Companies looking to stand out from the crowd and attract top talent are adding another element to their recruitment strategies: company culture videos.
Video is a compelling way to review a company’s culture in a short amount of time and distribute this information across digital and social channels. Besides reaching wider audiences, company culture videos dive beneath mission statements to highlight some of the individuals who help make a work environment unique.
Showcasing employees who share what they’re working on, what they enjoy about their coworkers or what employee benefits they appreciate gives a brand a human face while surrounding it with positive associations. These stories are much more likely to leave a lasting impression on potential employees than a static web page.
When done right, a company culture video does far more than improve recruiting results. It presents an accurate depiction of a company’s people, perks and work atmosphere, spreading a consistent and respected brand image among customers and prospective candidates. Businesses can then transform into recognizable brands that boast loyal audiences and increased value within their fields.
The guide below goes into more detail about why company culture videos are important and covers the key elements to include when making one. It also provides examples of companies that have found success with company culture videos.
Benefits of Company Culture and Recruitment Videos
Video is an effective medium for showcasing your company culture. Here are some stats proving just that:
- 58 percent of customers feel a deeper connection with a brand if it posts content to its Instagram story while Facebook accounts with over 100,000 followers post over 70 percent of the platform’s video content
- 54 percent of internet users want more video content from brands that they support. If you haven’t implemented a video content strategy for your recruitment efforts, you’re literally depriving potential candidates of what they’re looking for.
- Some recruitment agencies have reported 800 percent more engagement with job ads featuring embedded video.
Almost one-third of brands publish two to four videos per month. Now, you’re probably wondering how companies have the time, money and bandwidth to publish videos on a consistent basis.
Company culture videos don’t have to be elaborate or high-tech to be effective. Production length depends on the resources invested in a project, but 30 percent of marketers can complete a marketing video in roughly two weeks.
Whether shared on social media, embedded in your emails or on your website’s career page, company culture videos are worth the effort.
What Makes for a Great Company Culture Video?
We asked Tiffany Meyers, director of content and strategy at Built In, to share insight into what makes a recruitment video great.
Organize the Setting for Your Company Culture Video Ahead of Time
You probably don’t want to film your company culture video on a gloomy day or catch an employee spilling coffee in the background. Inform everyone of when you’ll be filming in the office, pick a sunny day to maximize natural lighting and have cleaning staff tidy up the space the night before. These details can give your company culture video a more professional feel.
Put Your Best Foot Forward, Because Candidates Are Paying Attention
“Because qualified tech candidates are in such high demand, they’re in the position to be choosy, so they’re really taking time to learn about your employer brand before applying,” Meyers said. “From a recruitment perspective, it’s smart to tell your employer brand story across media — and video is one of the most powerful ways at it.”
Be Open and Honest With Candidates
When it comes to video, it pays to be authentic. “We know that candidates want to work for companies whose values sync with their own,” Meyers added. Be honest with your core values and you’ll attract like-minded candidates who will give their all.
Ask Your Employees for Their Perspectives
While it might be tempting to tell your employees what to say about your brand, this will only produce a stiff, insincere conversation. For employees who volunteer to participate in a video, let them decide what they want to talk about and ask for input on company culture videos. Giving employees control and creative freedom will get them excited about the process, as opposed to making them read off of a script.
Don’t Just Pitch Your Jobs, Develop a Real Relationship
So we know candidates want to know more about your company, but can’t they learn that from a career page or job post? “Video can do something a job post can’t do,” Meyers said. “It can tell an emotionally resonant story about your values as a company. That makes it easier for the candidates who fit your culture to find you.”
Strategies to decode, maintain and improve company culture.
Some of the Best Company Culture Videos
Nexthink is a global software company that looks to close what it calls the “digital employee experience gap” by helping client companies understand how its digital workforce is actually using the tools at their fingertips. Most IT teams don’t have a clear sense for how digital employees are using their tech so Nexthink has developed a platform to help IT analyze real-time metrics, pinpoint issues and develop efficient responses. Its product aims to empower IT teams to be more proactive, reduce costs and improve operations to enhance work experiences for digital employees around the world.
Nexthink puts that mission statement front and center in its video, which also features several of its offices as well as its diverse, globally distributed workforce — called “Nexthinkers.” The video focuses on what makes each hub unique, from its Swedish headquarters, to its hubs in Spain, India and the U.S., all collaborating in an effort to “delight people at work, wherever they are.”
MetLife is a global provider of insurance, asset management, annuities and employee benefits solutions. Its diverse range of services help customers prepare financially for the future, offering comprehensive solutions for insurance and retirement needs. Operating in over 40 global markets, MetLife serves individuals, families and businesses.
MetLife’s mission and core values are on display in this video that showcases the company’s diverse, global workforce and its commitment to helping employees and customers alike feel financially prepared for the future. Its campaign, #AllTogetherPossible, highlights MetLife’s aim to, as the company says, be “united by purpose, guided by empathy and inspired by our unique backgrounds and perspectives.”
Datadog provides a cloud monitoring SaaS platform that enables clients to track and optimize their IT architecture, including infrastructure performance, user activity and cybersecurity threats, across various digital ecosystems such as Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud. With real-time interactive dashboards, its software offers insights and metrics on network performance, assisting businesses of all sizes and industries in identifying and resolving issues efficiently. By leveraging clients’ digital footprints, Datadog’s platform monitors system processes, network activity and cloud costs, helping companies safeguard against latency, optimize operations and mitigate cyber threats.
Datadog’s global workforce operates on a hybrid model wherein employees are required to work in the office three days a week. To entice candidates accustomed to a remote-first or remote-only work environment, the company is creating a series of videos called “Around the World With Datadog,” in which it provides video tours of its impressive office spaces. This NYC tour is the first installment. The video not only showcases the impressive views and amenities in Datadog’s Midtown office, but it also reflects the diversity of the company’s NYC workforce while also highlighting the benefits of in-office collaboration.
Thumbtack operates a digital platform connecting homeowners with qualified professionals for home maintenance and repair services such as carpentry, plumbing, electrical and painting. Its platform facilitates the hiring process and enables user ratings. Contractors use the platform for networking and reputation building, while small businesses gain access to a motivated customer base. With a “virtual-first” work model, Thumbtack enables remote collaboration for employees across multiple locations while promoting opportunities for in-person connections.
To that end, the company’s culture video featuring Germán Robles, Account Executive II, is a touching testimonial that explains what being part of a remote-first workforce has meant to him. This brief video packs a punch as Germán shares that, because of Thumbtack’s remote-first policy, he was able to witness his daughter take her first steps during the workday. As a company that’s also proud of their parental leave policies, this video works on multiple levels, appealing to those with children, those considering starting families and those who are focused on prioritizing work-life balance.
ZS is a global management consulting and technology firm that aims to bring transformative solutions to businesses across a variety of industries, with an emphasis on serving organizations in healthcare. Its company culture video portrays ZS as a workplace where kind, smart and conscientious people come together to do work that has a significant impact on the world. Team members operate under a shared set of values that unite employees in leveraging their individual passions to solve problems and overcome challenges.
The message comes together through the voices of a combination of ZS leaders and employees at various stages in their career journey. It leaves a positive impression on the viewer because those diverse perspectives collectively bring attention to the fact that ZS not only empowers its people to do meaningful work, but also encourages them to have fun and build lasting connections with one another.
Terakeet specializes in owned asset optimization, meaning it works with brands to help them strategically control and transform their digital properties like websites and blog posts. The company’s services are geared toward businesses from industries including financial services, health and wellness, retail and media. Terakeet designed a company culture video that shows off its team members’ eagerness to collaborate with one another and with big name global brands as they work toward “changing the face of marketing.”
The employees who offer perspective in the video explain that Terakeet fosters this workplace enthusiasm by being people focused, fearless in the face of change and supportive of individual career goals. The message is successful because it underscores employees’ excitement to be working at Terakeet, and in turn, the company’s proactive efforts to make people feel they work for an organization that’s invested in their growth and wellbeing.
Close offers a CRM platform designed to be secure, quick to set up, easy to use and compatible with other popular tools and apps. With an operational structure that’s completely remote, the company characterizes its team members as “thoughtful humans who value autonomy and impact.” Close produced a company culture video to highlight its efforts to “create a company that we want to work for.”
The team members included in the video reveal a workplace environment that prioritizes authenticity, respect, flexibility and continuous learning. This appealing snapshot of what it’s like to be a Close employee demonstrates the company’s commitment to taking care of its people, which has enticed them to view their work with Close as a long-term career opportunity.
Clari brings businesses a Revenue Platform with features that enable teams like sales and marketing to operate more effectively. Its culture is designed to provide each employee with the support and resources to accomplish their “best work and have fun doing it.” Clari put together a video that portrays its workplace as an inclusive and collaborative environment that welcomes every team member’s voice and contributions in making a meaningful impact and moving the organization’s mission forward. It also puts a spotlight on Clari’s willingness to embrace remote work, yet still build community among team members. In less than three minutes, the video offers an overall impression of Clari as an employer that proactively seeks to encourage belonging and career growth.
Healthtech company SOPHiA GENETICS offers a SaaS platform for data sharing that’s used by hundreds of healthcare institutions around the world. The company features multiple videos on its careers site that highlight SOPHiA GENETICS’ culture and people. The example above illustrates the company’s emphasis on using its expertise to broaden access to research, data and technology in the medical community on a global scale.
The video includes multiple employee voices that illustrate an excitement for the organization’s mission and the impact it has on healthcare, using language like “dynamic” and “agile” to describe the overall work environment. The messaging is clear about the fact that any team member across the organization “can be a key player” and that their work contributes directly to “projects that really can change the way clinical institutions operate.”
Golden Hippo builds up brands in the health and wellness space, using its team’s expertise in direct-to-consumer marketing to handle everything from product development and brand management to ad creation and web development. The company also works to ensure product sales have a positive impact by pairing brands with charitable organizations.
With a skill set that includes video production and editing, Golden Hippo created a culture video that has an energy so fun and welcoming the company decided to feature it front and center on the homepage of its website. The video characterizes the Golden Hippo environment as being “all about a healthy work-life balance,” highlighting the perks employees enjoy, such as gym access and hybrid and remote work options. The messaging is effective because it creatively showcases how the company invests in its workforce, as well as offers an overview of what Golden Hippo is looking for in potential hires.
Toast is an operating system used by dining establishments of all sizes. From point of sale service to supplier management, Toast aims to help restaurants streamline their operations and improve experiences for diners.
This video works so well because employees speak authentically about Toast’s collaborative culture. You’ll hear from a diverse group of people from a wide range of departments talk about how the positive work environment helps them solve problems for their customers. You also get some great shots of their beautiful office spaces.
PatientPoint develops consumer-facing health information and point-of-care content for patients. With over 140,000 unique relationships with healthcare providers, it works to provide digital, in-office education to improve interactions between doctors and their patients.
You can learn a lot about a company through their core values. The PatientPoint team chose to let their culture video center on what’s most important to the organization: staying focused, remaining accountable, being customer centric, leading with trust and valuing systems thinking. By anchoring the video on its values, PatientPoint keeps the message simple while highlighting diverse perspectives from across the organization.
Sojern is a tech company that provides marketing and guest experience solutions to hotels, airlines, attractions and travel destinations. Its company culture video provides a fun and engaging overview of what it’s like to be a Sojern employee.
The video incorporates context from employees across a variety of teams, including sales, applied science and software engineering. They highlight an array of positive aspects about Sojern’s culture and work environment from an emphasis on inclusivity and collaboration to opportunities to solve interesting problems and upskill. Overall, the video serves as an example of how a company can demonstrate the valuable role of their employees’ unique identities and perspectives, as well as their hard work and contributions to the organization.
Samsara is an IoT company helping customers in industries like construction, utilities and transportation make their physical operations safer and more efficient. The company’s Culture & People video features clips of various employees talking about why they joined Samsara and the positive impact of their work.
The format is compelling because hearing directly from employees about their passion for the job conveys authenticity. It illustrates the company culture in a way that’s timeless and more engaging than what can be communicated in a written mission statement or job description. By highlighting Samsara’s purpose through the eyes of its workforce, the video offers an example of the powerful impression employee voices can make.
Ellevation Education is a software platform that supports English language learners and their educators. This culture video features an interview with their people operations manager and covers the company’s growth, diversity and culture. From Ellevation Education’s history and what they look for in candidates to some favorite perks and a few of the sub-groups that make their culture unique, she provides a comprehensive overview of the company in only 65 seconds.
People in HR naturally understand the ins and outs of a company’s culture, diversity and growth initiatives and they’re more likely to be comfortable talking about the subject in a compelling manner, so if you’re looking for someone to star in your culture video, consider starting with your HR team.
AlertMedia is a cloud-based platform that provides emergency communications and monitoring. This recruitment video comes courtesy of AlertMedia’s Director of Talent, who is promoting a recruitment event they will be hosting.
They posted a promotional video one week before the event to get people hyped, and followed it with another the day of as a reminder and to provide important details to help attendees prepare. Videos are typically seen as a major investment, but this one serves as an example of how to affordably implement the channel into your mix.
Bungie is a game development studio that has helped in the creation of several major games, including Halo. Unlike the other examples on this list, this video is a long-form documentary released to celebrate Bungie’s 20th anniversary. They gathered clips of video throughout the company’s history and interviewed current employees about the evolution of this wildly successful video game developer.
While this may not be the first thing you think of when you hear “recruitment video,” this sort of in-depth content is a recruiter’s dream. Learning about a company’s history from the people who built it with their own blood, sweat and tears provides insight into where it came from and where it’s going in a way no job description or career page ever could.
Fiverr is an e-commerce digital marketplace that offers creative and digital services in hundreds of freelance categories. The company satirized all those generic recruitment videos out there with this piece, appropriately titled “Another Generic Recruitment Video.”
The video pokes fun at many of the cliches we’ve come to expect from recruitment videos with a monotone voice-over and over-the-top caricatures before getting to its real point — convincing people that Fiverr is the place to be. This strategic use of comedy stands out from the crowd and positions Fiverr as a legitimately fun place to work.
Microsoft is the world-famous software company that we all know and love. This live Facebook video features a Q&A panel discussion with four employees answering questions and offering tips for prospective employees interested in starting a career with Microsoft.
Live video offers a sense of authenticity that pre-recorded videos just can’t match. There were a few hiccups at the very beginning of this video, but that’s OK — these are real employees answering real questions, not video producers. Taking the time to answer questions from real candidates is also a home run, as it lets you connect with passive candidates before they apply.
Vivid Seats is an e-commerce platform for selling and purchasing tickets to local events. We worked with them to produce this video targeted to prospective software engineer candidates. It positions Vivid Seats as an employer of choice for engineers, helping them stand out from the crowded field of companies recruiting this skill set.
Highly competitive candidates like software engineers have plenty of options, so creating a recruitment video with content specific to their field allows you to tailor your messaging and significantly increase relevancy.
Allwyn North America is the gaming company that serves as a full-service supplier, business partner and operator for the North American lotteries. The company aims to responsibly grow the lotteries’ revenue, returns and player base with intentional designs and marketing strategies.
The video shows different voices, both creatively and literally. The company focuses on the future and growth, both of which are outlooks that align with the mission of the lottery to grow winners' futures and make a positive effect on their lives. The global teams take innovation seriously, just as winners can innovate their lives after winning.
Strategies to decode, maintain and improve company culture.
