1.
​Andrew Levy
​Head of Careers Brand, Uber
​@alevs34 / alevy@uber.com
How Uber built an EVP from scratch - with
data, In-house, for free

2.
1. What’s EVP and why does it matter
2. Uber’s problem and what we did
3. So I defined my EVP, now what
4. What’s next for Uber
5. Q&A & witty banter
Why you should put down your phone for a
second (aka today’s agenda)

3.
What is EVP anyway?
EVP = employee value proposition
EVP = your company’s unique
offerings, associations and values as
experienced by employees

4.
What isn’t EVP?
EVP ≠ something you can
proclaim. It exists already. It can
be understood, described, and
illuminated by data.
EVP ≠ company values ≠
executive perspectives
EVP ≠ static format. It can be
public or private.

5.
Why does defining your EVP matter?
Know your reality: tell a consistent, truthful,
accurate, and compelling story about work
Selling BS is wrong: own the truth and use it as
the foundation for all careers content
Recruit better: candidate alignment with EVP
increases recruitment efficiency and culture-fit hires
Keep people working: aligned employees have
higher retention and satisfaction at work
Track progress and do something: build HR
programs around what you do and don’t like, see
how you did over time

6.
Uber’s story: we had / have issues
1. Insane hiring targets
2. Tenure. Uber’s a new company every
few months
3. Inconsistent onboarding for recruiters
4. Cultural values define everything
5. …but values are written for internal eyes
only
6. No consistent external story
7. No budget (duh, that’s a given)

7.
1. Screw hiring an agency, do it yourself
2. Define stakeholders
3. Run competitor analysis
4. Crunch data you already have
5. Jam and write EVP w/ brand team
6. Review with stakeholders
7. Infuse in everything
8. Test in the market
9. Measure, play, rinse, repeat
The solution’s simple if you approach it simply

8.
How we actually did it
Data Sources
1. Uber Team Survey (UTS) (Dec, 2015)
14% of recipients (780/5,733) responded to
open-ended question
2. Glassdoor Reviews (all-time)
550 responses (driver partners excluded)
3. Culture Survey (TCS) (Mar, 2016)
49% of recipients (3349/6858) responded to
open-ended question
For each of the 14 values
1. ID key words that map to values
2. Count positive, negative, neutral mentions (overall,
by org, by geo) in data
3. Sum number responses
4. Calculate Net Sentiment [#positive - # negative /
total mentions] from data
5. Write EVP statements in brand voice using
weighted net sentiment from combined data sources

9.
Data says…employees are natural recruiters
and brutally honest internally

10.
Other interesting things
we found out about ourselves
Employees positively experience…
–Uber’s mission
–The celebration of the cities we work in
–Our risk-taking / test & fail culture
–All-hands-on-deck / ownership culture
–Keeping optimistic in the face of criticism
Employees negatively experience…
–Inability to recharge outside of work
–Increasing bureaucracy as the company grows
in size
–Decisions made by rank, not by merit of idea
Overall…
• We weren’t selling what employees love most about Uber
• We were overselling the company’s growth story – a messaged stressed at the exec level
• The [personal / company / local] impact angle and [personal] growth / learning aspect of work
is a stronger message according to data
• There wasn’t a signal in the data to regionalize

11.
Our EVP: the grand reveal

12.
What we do
EVP Pillar One
We’re building something people use everyday.
Whether it’s heading home from work, getting a
meal from your favorite restaurant delivered to
your door, or earning extra income for the next
vacation, Uber is becoming part of the fabric of
daily life.
We’re making cities safer, smarter, and more
connected. And we’re doing it at a global
scale—energizing local economies and bringing
opportunity to millions of people around the
world.
The impact is visible and measurable, and that
drives us to keep moving forward.
How we do it
EVP Pillar Two
There’s no blueprint for what we want to build; the old
way of doing things won’t lead us to the next great
idea. Redefining the way cities move requires both
determination and imagination. We reject the status
quo, and we’re relentless in our pursuit of the most
creative solution.
We’re breaking new ground. It takes both big swings
and precise strokes, effort and expertise. We perfect
the small details to pursue the big goals.

13.
Who we are
EVP Pillar Three
What we do and how we do it isn’t easy. It takes a
certain type of person.
The type of person who wants responsibility and
accountability in equal measure because they have the
capacity to deliver. Someone who runs towards
adversity, because knowing how to get up is more
important than getting knocked down. Someone who
seeks work that’s challenging, because the challenge is
the reward.
We think and act beyond our job description because
we believe in what we’re building. There are very few
easy days of work here, but every day is worthwhile.
Everyday we learn.
Why we love it
EVP Pillar Four
Our mission isn’t something that can be
accomplished alone. The new idea and the
inspiration to try again comes from the person
at the next desk—the person who makes you
want to be better and can also help get you
there. We believe excellence is achieved
through enthusiasm, and teamwork breeds
success.
In any Uber office around the world, the energy
is palpable and the excitement is contagious. As
long as smart, driven people are working
together on hard problems, we know we’re
moving in the right direction.

14.
§ Create a culture deck to test in the
market, on social, with ads
§ Make videos in the voice of the
employee, roll out with social retargeting
campaigns
§ Refresh the careers website and job
description creation process
§ Train everyone, train them again
§ Do this whole process over
What’s next for Uber?

15.
Free template: t.uber.com/EVPTemplate
Free awesome stuff for you!

16.
Ok, enough of this dude talking.
Let’s ask him complex and
awkwardly personal questions.
​-The Audience