In a competitive global economy, employers have to work hard to stand out and attract top candidates. Companies with magnetic company cultures gain a significant competitive advantage in recruiting and retention. A strong and engaging culture helps employers build their brands, attract and retain high performing employees, and build solid relationships with customers and vendors.
One of the best ways to promote company culture is in social media on YouTube with engaging videos. Note how the companies in the following videos illustrate, explain, and demonstrate their corporate values, work environments, and mission and values. They show the personality and flavor of their workplaces and what it’s like to work for their companies, and build connections with the candidates they need.
Google uses one of their products for their Google Chicago company culture video, Google Hangouts. They have their engineers discussing engineering at Google, the early days of Google Chicago, what projects they’ve worked on, and why they like working at Google. When employees talk about their work and what they like about working for the company, prospective candidates gain real insight into the workplace and can picture themselves with a career with those employers.
Payroll and human resource software vendor Zendesk uses YouTube to take viewers on a tour of their company, highlighting their “interesting” employees and work teams, including the saluter, the smiler, and Firewitch, the company fish. They show a typical employee desk, the views from their offices in San Francisco, their current and beginning employee populations, and their product. When you’re done watching, you feel like you’ve been at Zendesk’s offices working alongside their employees.
The Internet shoe and apparel retailer Zappos! shows CEO Tony Hsieh, employees, and managers talking about the company’s core values and work environment. The video pans through quick cuts of different office spaces decorated with Tiki huts, beach umbrellas, crepe paper streamers, giant ace of diamonds and clubs playing cards, and palm trees. You’ll see a stuffed pink unicorn in the testimonials while people talk about core values. It’s an icon of the fun and quirky culture it represents.
Twitter’s recruiting video portrays a dynamic small-team work environment. Employees talk about software engineering jobs at Twitter as well as non-engineering jobs like sales, product management, and design, as well as perks and benefits. They make a connection with viewers with their main message that the future is you and inviting you to “join the flock” and “come work at Twitter!”
Cosmetic and perfume retailer Sephora’s recruitment videos highlight their recruitment officer speaking in French about the type of people they are looking for and how to apply. They explain how to handle the application process and walk viewers through a thorough overview of how to approach the company for a job and what working there is like and captures the spirit of the culture.
Sephora’s 2013 recruitment video invites candidates to “come sephorize the world with us” and showcases the company’s social media. Their recruitment videos target a younger demographic by speaking their language and using technology for a targeted to reach them.
KPMG’s YouTube channel Life@KPMG is dedicated to recruiting videos that use their employees to describe their work experience. They introduce the company’s emotional service ethic and history and exciting work locations including New York, London, Denver, and Paris. The video series uses employees’ testimonials to help candidates picture themselves working for KPMG.
