explained that he knits to get out of his own head. "It was my meditation, it’s my calm.”

This struck me.

There is a real joy in creating an EVP that knits together the core strands of what the business stands for, the nature of the work and what people need and want. Bringing the essence of an organisation to life in this way is a fabulous antidote to the jumble of words and slogans (the overthinking rather than action) that can too easily bog values down and empty them of any real meaning.

Daley recently published a knitting and crochet book titled Made with Love. Wouldn't it be incredible if every EVP was made in just this way.

As ever, get in touch is you’d like to explore how to knit your own EVP with love.

Image credit: Avni Jain via Pexels