Regardless if it's planned or not, all companies have an employer image. That image can be positive, negative or even neutral, but it is always something that can be controlled. A positive but truthful employer image is key in attracting new talent, and to reach that you'll need a solid employer image strategy. An overwhelmingly powerful format and an essential tool in your strategy should be - you guessed it - video.
What is an employer image and how is it built?
A common misconception is that employer image is only built via recruitment advertising and communications. If the brand presents a nice image in their recruitment ad campaigns, that's enough, right?
The truth is that there are many more contact points that build a brand's employer image. Everything from social media posts to sites like Glassdoor as well as good old word of mouth play their part in building the brand's employer image, for better and for worse.
In today's connected world it's very easy to find out that an employer that presents a fun, inclusive and warm image outwards is actually the complete opposite. We've seen plenty of examples of this from essentially every industry along the years.
Modern job seekers are very ready to comment publicly on a brand's cold treatment towards their job applicants, such as never even replying that the applicant wasn't chosen. It's small details like these that start accumulating and slowly build up to be the true employer image of a brand.
This is why it's so important to be in control of the brand's employer image as far as possible. There will always be mistakes - we are all human and capable of error - but blatant disregard for existing and known issues that will reflect badly on the brand's employer image is not something that the brands of tomorrow can afford.
USING VIDEOS TO BUILD YOUR EMPLOYER IMAGE
Employer branding -videot eli EB-videot ovat erinomainen tapa viestiä muun muassa yrityskulttuurista, työtiloista ja -tehtävistä sekä urapoluista muistettavalla tavalla. EB-videoilla voidaan vastata hakijoita askarruttaviin kysymyksiin ja välittää haluttua viestiä yrityksestä myös muille tahoille. EB-videot voidaan suunnitella digitaalisissa kanavissa jaettaviksi mainosmaisiksi sisällöiksi tai muiksi verkkosisällöiksi.
Authenticity before everything
For an EB video to be not just believable but also to serve its' purpose, it's crucial to build the video to be authentic from the ground up. This means that instead of a heavily scripted, cinematic short film it's better to include real employees with their real-life stories in the video.
One common way of achieving this is to first organize a round of preliminary interviews with people from different departments. As the interviews are conducted you'll be able to find the most interesting stories as well as get some idea of which employees could be included in the final video. Don't build the final script word for word based on someone's story, though!
Once you have an interesting angle, you can begin the location scouting and casting. You'll hopefully get some of the interviewed employees to take part in the shoot and get permission to use some of your real workspaces. Understandably, not all workspaces can be used for a video shoot due to f.ex. safety regulations. An interview can't be organized in food production facilities or a loud construction site, but you can include b-roll footage from them in the final cut.
What determines the price for an employer branding video?
Generally, using the customer's own facilities will keep the price tag for employer branding videos relatively affordable, but as mentioned before, some facilites simply won't work for video shoots. Sometimes it's just easier for all parties involved to change the location completely, even if it causes some extra costs. Depending on the desired style for the EB-video, there can also be additional costs from using make-up artists or stylists during the shooting.
Besides the shoot-related costs, the length of the shoot as well as the amount of interviewees have an effect on the final price tag. More interviewees means more material for editors to edit through, which obviously takes work-hours. All additional graphics and animations that might be included in the final cut also raise the price, as they will be handcrafted during editing to match the customer's branding and look.
Some examples of Employer Branding Videos
Sympa's Employer Branding -video is communicating their workpalce culture by allowing the employees speak for themselves and their experience at Sympa.
EB-videos don't need to follow the same template of sitting employees down and interviewing them.
An example of this was when Metso chose to proceed with something less conventional for their employer branding -video.
KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR EMPLOYER BRANDING VIDEOS:
- Determine the primary purpose for the video clearly before beginning production
- If you're using real employees for the video, make sure to organize pre-production interviews to find the best ones to include in the video
- Strive for authenticity!
- Schedule well and double-check. Your employees deserve to know the schedule well ahead of time so the shooting doesn't interfere with their normal work!
