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Stories Inc. developed the concept of Team Value Proposition (TVP). Learn why this concept and team storytelling are important to candidates, employees and culture.

A Team Value Proposition is created when you uncover what’s unique about a specific small group experience within the context of the larger organization.

To develop a TVP, the employer brand or recruitment marketing leader should partner closely with a business leader in a division, team or location. Together, you will uncover specific experiences that define team culture.

Here are a few key reasons why you should use a TVP approach to your employer branding and recruitment marketing.

It grounds your EVP

Overarching cultural statements, especially when based in research, employee focus groups and engagement surveys, mean a great deal to the people who have created them. However, they don’t mean much to candidates. Candidates are looking for real employee experiences to support those statements.

Employee stories bring EVPs, values, and purpose to life for candidates. Creating specific team content shows how the EVP permeates through the entire organization. Team stories provide powerful proof that you are who you say you are.  

Therefore, an important part of developing team content is to balance team stories with stories of overall culture.

It’s a great way to get started

If you’re new to recruitment marketing, branding a team is a good way to start before tackling the organization’s overall brand. You will learn a ton in the process that you can apply to more universal culture content and value proposition projects. Significantly, this team content will create great value to those team members. Then, they will advocate for you as you pursue more team storytelling projects.

TVP proves your value to the business

Working directly with a business or team leader is essential to the TVP. You need their buy in and support to …

• Understand the team’s unique value proposition so you can best communicate it to candidates
• Confirm the content you’re creating truly reflects the team experience
• Share their story with their networks, to supplement your content marketing efforts through your organization’s candidate-facing channels
• Pay for the project!, in some cases.  

You can provide the best support and value by solving a very specific recruiting challenge. It could be that the team is recruiting people with a very specific set of skills, or is hiring the same profile every year, or is opening a new division somewhere new. It could be a team that hasn’t been supported with recruitment marketing content at all. See how CVS Health, and BAE Systems took a team approach to solve specific recruiting challenges.

TVP gives you the opportunity to message what’s unique about a team

Sometimes you need to differentiate from the Mothership a little. Teams have their own subculture. You want to respect and brand the team’s culture enough that it comes across as unique to the organization.

Team value propositions, paired with team storytelling, are a new way to think about giving candidates clarity into culture. Because you are working with a team to help them solve a specific business problem, this approach also gives you the opportunity to show your value as a recruitment marketing professional while sharpening your skills. Whether layering the team approach underneath your EVP work, or using it to prepare for grander organization-wide projects, using a team approach is great for recruitment marketers.

Get our guide

If you’d like to get started on team storytelling, download our content kickstarter with actionable examples of how to communicate TVP.