Crafting an Authentic Employee Value PropositionDawn Mitchell, Director Talent Acquisition

1

Opower

What is Opower?Opower is the leading provider of cloud-­based software to the utility industry. Our mission is to motivate everyone on earth to save energy.

What do we do?We combine big data and behavioral science to motivate people to save energy. We also transform the way utilities relate to customers by improving customer engagement.

Our ResultsWe’ve saved 8 terawatt hours of energy, over 20 million lbs of CO2, and over $1 billion in utility bills (….and we’ve only penetrated 1% of the market).

3

Each Oployee’s annual impact is equivelent to...

What is an EVP?• An EVP is the employment deal that is derived from the employee experience – daily life, rewards, career growth – and it is the foundation of an organization’s reputation as a place to work.

• It’s what motivates employees to join and stay;; what they brag about at the neighborhood barbecue.

• Employees, leadership, and creative teams all contribute to the EVP to ensure that our “packaging” (message) reflects our “contents” (reality).

4

What is it not?• It is not the company mission, values or goals

Why should Opower define an EVP? • Engagement: The EVP is a reflection of everyone who works here. Engaging

employees about our EVP increases their accountability and motivates them to positively contribute to our culture and business outcomes.

• Competitive advantage: Forces us to be laser focused on emphasizing what makes us unique and different.

• Recruiting: The EVP strengthens the “Opower pitch”, and forms basis for career site, sourcing emails, etc. Can identify gap between what we want and what we offer.

• Steer the conversation: Set the tone for how people talk and think about culture.

• Alignment of people and business: Ensures that we don't have two conflicting brands (one corporate and one employment) but rather one unified brand with customized messages and adjustments in tone for different audiences.

• Consistent communication: Promotes consistent messaging to candidates across recruiters and current employees.

5

• For best results, our employees, leadership, and creative teams should all be accountable for articulating our EVP:

6

Who will define our EVP?

Employees

Employees are the “reality check” for

the EVP. Employees live the

EVP and experience the

rewards of working at Opower daily.

Leadership

The EVP should align to the mission, values, and goals of the company.

Leadership sets the tone of the culture;; influence has a ripple effect.

Brand

The EVP should also align to the corporate brand, and creative teams can apply their

expertise to shape how the EVP is expressed.

EVP

Definition: the non-­monetary rewards we offer employees in return for their work;; why we

join/stay.

How we use it:employment brand, people strategies (referrals, L&D, comp/ben, engagement, retention, communication).

Ex: You’ll help define the future of energy.

Company Mission

Definition: our company goal and larger purpose;; what we want to achieve.

How we use it: business strategy;; corporate goals;; alignment of operations

and resources.

Ex: To motivate everyone on earth to save energy.

People Values

Definition: behaviors that we hold employees

accountable to and that govern how we work.

How we use it:performance reviews, value awards, interviews

assessments.

Example: Be bold.

EVP vs. Mission & People Values

7

Phase 1: Explore

Employee: Evaluate results from Glassdoor reviews, employee surveys, employee focus groups, and exit interviews. Identify major factors that influence employees to join and stay at Opower.

Brand: Complete brainstorming sessions with Brand;; discuss preliminary research and how to achieve alignment between corporate brand and employer brand;; agree on 5-­7 broad themes.

Leadership: Interview CEO and attempt to capture defining/bold statements about Opower that set the tone for future EVP drafts. Gauge reaction to major themes from research. (See slide 10)

4 Main Phases: Explore, Articulate, Launch, Manage.Each phase includes an alignment between employees, brand, and leadership.

8

EVP Process

9

Goal: We can capture “fluffy” or “safe” statements about Opower easily, but few people have the sense of ownership and confidence necessary to make bold and defining statements about Opower’s workplace culture. Thus, the

CEO interview is key to thinking big about our EVP.

Example of Employee vs. Leader Reflecting on EVP theme...

Phase 1: CEO Interview

Statement from Employee:“We’re a true meritocracy. You have to be smart and motivated to succeed”

-­ Netflix Employee

Statement from CEO:”We’re a team, not a family. Netflix leaders hire, develop and cut smartly so

we have stars in every position.” -­ Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix

Same concept (freedom & responsibility), different impact.

Phase 2: Articulate

Brand: Use Explore phase results to craft EVP statements, which should differentiate Opower from other places of work, "package" our competitive advantage, and be authentic yet aspirational.

Employee: hold feedback session (e.g., walk-­through exhibit, survey) where employees react to EVP statements. Probe on authenticity. Goal is to "gut check" EVP statements, not reach 100% consensus.

Leadership: Present EVP statements and employee feedback to management to finalize EVP (Talent Acquisition, Brand, and Management -­ may take 2-­3 rounds of revisions).

10

EVP Process4 Main Phases: Explore, Articulate, Launch, Manage.

Each phase includes an alignment between employees, brand, and leadership.

Phase 3: Launch

Leadership: Soft-­launch of final EVP statements to all executive management team members. Provide insight on how our EVP will impact hiring and HR strategies;; gauge responses.

Employee: Publish EVP company wide (by management). Present EVP as an ongoing conversation about Opower’s culture and reputation as a place of work.

People/Brand: Launch EVP externally through careers site, job descriptions, culture video, events and embed into People initiatives.

11

EVP Process4 Main Phases: Explore, Articulate, Launch, Manage.

Each phase includes an alignment between employees, brand, and leadership.

Phase 4: Manage

Employee: continuously evaluate EVP against trends in employee sentiment. Do the statements still hold true? If not, why? Should we edit our EVP or should we take action to maintain it?

Brand: continuously evaluate EVP against corporate brand. Are we changing direction as a company? Are we trying to appeal to different types of candidates/customers?

Leadership: continuously evaluate EVP against company goals. Has "the tone at the top" changed? Is there a strong alignment between executive management and current culture?

12

EVP Process4 Main Phases: Explore, Articulate, Launch, Manage.

Each phase includes an alignment between employees, brand, and leadership.