Looking to communicate about job openings and about your culture at the same time? Then YouTube, which boasts more than 1 billion unique users each month, may be the way to find those engaged employees. On YouTube, an employer can post videos describing what the organization is, preferably from the eyes of actual employees.
Think about it: If a picture is worth a thousand words, and a three-minute video contains thousands of pictures… well, you do the math.
YouTube is unique in that it's a branding, communication, alignment, and entertainment tool, all wrapped in one. The days of CEOs sending out boring mass e-mails to communicate company messages are gone. (Well, CEOs may still do that, but the results won't be thrilling.)
These days, enlightened CEOs send quick company updates via video to the masses via YouTube. This allows leaders to quickly and inexpensively broadcast their messages to a large population, both inside and outside the company. (This assumes the information in the video isn't confidential. If it is, the video should probably live on your company's internal server instead of on YouTube.)
YouTube is also a great way to communicate your EVP (employment value proposition), which can boost your recruitment efforts. Videos are a great way to show your company culture to potential employees (while at the same time enabling you to convey your brand to potential customers).
As an added bonus, YouTube videos often go viral because they can be easily shared by employees or others via e-mail or social media sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. This can increase your reach considerably.
You don't need to spend a fortune to produce YouTube videos. In fact, a YouTube video, “Who's Sinking Your Boat,” was done by a wonderfully talented intern from a local college, which received thousands of views in its first few weeks.
And if you're producing a video for internal use only, your employees might even prefer an “amateur”-style video over one that's professionally produced. Often, these videos are shot with nothing more than a smartphone, by employees themselves.
To engage your employees, seek volunteers to help with their production. You'll find that Millennials in particular will enjoy taking ownership of the creation of these videos. You can even make a contest out of it, with a prize for the employee who submits the best, most entertaining video.
Of course, if you're producing a YouTube video for external use, partnering with a professional can help you create a terrific promotional and recruitment tool. For an example of a terrific recruitment video for Twitter, view At Twitter, the Future is You.