We’ve all been there: you get hired for a new job and get pumped up to go to orientation and begin your onboarding process, but the orientation isn’t engaging. If there are videos, they’re dull and outdated.
But boring onboarding and training videos don’t have to be the only option. Instead, employers can produce engaging, active, and inspirational onboarding videos that light a fire in new employees. It’s possible to make informational and instructional videos that also get your team excited to join your team.
Here at Slice, we love helping employees create fun and informative videos—and we want to share some of our best tips to help you make your video training materials more creative, interactive, and inspiring.
Why spend so much time on onboarding videos?
You might be asking what the point is of spending so much time and money on onboarding videos. Truthfully, these kinds of videos have a much more powerful impact than many employers realize. They set the tone of the workplace for new employees and get them up to speed on the basics, so a good video is critical for a good first impression.
Increase Employee Retention
Here’s an unfortunate statistic: On average, when an employee quits, it costs an employer 33% of their annual salary to replace them. If your employee lacks interest and engagement before they even truly start, they’re more likely to quit. One way to boost retention from the get-go is by engaging new employees right away.
It’s important to engage new hires while teaching them valuable and essential information about the company. Employees who are motivated by your training materials, who understand their place in the company, and what to expect may be much more likely to stay with you long-term.
Streamline the Onboarding Process
You could onboard with in-person lectures, but videos are a more efficient and effective way to get essential information across for a few different reasons:
- Planning and editing text for a video is much easier than memorizing a speech for an in-person presentation
- No need to train other employees or pull them away from their work in order to speak; your pre-recorded content does the job for you
- You can write a script and structure your information in any way that you like for more effective communication
- New hires will retain information better when paired with visuals, as opposed to voice or text alone
- Images, music, and editing give you an opportunity to create an uplifting and exciting presentation about your brand
How Videos Fit Into the Onboarding Process
The onboarding process can be long, but the right approach can save you time, energy, and money. But where do you start, and what kind of videos should you make? What are some ways you can make your content more engaging and relevant to where employees are during the onboarding funnel?
Let’s break down the onboarding process piece by piece so you can better understand how a video can fit into each step.
Step 1: The First Day
The first day sets the tone of your workplace and creates the first impression on new team members. Often, you’ll teach your new employees how to navigate technological systems, introduce them to your corporate structure, review rules and regulations, and set goals for their onboarding process.
The trouble comes from the fact that a new hire can only take in so much information on the first day. If you cram too much into this first-day video, it can turn them off and make them feel overwhelmed. A good first-day video should:
- Create a welcoming atmosphere and convey the values of your brand
- Have streamlined scripts and visuals to minimize distractions and extraneous information
- Demonstrate company culture and brand through tone and visuals
- Introduce relevant technology and systems (but save the step-by-step walkthroughs for a later time)
- Be general enough to show to all new hires regardless of role or department
Step 2: Deep Into Learning
The first month of a new job is all about learning the day-to-day responsibilities of a role, as well as how a department functions within the overall corporate structure. A video or series of videos during an employee’s first month can help with a smoother transition and cover a lot of frequently asked questions.
- Consider breaking up videos into smaller modules to help employees digest information easier
- Tailor videos by department and show employees how their department works with the rest of the company
- Use in-person activities or team exercises to help employees put their new learnings into practice
Step 3: Ongoing Engagement
Once your employee is no longer a “new hire,” you may think they’re done with video watching completely. However, you can continue to use corporate videos as part of an ongoing engagement and learning process.
- Consider making evergreen training videos that can be referenced at any point in an employee’s career (you may want to cover common topics like how to operate certain technology or handle interpersonal conflict)
- Release annual reports in video form to help better disseminate facts and figures about the company
- Encourage employees to film vlogs or hire a team to record company events in the spirit of celebrating company culture
- Film corporate mission video that outlines company values and gets everyone on the same page
There are tons of ways to incorporate videos into your onboarding process and beyond. Read our blog covering the different ways to make corporate videos engaging and useful.
Need help creating an effective training video?
Onboarding videos are a vital part of the hiring process. If you do it right, your employees can be better equipped to do their jobs thoroughly and correctly, as well as engage with the company culture at large.
If you’re interested in training or onboarding videos but don’t have the resources to do it yourself, we’re a full-service video production agency dedicated to helping companies bring their ideas to life.
If you need help creating onboarding videos for your company, contact our team at Slice today. We’ll help you create unique, high-quality training videos that your team will love.
