Our parent company, Talent, recently polled 1,465 candidates what their biggest deal-breaker is when job hunting and 61% chose salary, far outweighing growth opportunities (24%), impact & responsibility (14%), and job title (2%).

And honestly? It isn’t surprising. People want security, stability, and a salary that can keep up with the rising cost of living, but here’s the mistake many business leaders are making right now: Assuming that because salary is the top priority, EVP doesn’t matter anymore.

According to Sarah Blanchard, our Head of Talent Advisory here at Solve, “Your EVP is a mechanism to attract, retain and engage your people,” and what’s changed isn’t it’s ranking in importance, but the way organisations need to define, design, and communicate it.

Let’s get real: Salary is the first filter, not the whole decision

Salaries set the opening conditions for any job opening. If your offer isn’t competitive, the conversation usually ends before it even begins, and Sarah is the first to acknowledge this: “Salary is absolutely high on everybody’s list of priorities but it may not be the number one thing that drives a decision for certain generations.”

Today’s candidates want competitive pay answers to the less tangible questions:

- What’s the culture like?

- Do people grow here?

- Will I have autonomy?

- How does this place treat its people when things get tough?

- Are the leaders credible?

- Does the company actually live its values?

These questions don’t replace salary, but they’ll inevitably kick in after salary is deemed acceptable. They’re the factors that convert a top talent prospect into someone saying yes at the offer stage and staying beyond the first year. And this is precisely where EVP steps in.

The real problem: EVP has been misunderstood

For years, EVP has been positioned as a glossy employer brand exercise with aspirational taglines and while that’s nice, it isn’t the point.

As Sarah puts it: “EVP is the reality. It’s what the company actually offers its employees – benefits, values, and experiences in return for their skills and commitment.”

And what about the employer brand? “That’s the promise – how the company communicates its EVP to attract, engage, and retain talent.”

Many organisations find themselves doing the reverse, focusing on the promise and neglecting the reality. And building an EVP without data, grounded insight or alignment to what their employees genuinely value is why EVP often gets dismissed as “HR fluff”.

So, what does EVP actually influence today?

While salaries can drive attraction, EVP drives conversion, performance, and retention.

1. EVP is the difference between high applicants and high-quality applicants.

Volume is easy, quality is hard.

As Sarah explains, “Rather than looking at volume at the top of the funnel, think about conversion rates and your offer acceptance rates at the back end.”

A strong EVP means attracting candidates who are the right fit, rather than just candidates who click ‘Apply’.

2. EVP protects your IP by reducing preventable turnover.

Most organisations lose people between 18 months and three years, which is the point where employees either see a future or start browsing opportunities on their lunch break.

An EVP that’s grounded in reality can create visible pathways, clarity, and connection.

3. EVP drives engagement, which drives performance.

Engaged people are proven to innovate, deliver better customer experiences, collaborate, advocate for your organisation, stay longer, and cost less.

Or, as Sarah puts it, “When people are engaged and excited about the work they’re doing, it drives innovation and creativity.”

4. EVP influences business results.

It affects everything from revenue and growth to customer NPS because engaged employees show up differently, whether it’s sales conversations, product delivery, or customer interactions.

The mistake is thinking EVP is about making work “fun”, but it’s really about making work for your people, for the business, and for the long term.

Why the market shift doesn’t make EVP less important

The Australian talent market is in a challenging state:

- Salaries are under pressure

- Skills shortages persist in specialist areas

- Candidates and employers have become more selective

- Migration is still stabilising

- Many companies are quietly scaling back benefits they introduced in 2020-2022

- Trust in leadership has become more important than any office perk

- People want clarity, not slogans

This all requires employers to be sharper, more transparent, and more deliberate about the value they offer, and an honest, insight-driven EVP will become a strategic advantage.

What does a good EVP look like today?

An EVP isn’t about ping pong or pool tables, or “we’re like a family” clichés. It even goes beyond flexibility, free office snacks, or mental health days.

A good EVP is:

- Evidence-led: Built from insights, data, sentiment analysis, engagement patterns, and real employee perspectives.

- Segmented: Different roles want different things, and a one-size-fits-all EVP is guaranteed to fit no one.

- Anchored in reality: A lived culture instead of an aspirational one, and candidates can smell spin a mile away.

- Aligned: EVP, employer brand, and leadership behaviours must match. If not, people leave quickly.

- Sustainable: Not built on trends or perks, but on enduring people principles.

- Communicated with clarity: Because if people don’t understand what makes you a compelling employer, they’ll default to salary alone.

The bottom line: EVP and salary aren’t in competition

While salary gets people in the door, EVP decides whether they walk through it, and whether they stay.

If you don’t think of both as part of a complete package that works hand-in-hand to fairly compensate your people, you risk higher turnover, lower engagement, less innovation, weak employer reputation, more recruitment spend, and lower customer satisfaction.

The organisations who understand how critical EVP is are the ones who are winning the talent that drives real business performance.

Whether you’re reassessing your EVP or designing it from scratch, Sarah has one final piece of advice: “Think about the employee lifecycle in its entirety. There are critical moments that matter, and your EVP should speak to every single one of them.”

Ready to level up your EVP and drive business success? Let’s chat.

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