As the job market becomes increasingly competitive, especially in the technology sector, salary is no longer the only factor that attracts talented professionals. Today’s candidates place greater value on workplace culture, opportunities for growth, mentorship, leadership, and the purpose a company pursues. As a result, employer branding has become a critical strategy for companies seeking to build a competitive advantage and achieve sustainable growth.
What is employer branding?
Employer branding is the image, reputation, and overall perception of a company from the perspective of both candidates and employees. In other words, it answers a simple but important question: “Why should a talented person choose to work here instead of somewhere else?”
An employer brand is not built solely through external marketing or recruitment campaigns. It is shaped by employees’ day-to-day experiences, the recruitment process, company culture, career development opportunities, and the consistency between what a company promises and what it actually delivers.
Why does employer branding matter?
A strong employer brand helps companies attract higher-quality candidates, reduce recruitment costs, shorten hiring cycles, and improve employee retention. More importantly, it creates the foundation for building an engaged, committed workforce that can grow with the company over the long term.
For startups, this challenge is even greater. Without a well-known brand, extensive resources, or the reputation of large corporations, startups often find themselves at a disadvantage in the competition for talent.
This is particularly true in the IT industry, which is undergoing rapid transformation driven by AI. While companies once competed primarily on compensation, candidates now prioritize learning opportunities, leadership, company culture, flexibility, and long-term career development. Employer branding has therefore evolved from a communication activity into a strategic business function.
How can companies build a strong employer brand?
The first step is to define how the company wants to be perceived by candidates. This could be as an innovative workplace, a company with a clear career development path, or an organization that values work-life balance and personal growth.
From there, the real work begins internally. Companies need to build a consistent culture, improve the employee experience, listen to feedback, standardize recruitment processes, and create opportunities for continuous learning and development. Once the internal foundation is strong, external communication through career websites, social media, and employee stories becomes far more authentic and persuasive.
Above all, employer branding requires consistency between words and actions. If a company promotes an open and transparent culture while employees experience the opposite, trust in the employer brand will quickly disappear.
VAON Vietnam’s employer branding journey
These principles may sound straightforward, but implementing them requires persistence and consistency. As an AI technology startup, VAON Vietnam faces many of the same challenges in attracting and retaining talented people.
We believe that employer branding cannot be created solely through attractive job posts or marketing campaigns. What matters most is building a workplace where employees genuinely want to stay and are proud to recommend to others.
That is why we chose to start from within.
Building a culture with clear values
The foundation of our culture is our core values: Heart – Mind – Progress.
These are not slogans; they are the principles that guide how we work, collaborate, and grow together.
- Heart – Sincerity & Integrity: We approach our work with honesty, kindness, and unwavering integrity.
- Mind – Product Thinking: Rather than simply completing tasks, we constantly ask, “What value does this feature create for the end user?”
- Progress – Innovation & Continuous Improvement: We continuously learn, experiment, and adopt new technologies to help customers build better, faster, and more cost-effective AI solutions.
These values are integrated into recruitment, onboarding, performance evaluation, and our daily operations, gradually shaping a shared culture across the company.
Creating a people-centered workplace
Culture alone is not enough. We are committed to creating an environment where every employee has the opportunity to grow.
Our compensation and benefits policies are designed around long-term development. We encourage continuous learning through training programs, professional certifications, access to AI tools, and opportunities to expand technical expertise.
We also provide support for remote employees, policies that better support women in the workplace, and a range of benefits designed to help our team build sustainable careers.
Strengthening connections through internal engagement
We believe that culture is built not only through work but also through meaningful human connections.
VAON regularly organizes knowledge-sharing sessions, internal meetups, sports activities, and team-building events that allow employees to learn from one another, exchange ideas, and build trust across teams.
These everyday experiences help create a workplace that is open, collaborative, and energized by a strong sense of teamwork.
Looking ahead
For VAON Vietnam, employer branding is not only about attracting talent; it is also about building trust with customers, partners, and the broader community.
When employees are given opportunities to grow, feel heard, and take pride in their workplace, they naturally become the company’s most authentic brand ambassadors.
We believe that investing in people is the foundation of sustainable growth, and that belief will continue to guide VAON as we build AI solutions that create real value for our customers.