Development of employer value proposition at the Chevrah Kadisha

Abstract

This consultancy report is applied to the Chevrah Kadisha, multi-million, non-profit organisation that is based in Johannesburg. The Chevrah Kadisha is multi-faceted by the nature of their organizational structure, services and the clients that they service. This has resulted in the organisation’s offering to their employees being undefined and decentralised. This consultancy report explores the employer value proposition (EVP) of the Chevrah Kadisha. An EVP is the total package (financial and non-financial) that an employer offers its employees in return for them working for the organisation. The investigation is pronged and investigates the following: What is the EVP of the different demographics of the Chevrah Kadisha; what is the EVP of the different departments across the Chevrah Kadisha and what is the overall EVP of the Chevrah Kadisha? The EVP is viewed through the lens of the instrumental and symbolic attributes framework (Gardner & Levy, 1999), as well as the values of internal employer branding outlines by Sengupta et all (2015). A qualitative, cross sectional design was used. A self-administered survey was designed based on the literature gathered. A pilot survey was conducted to ensure the usability of the survey and to ensure that no questions were offensive. The survey was sent out to the entire staff complement of the Chevrah Kadisha (n =600). The questionnaire was translated into Zulu and Sotho. Both a web-based and paper-based survey were sent out to ensure that the survey was accessible to all staff members. A sample of 302 staff members completed the survey. The gender and race demographics were analysed using an independent T-test, age and salary band were analysed using Spearman’s Rho correlation and the departmental factors were analysed using a one-way ANOVA. The overall EVP was analysed using the results of all three analyses. The results indicated that demographics and department allocation do affect the EVP of the Chevrah Kadisha. The most significant effects on EVP were race, salary band and departments. The white staff members and staff members in the higher salary bands had a higher agreement with the values that they felt the Chevrah Kadisha was offering them. The female staff had a higher agreement with three values over the male staff members. Age groups had no effect on the EVP. Thirteen out of twenty values were affected by the department in which the staff members worked. The overall EVP was identified as: transparent policies and procedures, good relationship with co-workers, full range of skills used and adequate physical working space. Development of Employer Value Proposition at the Chevrah Kadisha 2 It is suggested that the management of the Chevrah Kadisha evaluate their employee equity policy and implement cultural training. This is advocated in order to better understand their staff compliment and to tailor the EVP of the Chevrah Kadisha to all their staff. It is also suggested that cross-departmental activities take place at all levels of the organisation in order to break down the silos. Management can leverage the EVP to be specific to the female staff members in order to recruit and retain female staff members. Since the overall EVP has been identified, it is suggested that management review this in light of their vision, mission and strategy and ensure alignment.