If you’re reading this, congratulations on hitting the 2025 halfway mark! We salute you.

This year sure has felt like a biggie so far, hasn’t it? So much so, we reckon EOFY should come with a built-in ‘celebration’ button.

But what about a big ol’ shiny, begging-to-be-pressed ‘reflection’ button, too?

Because right now is a great time to pulse check your EVP. Is it thriving and growing even stronger? Or does it need some serious TLC to set you up for end of the year success? Let’s find out.

Below, we share our top five straightforward strategies to assess your EVP’s health.

1. You guessed it - ask your people what they think!

Instead of your stock-standard employee engagement survey, we suggest creating a survey aligned with your EVP messaging. For instance, if ‘continual learning and growth’ is a core part of your EVP, ask targeted questions like: ‘In the past year, have you had access to learning opportunities that align with your career goals?’

As well as yes/no questions, add in open-ended ones, like: ‘What has professional growth looked like to you this past year?’

Consider whether to keep your survey anonymous or give people the option to identify themselves. This then opens up the chance for follow-up chats.

2. Exit interviews are your friend

Exiting employees will often be brutally honest about what they’ve struggled with. And while sometimes painful to hear, this is incredibly helpful!

Just as we suggest with your employee surveys, design your exit interviews around your EVP pillars.

Ask employees about their experiences with you compared to their initial expectations. Review the past year’s exit interviews with your EVP hat on. If common themes emerge that are inconsistent with your EVP, these are good indicators of areas you may wish to focus on.

3. There’s nothing better than some people-watching

You can dig up a whole lot of gold simply by tuning into your people. How do they interact with each other? Can you see the values being lived in people's words and actions? How do people respond when something goes wrong? How do they celebrate the good stuff? You can gain intel on all this in person, by walking around and checking in with people, or you could even create an employee advisory group to help you gather information and stories.

4. Your internal comms might say more than you think

It’s natural for organisations to focus on their external communications when it comes to assessing the strength of their EVP. But looking at your internal communications is often a more reliable indicator.

We suggest focusing on some key areas to avoid overwhelm. For instance, you could choose to focus on internal messaging platforms (like Teams or Slack), company newsletters and company-wide emails.

Again, look for signs of your EVP in action, as well as information inconsistent with your EVP. For instance, if your EVP centres on belonging and inclusivity, do your newsletters showcase diverse voices and ideas? Or does management simply use them as a mouthpiece?

5. So might your performance review data …

There are a few approaches you can take to gather helpful information. Firstly, we suggest reviewing the performance review itself. What behaviours and/or competencies are assessed in your performance reviews? Do they align with your EVP messaging? For example, if strong, meaningful client relationships are central to your EVP, are you assessing your people on how they communicate and connect with clients?

Secondly, reviewing managers’ feedback can give you a sense of how well - and often - managers reward behaviour consistent with your EVP. It can also highlight areas where managers may be inadvertently encouraging employee behaviour that’s not aligned with your EVP.

Thirdly, we suggest reviewing individual development plans. What goals are being set, and are they framed in a way that’s consistent with your EVP? All these steps will give you solid data on how employee performance intersects with your EVP.

Whatever you learn in your EVP pulse check, we strongly suggest you share these findings with your people - warts and all! This builds credibility and trust and can also help you stay accountable. Plus, odds are, your people will have some great ideas on how you can boost your EVP health!