As part of our Best Employers 2025 programme, we’ve been exploring how organisations can move beyond simply defining their Employee Value Proposition (EVP) to truly embedding it into the employee experience. We spoke with Sarah Coates, Brand and Marketing Strategist at Mobas, to get her insights on why activation matters and how businesses can bring their EVP to life.

In this blog, Sarah shares practical steps, common pitfalls, and a framework leaders can use to make sure their EVP doesn’t just exist on paper, but actively engages employees, strengthens culture, and attracts the right talent.

Turning your EVP into action

After months of hard work, you’re finally ready to launch, land and live your EVP. Now comes the most important part: applying it across the employee journey.

An EVP in action should not only bond and inspire your current people, but also power your recruitment efforts—attracting the right candidates who will stay and thrive. Yet too often, activation doesn’t get the focus or investment it deserves. Sometimes it’s forgotten; other times businesses simply don’t know what to do next.

When activation is done well, the results can be transformational: improving culture, equipping the business with the talent it needs, and building a strong reputation as an employer.

Here’s a practical framework to make that happen.

1. Know your audiences

Each audience deserves its own activation plan, budget and measurement.

• External: Candidates have different needs depending on career stage, role type, and whether they’re active or passive job seekers.
• Internal: Don’t overlook the people you already have. Your EVP should ‘re-recruit’ your employees—reminding them why they joined, why they belong, and why they should stay.

2. Map the journey

Your EVP should show up consistently at every stage of the employee lifecycle—not just in recruitment or onboarding.

Audit your employee experience and identify the key touchpoints where your EVP can shine. From job ads and interviews, to recognition programmes, development conversations, and even the exit process—find ways to weave your EVP into policies, communications, and daily behaviours.

Think of it as sprinkling ‘EVP magic’ throughout the journey, so employees and candidates feel it at every stage.

3. Use storytelling and content marketing

Your EVP isn’t a slogan—it’s a story. And the best stories come from your people.

Encourage employees to share their lived experiences through blogs, videos, podcasts, or social posts. Highlight moments that bring your EVP to life: a colleague progressing their career, a wellbeing initiative making a difference, or the impact of community volunteering.

Externally, this content attracts the right talent with an authentic view of your culture. Internally, it builds pride, advocacy and belonging. Remember: stories told by employees are always more powerful than polished corporate messaging.

4. Activate with heart, head and hands

A rounded activation strategy connects with people in three ways:

• Hearts – Create emotional connection. Show people the purpose of the business, the difference they make, and why they belong.
• Heads – Use clear and consistent messaging so everyone can explain and live the EVP in their own words.
• Hands – Equip teams with tools to bring it to life: job ad templates, LinkedIn copy, brand stories, case studies, and more.
  Balance all three to ensure your EVP is inspiring, credible, and actionable.

5. Keep the momentum going

Successful activation isn’t a one-off launch—it’s a continuous programme that evolves with your business.

Align EVP activity with key milestones like performance reviews, surveys, recognition events, and recruitment drives. Recruit Employer Brand Ambassadors to keep conversations alive at a grassroots level. And refresh your content regularly so it feels current and relevant.

6. Measure and adapt

To prove the impact of your EVP activation, track both qualitative and quantitative measures such as:

• Engagement and pulse survey results
• Retention and turnover trends
• Application quality and volume
• Time-to-hire and acceptance rates
• Employer brand perception (via Glassdoor, LinkedIn, etc.)
• Internal feedback from employees and managers

Use these insights to refine your approach and demonstrate ROI—because what gets measured, gets managed.

Activation is everything

Creating a compelling EVP is only half the journey—activation is where the real impact happens.

When you embed it across the employee lifecycle, tell authentic stories, and keep it visible every day, you build more than awareness. You create emotional connection, foster loyalty, and strengthen culture.

An EVP isn’t a statement—it’s a living promise. Keep it alive, let it shape everyday working life, and it will repay you with advocacy, retention, and growth.

The Awards Conference

Discover how leading organisations are activating their EVP and shaping the future of work. Hear fresh insights, connect with peers, and celebrate outstanding employers.

Book tickets to join us at the awards conference on Wednesday 15 October 2025.