From Hero to Hero: The Brand needs good Employee Videos

We all have them, the office companions, the workday sweeteners, the rocks in the surf, the rank and file buddies, the heart companions. These colleagues with whom it just clicked immediately. And regardless of whether you’re still working together today or your time together (at work) was years ago – you’ll never forget the work bestie(s).

But did you know that relationships at work are actually the most important factor for well-being at work among employees today? Oh yes, according to the latest survey, it is not a satisfactory salary (3rd place) or the highly praised flexibility (6th place) that are decisive for satisfaction, but good relationships with colleagues.

It’s only logical that employers in the tough war for talent should not (only) focus on a glittering career page full of shimmering benefits, but rather put the spotlight on the real heroes who cultivate values and corporate culture in their daily interactions. After all, who better to convince potential talent than your work besties of tomorrow?

Employee videos are the magic word and I’ve brought you a few particularly nice ones today. Shut up and action!

Of course, it wouldn’t be a story if a few team members were simply planted in front of a camera to rave about the company in the brightest colors, would it? The short answer is no, but nevertheless the entertaining example of SAP expert T.Con with her bastardization of this format shows in passing what is important in good employee videos:

Stay authentic: Employee Videos fill empty Words with Meaning

Every value, no matter how emotional, every cutting-edge benefit, the most beautiful mission and the greatest vision are primarily one thing in the first step: empty words. Until someone comes along and fills them with evidence and meaning. Potential applicants want to know exactly what it’s like to work together on a day-to-day basis, what types of people you’re likely to meet in the office corridors and what kind of atmosphere prevails at work. It is always about an authentic insight.

At first glance, the colleagues from the Berlin office don’t seem to have anything important to say, and yet they also convey a whole range of values and benefits that make working at App-Schmiede so special. There is a modern office in the heart of the city, everything is colorful, cozy, hip. The international and diverse team obviously has a lot of fun together, having lunch together, drinking champagne, good coffee and laughing and laughing and laughing.

At the same time, the work at Clue seems to be very needs-oriented. Whoever has their period stays at home – in keeping with the company’s mission, which is shown in passing. If you have a bad back, you don’t have to sit on uncomfortable office chairs day in, day out. If you are lactose intolerant, you can of course also have oat milk. These are all seemingly minor details, but for potential applicants they convey a world of difference in terms of attitude and atmosphere.

Especially for jobs in IT, for example, which can be found in almost all companies nowadays, these insights are sometimes decisive when choosing a potential dream job. Stiff, memorized praise of Clue as an employer is completely absent – but there are numerous office dogs as a bonus in the employee video. Game, set and match!

A hero like me! Employee Videos create Identification Potential

Once you have won over a small but excellent group of great employees, there is a good chance that people of a similar caliber will be a good addition to the team. People with a similar background, a similar career, who might also be interested in a similar position, are sure to listen when their peers tell them.

BSR (which, by the way, has built up a great employer brand overall) provides a wonderful example with the employee video by Berlin veteran Sabine Splawski. She talks about her career in her best Berlin style. What is unusual about this is that although she has been with the company for many years now, she did not join directly at a young age, but ended up there on the second career path. “I’m not the youngest model anymore,” she says with a laugh and then tells us how she started out as an on-demand driver, got her 2-seater driver’s license again at the age of 50 and now drives group vehicles.

Apart from the fact that she is a great example of how employees can praise their employer in an authentic way, her extraordinary story offers a lot of identification potential for other talents. Namely, those who may no longer be the latest model, but who are still really good at what they do – an enormously important target group in an ageing society!

Shirt and Tie or Full-Body Tattoo? Employee Videos show Character

Every job and every employer is different. And what is super attractive for one potential applicant may be off-putting for the next. This makes it all the more important to approach exactly those candidates who fit the culture. After all, what’s the point of hiring great employees who ultimately don’t get on with the atmosphere or the approach in the company?

Employee videos therefore always offer the opportunity to give potential new colleagues a little taste of the wind blowing through the company. A taster, so to speak.

Another Berlin company stands out here (are the people of the capital perhaps just particularly cool?): The BVG! In this example, which admittedly is not a classic employee story, we see BVG employees away from their day-to-day work. They read nasty tweets about their employer with traditional subway station tiles behind them.

Not only do we see a whole range of people from different areas of the company, we also get to know a few character traits that future team members should obviously have: things are relaxed here, perhaps a little ironic, you should be able to laugh at yourself from time to time and the ability to take criticism seems to be a fixed recruitment criterion. If you can tick these boxes for yourself, the sight of the colorful group in the employee video will certainly make you want to apply.

What, you can do that with you too? Employee Videos put unknown Jobs on the Radar

In addition to the hurdle of getting on the radar of potential employees, employee videos can also help to publicize job profiles that the target group has either not heard of or has not previously associated with the company. Were you aware, for example, that the drugstore chain dm also has its own IT department or that you can also become a bus driver at Deutsche Bahn?

No? Then it’s high time to get to know my absolute favorite among the employees portrayed. Curtain up for Ottmar – bus driver for Deutsche Bahn! The spot isn’t new at all, but a blog post about employee videos wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t include it.

A little more polished than the predecessors in this list, but no less likeable, Ottmar drives his red bus through rural areas somewhere in Germany. As he waves to the deputy mayor as he drives past, he talks unobtrusively about the advantages of being at the wheel of the train. Time for private life, a lot of responsibility, but also a lot of freedom as “boss on the bus”, contact with the (mostly) good-humored people in the area – also absolutely feasible as a career changer, by the way, even if you don’t yet have a bus license.

And if you haven’t fallen in love with Ottmar and his job as a rail bus driver yet, he has a special anecdote for you, because he even met his wife on the bus! Can it get any more enchanting?

And what stories lie dormant in your team? Why don’t you do a storylistening or corporate campfire and find out! Then you, too, will soon be telling your stories to new talent with such wonderful employee videos.

Ps: Psst, you’re still unsure how you can bring more storytelling into your employer branding in general? We also give introductory workshops 😉