Because remote work is our new reality, companies now have virtual teams spread across the globe. The shift to working remotely has resulted in major changes to the way companies work, hire, and communicate. Tools like Slack have made it easier for coworkers to keep in touch with one another and collaborate, and being able to hire remote employees has widened the talent pool for companies, as they are no longer restricted to hiring people in certain locations or paying for them to relocate.
However, because many employees are no longer physically in an office, conducting onboarding and regular trainings can be a challenge. Fortunately, videos can be incredibly impactful for HR professionals, from walking employees through new software and other best practices to giving one-on-one feedback.
Here are a few key benefits of using video—including chat video and prerecorded content—in the training process.
Better Engagement and Retention
The average employee forgets 65% of the material covered in a typical training session within just 7 days. A well-presented, clear, and concise video can be a much more effective way of presenting information when compared with text- or tutorial-based training methods. In fact, viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video compared with 10% when reading it in text. More than 70% of consumers prefer to learn about a product or service by watching a video, and many people simply learn better when information is communicated in a visually stimulating way.
Versatility and Flexibility
Training videos can be used for every aspect of the onboarding process, including facilities tours, tutorials on the business, product/customer service overviews, and other company processes. Videos also provide new team members with enhanced flexibility in how they learn. Everyone has different ways of learning and taking in information, and with video, it’s easier for employees to learn in a way that works best for them.
Measurable Results
With traditional training methods like presentations, tutorials, and seminars, it can be difficult to decipher exactly how effective they’ve been. Many HR professionals don’t really know how well they’ve worked until their employees try (or don’t) to put into practice what they’ve learned (or haven’t). Videos make it easy to measure new employee engagement by providing details such as the number of views and how many people watch the videos from start to finish. These real-time metrics on engagement can give the company valuable feedback on the quality of the training materials.
Cost Savings
Traditional, instructor-based training methods are expensive, and these repeated costs can pile up over time. Videos, on the other hand, can be prerecorded and shared with employees as many times as needed without any additional cost. Employees can then watch the video on their own time in whatever location suits them best.
Improved Accessibility
Because viewers can learn at their own pace, videos are a great communication tool for people with disabilities and those in the neurodiverse community. Captioning opens the world of video content to the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, while text to speech (TTS) improves the accessibility of video content by reading on-screen text aloud, which can help people who need additional assistance hearing text that’s printed on screen. High-contrast colors can aid viewers with vision impairments, while using a sans serif font in size 12 or above makes reading easier for viewers with dyslexia. There’s even a font specifically designed to make reading easier for these viewers called Dyslexie.
There are numerous benefits to using video as a training tool. It’s excellent for breaking down complex information and delivering it in a way that’s simple and straightforward to digest. Using videos for training purposes can also help to deliver a more consistent all-around training experience because all team members will be watching the same video with the exact same content rather than having different instructors.
As a next step, HR professionals should identify the aspects of their training process that will benefit from the use of videos, as well as how they can present the appropriate information. I recommend always taking the time to research the best programs for your specific video calls and recording needs. The case in favor of using videos as part of the training process is clear, and many businesses around the world are already reaping the rewards of doing so. Good luck!
Rebecca Wikman is Head of Growth at Clipchamp, one of the first and only browser-first video creation, editing, and production platforms.