Employment10 Feb 2026Simon Druery

Is your EVP lived, or just said?

Many organisations today have an Employee Value Proposition (EVP). The question is – is it authentic?

It may be beautifully written. Purpose-led. People-first. Full of ambition.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth we see time and time again:

An EVP isn’t defined by what you say - it’s defined by what people experience.

And when there’s a gap between the promise and the lived reality, trust quietly erodes. Belonging weakens. Engagement drops and attrition rises.

Not because leaders don’t care but because the story has drifted away from the truth.

So how do you tell whether your EVP is genuinely live, or just well-intentioned?

At Belong Creative, we look at EVP credibility through five human lenses - five places where gaps tend to appear between what organisations promise and what employees actually experience.

Employee sitting at a desk looking thoughtful, reflecting on the difference between EVP messaging and lived experience

The real risk: When the story runs ahead of reality

An EVP is a story.

It’s a narrative about:

Why your organisation exists
What the work is really like
Where the experience can take people
Who they’ll belong with
How it feels to work there day-to-day

When that story is grounded in lived experience, it builds belonging.

When it’s not, employees feel it - even if they can’t always articulate it.

Here are the five areas where misalignment most often shows up.

1. WHY - Purpose, Direction & Belief

Most organisations have a clear purpose statement.

Fewer have people who feel genuinely enrolled in it.

A gap starts to form when:

Employees can repeat the words, but don’t feel connected to the direction
Purpose feels abstract, distant or leadership-owned
People aren’t clear on what success looks like in the future state

The question isn’t “Do we have a purpose?”
It’s “Do people believe in where we’re going - and their role in getting there?”

When the WHY is lived, people feel part of something meaningful.
When it’s not, purpose becomes wallpaper.

A team of employees in a meeting, listening thoughtfully, representing engagement with organisational purpose and direction

2. WHAT - The Work & the Impact

Many EVPs promise meaningful work.

But meaning isn’t created by slogans - it’s created by how people experience the work itself.

Misalignment often shows up when:

The work is described as impactful, but people struggle to see the difference they’re making
Skills and expertise feel underutilised
The reality of pressure, complexity or trade-offs isn’t acknowledged
People don’t feel proud of the quality of work they’re able to deliver

This isn’t about judging whether the work is “good” or “bad”.

It’s about whether the EVP honestly reflects the nature, quality and impact of the work people actually do.

Truth builds trust. Gloss erodes it.

Employee concentrating at a desk, reviewing work, representing meaningful contribution and impact.

3. WHERE - Growth, Pathways & the Future

“Growth” is one of the most overused words in EVP language.

And one of the least interrogated.

Gaps appear when:

Growth is promised, but pathways are vague
Development feels theoretical rather than accessible
Mobility, secondments or new roles are talked about, but rarely seen
The future being sold feels harder to reach in practice

Not every organisation offers fast progression - and that’s okay.

What matters is whether the future described is believable, visible and reachable.

People don’t disengage because growth is slow.
They disengage when it feels misleading.

Employee receiving guidance from a manager, representing growth, learning, and development pathways.

4. WHO - Belonging, Leadership & Culture

This is where belonging lives, or dies.

Most EVPs describe the people you’ll work with:
Supportive. Friendly. Values-led. Inclusive.

Gaps show up when:

Day-to-day interactions don’t match that picture
Leadership behaviour doesn’t align with how leaders are described
Corporate values exist, but aren’t consistently lived
Inclusion is stated, but not felt in everyday moments
Belonging depends on your team or manager, not the organisation

This isn’t about cultural perfection.

It’s about whether the EVP accurately represents who people will belong with - and what’s expected to thrive.

Diverse team chatting and laughing in an office coffee area, representing culture, belonging, and interpersonal connection.

5. HOW - The Lived Experience

This is where the truth really shows up.

Because when things get busy, uncertain or hard, the lived experience matters more than the messaging.

Misalignment often appears when:

Flexibility is promised, but inconsistently applied
Autonomy is talked about, but micromanagement creeps in
Wellbeing is referenced, but boundaries aren’t supported
Recognition is mentioned, but effort goes unseen
The EVP fades when change hits, rather than being something people lean on

A strong EVP doesn’t disappear under pressure.

It becomes an anchor - something people trust, refer to and draw reassurance from.

Employee being recognized by a colleague or manager, representing authentic lived experiences under the EVP

The common thread: Belonging is built on truth

Across all five areas, one pattern holds true:

Belonging grows when people feel seen, heard and represented in the story you tell.

EVPs don’t fail because they’re ambitious.
They fail when ambition isn’t yet matched by experience.

The most powerful employer brands aren’t perfect - they’re credible.

So what now?

If you’re reading this and thinking “some of this feels uncomfortably familiar” - that’s not a bad thing.

It’s a signal.

The opportunity isn’t to rewrite your EVP.
It’s to pressure-test it against reality, identify the gaps, and decide where to focus next.

Because when your EVP is true - not just well-written - it becomes one of your most powerful drivers of attraction, engagement, retention and advocacy.

And that’s the real power of belonging.

Want to go deeper?

At Belong Creative, we’ve developed a simple EVP diagnostic to help leaders explore where their EVP is credible - and where it may be fragile or at risk. If you’d like to know more, please reach out at hello@belongcreative.com.au

For now, the most important step is the first one:
Start the conversation. Start with truth.

Article by Simon Druery

Simon Druery is Director and Brand Strategist at Belong Creative. What gets him jumping out of bed each day is helping business owners and marketers craft brands that people want to belong to. When he’s not working you can find him travelling Australia in the family caravan and enjoying a tawny port by the fire.

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