4 signs your EVP is failing, and how to fix them

A failing EVP is a business performance issue and the organisations that recognise the warning signs early are the ones who keep both their talent and their competitive edge, writes Sarah Blanchard.

Most organisations don’t realise their employee value proposition (EVP) is failing until the symptoms are impossible to ignore. A spike in resignations. Stalled offer conversations. Leaders scratching their heads, wondering why the culture feels “off”.

This gradual erosion sets in when EVP is treated as a branding exercise rather than a business lever.

Your EVP is a mechanism to attract, retain, and engage your people. And when it isn’t working, the warning signs show up everywhere.

Here are the four clearest signals your EVP is underperforming, and what you can do about them.

1. Great candidates keep dropping out at the end of the hiring process

While low application numbers aren’t your biggest problem, low conversion is. Rather than look at volume at the top of the funnel, think about conversion rates at the back end and your offer acceptance rates.

If your organisation is consistently losing high-quality candidates late in the process, it’s a clear sign that something more compelling is pulling them elsewhere. And while today’s cost-of-living environment points to salary playing a huge factor, it’s not the only one.

Candidates want both competitive pay and a clear understanding of what your organisation offers beyond the basics of progression, leadership, flexibility, purpose, autonomy, and stability. If they can’t see this clarity in your messaging or conversations, they’ll choose an employer who articulates it better.

How to fix it

• Audit your offer messaging and interview experience.
• Ensure hiring leaders can articulate the EVP in plain language.
• Pressure-test your EVP against current market realities (not outdated 2021 expectations).
• Segment the EVP for different role types. One-size-fits-all messaging doesn’t cut it.

2. Engagement survey participation is falling, or the insights aren’t shifting

Declining participation rates are less a sign of apathy and more a sign of low trust. When people believe nothing will change, they’ll stop speaking up, and if your EVP promises things that aren’t felt by your people internally (career pathways, recognition, wellbeing, leadership support), then engagement will eventually weaken long before attrition spikes. An EVP will only work if your employees can live and breathe it.

How to fix it

• Conduct smaller, more regular pulse checks that show you’re listening in real time.
• Close the loop and visibly share what you heard and what you’re changing.
• Validate your EVP directly with employees at different tenure milestones.

3. Preventable turnover appears around the 18–36-month mark

Most organisations focus on one big number: total annual turnover. But the real insights sit underneath. For the first 18 months, people are engaged and learning. But if they’re not clear on the next career step, that’s where we see people get restless.

If employees leave in the 18–36-month window, it’s not “just the market” but usually because expectations set early on weren’t matched by the lived experience. This is where a poorly defined or poorly honoured EVP does the most damage.

How to fix it

• Map what your EVP promises against what employees actually experience at each stage of the lifecycle.
• Build clearer growth pathways and communicate them consistently.
• Strengthen manager capability; managers either reinforce or erode EVP every day.

4. Exit interviews reveal very little, or nothing at all

If your exit interviews sound like this…

• “Just felt like the right time.”
• “Looking for a new challenge.”
• “No issues – all good.”

…you’re not getting the truth.

People are often too polite (or cautious) to share honest feedback while still tied to the organisation. Trial sending a follow-up survey once the person has left the organisation. They may actually provide some golden hints as to why they made that decision.

Real exit insights are one of the fastest ways to diagnose your EVP and how you can quickly tell it’s no longer resonating.

How to fix it

• Introduce a second touchpoint 2–4 weeks after departure.
• Analyse themes by tenure segment, team and role type.
• Map exit insights against your EVP pillars to identify misalignment.

The takeaway: Failing EVPs aren’t always obvious, but they’re always costly

When an EVP stops working, you see it in:

• Lower productivity
• Slower innovation
• Higher recruitment spend
• Shrinking internal advocacy
• Inconsistent customer experience
• Disengagement that creeps, quietly at first

There’s no question that salary remains the top deal-breaker for candidates, but EVP shapes everything after that. It determines whether people stay, perform, advocate, and grow.

A failing EVP is a business performance issue, and the organisations that recognise the warning signs early are the ones who keep both their talent and their competitive edge.

Sarah Blanchard is the implementation and solution manager at Solve by Talent.