5 EVP Strategies to Avoid Moonlighting

5 EVP Strategies to Avoid Moonlighting, and Keep Employees Engaged

For better or worse, the pandemic has changed the way many approach the concept of work, and their notions around what a truly fulfilling & engaging job entail. Also, with a changing demographic and more participation from millennial and Gen-z employees, aspirations and expectations of job-seekers are evolving. It’s clear that employees want a stable yet stimulating environment to be able to thrive and add to their employer’s success, therefore it’s now more important than ever for employers to take bold steps and define their core employee value proposition (EVP) to keep employees motivated and engaged.

Simply put, EVP is the overall value that an organisation promises to deliver to its employees; it’s what an organisation will do day in and day out for their employees in return for their best work. EVP focusses on making every moment count across the entire employee lifecycle – the hiring process, the first day, the first year, the entire tenure and even after an employee leaves the organisation.

Employers who focus on communicating their EVP to employees every day, in every interaction, are then better able to mitigate disruptive employee trends such as moonlighting (i.e., working two full-time jobs at once without either employer knowing). In recent times, moonlighting became prevalent more so in the Indian IT sector, especially among employees working remotely. The debate on whether this is ethical and legal continues to be had, however from an employer’s standpoint, moonlighting is a situation best avoided; and a customised EVP strategy is the best solution available.

BI WORLDWIDE recommends following the 5 key EVP strategies below to curb moonlighting:

Enhance the Onboarding Experience: A well-defined onboarding program is the best way to set the right tone with employees from day one. BI WORLDWIDE recommends putting together a comprehensive guidebook that new employees can refer to in the initial weeks so that they can seamlessly adapt into their new workplace. While its contents may vary based on business needs, a few common ones include links to all HR policies, guides to tools and apps that are routinely used, and document templates. This not only indicates to a new employee that the company is organised and thoughtful but is also an efficient way to streamline and standardise the onboarding process for all new employees, who may join at different times and stages of the business cycle.

Make Rewards and Recognition Integral: Building a culture of recognition for big and small wins alike, is integral to overall employee motivation levels. Employees experience the dopamine effect – a rush of happy emotions – when they are recognised and celebrated for their contribution at work. More importantly, what is recognised is often repeated, and therefore a strategic recognition and rewards program only adds to a company’s success. Employees that are recognised and rewarded for their efforts feel validated and incentivised to do their best workday after day, as they then see that the company’s overall success is equally their success on a personal level. This kind of employee mindset is what companies need to thrive and succeed at a larger scale. While curating a rewards program, employers must remember to include rewards that will be meaningful and relevant to their employees. A mix of brand merchandise, lifestyle and travel incentive rewards are popular choices.

Make them Learn and Grow: The world around us is rapidly evolving and there are plenty new advancements in technology, business practices and the like that employees need to stay updated with in order to bring their A-game to work. If employers proactively arrange training programs for their employees to upskill, it not only improves employee performance but also signals to employees that the company is invested in their overall professional growth beyond just their daily job responsibilities. This in turn prevents employees from moonlighting and looking outside the confines of their jobs to satiate their quest for knowledge. Moreover, it helps keep company culture fresh and exciting, and also serves as an important team-building exercise in the case of group training sessions.

Companies can approach qualified experts to conduct customised learning modules for their employees, or even opt to partner with any of the large number of edtech platforms to deliver training to their employees in an easy and cost-effective manner.

Make Innovation a Practice: When employees have been surveyed for why they may resort to moonlighting, a significant percentage report boredom as one of the main reasons. Employees often feel like they stagnate and stop learning when their requests or suggestions to do things differently at the workplace are met with a lukewarm or negative response. In order for employees to be deeply committed to a long tenure with an organisation, it’s important that the culture encourages innovation and is open to employees being curious and creative in context of their job responsibilities. If employees are genuinely motivated and incentivised to think outside the box, they bring their whole selves to work and approach their job with a higher degree of care and ownership; and don’t feel the need to look elsewhere for professional satisfaction by moonlighting. They also end up gaining knowledge, and often discover more efficient ways of carrying out their tasks, which is beneficial to the organisation on every level. 

Building Brand Advocacy: One of the most positive outcomes of having a highly engaged workforce, is for employees both old and new to refer their friends and acquaintances to join the organisation. Research reveals that new employees referred by current employees are more productive and more likely to stay longer at organisation than non-referral candidates. This is because the human tendency for confirmation bias comes into play – essentially, we tend to seek out others with similar beliefs, values and perspectives. Motivated and fulfilled employees therefore tend to recommend candidates with similar mindsets to join the organisation, thereby functioning as the most authentic and effective brand advocates an organisation can have. Employers can also customise referral rewards programs to incentivise their employees to refer new candidates – where the generosity of the rewards increases based on the number of referrals that are hired.  

Giving employees reasons to want to join, do their best work, and stay at an organisation is no easy feat, and getting this right is a crucial business priority. BI WORLDWIDE’s extensive research and real-world application proves that happy employees translate to a better customer experience for the organisation as well, and in turn, a healthier bottom line. It’s well worth any organisation’s time, money, and effort to invest in keeping their employees engaged, motivated and happy.

To learn more about how BI WORLDWIDE can help with your employee value proposition and employee engagement strategies, visit biworldwide.co.in or email marketing.in@biworldwide.com

This article is written by Sukesh Jain, CEO BI WORLWIDE India and is also available on StartUpTalky