Visual Learning: Benefits and Best Practices of Employee Training Videos
Video content is more than a marketing tool that your business can take advantage of. 29% of businesses use video for administration and operations messages, and 27% for human resources messages.
Businesses that take advantage of video content know the benefits of creating employee training videos. If your company still uses outdated training methods, it's time to switch gears.
Keep reading to learn the benefits and best practices of employee training videos.
Benefits of Employee Training Videos
Visual learning is popular for a lot of reasons. With employee training videos, your business can reap these benefits:
Information Retention
Traditional training courses require employees to devote a lot of time to reading essential materials. Video-based training can help with increased comprehension and information retention.
By reducing the cognitive load on employees, they can easily digest important information. Summing up large amounts of data in employee training videos takes less time to process.
Studies have shown that visual learning improves retention rates. It immerses users in the training, which makes a lasting impact.
Employee Engagement
Employees complete training courses because they are required to. This doesn't mean they are engaged during the process.
To make training entertaining and engaging, consider professional training videos for employees. Videos are engaging because of their use of:
Interactive elements
Videos
Images
Music
Animation
With a video, you'll hold your employees' attention longer than a text presentation would.
Flexibility
Flexibility is a huge priority in the corporate world. Training should not negatively impact employees or the business. Video is a flexible medium because it can be accessed anywhere with an internet connection.
Employees who can train on demand with access to easily digestible content can start their jobs sooner rather than later. Videos should only last so long to keep your employees' attention.
Videos are also flexible in their own right. They can be customizable to adapt to learning styles and content. Depending on how your employees prefer to learn, videos can gravitate toward these styles:
Immersive
Auditory
Visual
Mixed stimuli might be helpful to connect to multiple employees without making new videos every time.
Employee Satisfaction
In addition to employee onboarding, corporate training videos can help with professional development. This is becoming more important to employees wanting to grow your business.
An effective training program is often the determining factor in employee retention. Make your videos engaging and helpful so employees can see a visual impact on their careers.
Video-based learning allows employees to learn new skills quickly. With this learning technique, you can also improve employee productivity levels.
Interaction
A corporate videographer can help you create interactive training videos. Some argue that videos are passive and not a great way to learn. Interactivity is an undeniable benefit of corporate training video programs.
In addition to visual information, include interactive elements to keep employees engaged. Polls, surveys, and quizzes are popular elements, but you can get creative with your choices.
These elements serve multiple purposes in addition to keeping employees engaged. Employees will be able to extract important video information, and businesses can benefit from the data that the video course provides.
Cost-Effectiveness
Using video eliminates many of the costs associated with traditional training methods. Hiring instructors, printing materials, and leasing spaces to hold training programs can be expensive.
By hiring a professional video production company, you'll endure a one-time cost until you need new training videos. Professional-looking videos are budget-friendly with the right production crew.
Scalability
Training programs need to grow with your business to accommodate the different needs and a growing number of employees.
Once you invest in video production and a video-sharing platform, it's easy to train more employees. Training hundreds of people will be the same as teaching a handful because the learning material is in one place.
Traditional learning materials need to be designed and revamped from scratch. With videos, it's easy to go back and add important materials or take out outdated content.
If you choose to go international with your business, you can dub your video in different languages to accommodate employees worldwide.
Remote Interaction
Remote, hybrid, and in-house employees receive the same training through videos. Videos can be used anywhere at any time, so seasoned employees don't have to train newer ones.
Videos are available to employees whenever they have time to review the training materials. You can provide them with access to your video-sharing platform or upload videos to your website for easy access.
Employee Training Video Best Practices
Employee training videos are advantageous when they are done right. It's essential to follow these best practices to reap the above benefits:
Keep It Concise
To keep employees engaged, you must find the balance between keeping your content concise and not forfeiting important information.
People deal with countless distractions daily, especially if they are watching training videos from home. A long video is unlikely to hold their attention.
Short attention spans can handle videos up to six minutes long. Your video can be up to 30 minutes because it is a corporate tool. Use breakpoints in the videos, like the interactive elements we discussed, to keep employees’ attention.
If your video is expected to go over 30 minutes to include all the important details, consider making a series instead of one long video.
Find a Key Subject
Creating training material is important because it dictates what your employees know. Don't cram as much information into your video as possible because it can cause confusion and disengagement.
The best practice for video development is to find and stick to a key subject. Don't make redundant explanations, and avoid listing facts that aren't relevant to the learning process.
By focusing on one subject at a time, you can achieve clarity and increase employee engagement with your training videos.
Add Voiceovers and Captions
Your training video program should be accessible and inclusive to anyone you may hire. Adding voiceovers and captions to your videos can make this happen.
Voiceovers and captions describing the video's actions can help trainees avoid misunderstandings.
Additional aids are helpful for employees with visual or auditory disabilities and non-native speakers. They may also help employees who have different learning styles.
Captions can also highlight significant topics as the video goes on. Viewers will have an easier time memorizing important messages when audio is attached to video captions.
Consider Video Quality
Some businesses neglect the quality of their training videos because they don't think it matters as much as the information. The truth is that training video quality is just as important as the content within.
At the end of the day, videos are visual mediums. Be careful about the video quality and resolution so your content is presented with care.
Videos with clear sound and high resolution are necessary for the learning experience. Employees will be able to easily absorb information when the video quality is high.
Hiring a video production company is the best way to get the best sound and picture. These companies have access to well-lit shooting environments and know how to manipulate the sound.
Add Simple Animations
Animation can help your employees stay interested and attracted to the information they need to learn. Video development teams utilize simple and colorful graphics to help employees comprehend the message.
Simple graphics are effective and cheaper to produce. Using visuals is encouraged, but be careful not to go overboard with the effects. Too many visuals can distract trainees from important information.
Simple animations are easy to read and digest, so you don't have to worry about overwhelming trainees.
When you add graphics and animations, make sure they are in the video long enough to impact the viewer. Employees shouldn't have to pause the video to be able to digest the information.
Write a Script
Developing an effective training video is easier when you are following a script. A proper script means you won't have to worry about missing critical points the audience needs to hear.
Even if your video simply explains a process, a script will help you stay organized throughout filming. If a production company charges by the hour, you'll be glad you have a script. It can save you money and help avoid miscommunication.
Additionally, consider making a list of the tools and props you need so you don't forget to have them when filming.
Let Us Help You With Employee Training Videos
Visual learning is an effective tool that you can use for corporate training. Employee training videos provide many benefits when constructed using this guide's best practices.
At Nyhuis Creative, we've been creating quality videos for Tacoma clients since 2018. Our team of experts can handle training videos and other video production tasks that your business might need.
We'll make your training videos informative and entertaining. With professional video production, you'll have content that can last you for years to come.
Start engaging your team through video. Book a meeting with us today to develop a plan.
