Most of our blog posts to this point have focused on how to use video to engage with your customers and those outside of your business. However, video is also a fantastic way to interact with your employees, especially those who are new to your company!
Think back to when you started a new job. How did you feel? Were you nervous, maybe even a little scared? While landing a new job is exciting, it is often combined with those feelings of nervousness about the new journey that’s ahead. Videos in the onboarding process are a perfect way to engage with your new employees and to provide them with the tools they will need to be successful in their new role as well as ease any fears they may have.
Wondering why you should use video as part of the onboarding process? Here are four reasons from the eLearning Industry.
Videos are a great way to keep new employees engaged in the learning and onboarding process. This engagement helps them adjust to their new role within your company while retaining information. Videos are able to create long-term memories for job duties and provide a connection with your brand that other, more traditional, methods cannot obtain.
3. Videos quicken the onboarding process.
Beyond engagement, videos are able to speed up the onboarding process. How does this help? When employees become more comfortable and confident in their new jobs at a quicker pace, it reduces the time and resources needed for training. This is especially true when there’s a lot of information for the employee to take in. It is an employer’s responsibility to effectively help employees confidently maneuver into their jobs so they can branch out and start developing themselves within their career and your company, and a standard video can ensure the trainer doesn’t miss any critical points.
4. Videos are cost effective.
Hiring and training new employees is one of the most expensive processes a business goes through. Videos with onboarding is not only cost-effective, but will provide a better return on investment (ROI) for an organization. Effective onboarding videos give employees the information they need and have the ability to motivate them to produce results that will allow them to succeed in their position within your business.
Make sure your onboarding process is a memorable experience that creates excitement for new employees by letting them see more than words in a handbook. Videos are a great way to introduce them to different departments, people and activities within your company that they may not know of otherwise. Thankfully, you’re not limited to just one type of onboarding video; here are four you can take advantage of from Allen Communication.
1. Identify onboarding activities for all new employees. Before you can start using videos for onboarding, you need to know what actions are required to help your new employees begin their roles successfully. Once you have that information, you can strategize which types of videos will work best to reach your onboarding goals and which activities will need a different approach.
2. Create a schedule. The first 90 days are important for new employee success and to keep turnover low. It’s important to remember to remain flexible so employees can fit their onboarding activities within their new responsibilities. Depending on how heavy of an onboarding program you have, try to space out videos over a period of time so you don’t overwhelm new employees. It can also be helpful to allow your team to have access to the onboarding videos beyond the scheduled times so they can review the videos on their own.
3. Determine the video activities and schedule for individual groups. While creating videos for all new employees is extremely helpful, creating specific videos for different roles, departments or locations within your company can have an extremely powerful effect on the onboarding process. It allows you to provide new employees with the specific tools they need to be successful in their new roles.
5. Consistency is key. Once you have a plan finalized, it’s important to stick to it. You won’t see any real results if you don’t show every new employee the onboarding videos, or if you let them view only one of the videos they are supposed to watch.
6. Monitor video activity. This often-overlooked step is just as important as the videos themselves. Over time, if you’re consistent with your plan, you will start seeing how well your onboarding videos are working. On the other side, if the videos are not resonating with new employees, you’ll be able to notice that too. Some key areas to monitor are the retention rates, new employee engagement and performance.
In addition to sharing your brand with new customers, videos are a fantastic chance to get your employees up to speed and start them off on the right foot. Onboarding videos are cost-effective, increase employee engagement and retention, and tell your company’s story in a way that manuals can’t. With the help of the steps above, you’ll be able to create a video that helps your employees reach their fullest potential as quickly as possible.
Ready to take the dive with onboarding videos, but need a little help? Tabrizi Productions has extensive experience with creating custom pieces that highlight what makes your business unique. Contact us today to learn how we can put your new team members at ease with an onboarding video!