Most HR and learning and development teams know the importance of well-executed onboarding programs, including using new employee onboarding videos for team integration, skill learning, and more.

According to analysts at the Aberdeen Group, companies with a formal onboarding process using employee onboarding videos have an average employee retention rate of 86 percent — fully 30 points better than those without.

Today’s onboarding goes well beyond quick inductions. It now encompasses a dynamic process that begins before the new hire walks through the door and lasts for at least the first 90 days of their tenure. And employee onboarding videos can help.

New employee onboarding videos: what’s included?

Onboarding now may encompass a whole host of activities, from new skills training to communications on benefits packages, executive welcome messages, and informal team-building exercises. Whatever form the onboarding process takes, the goals are to bring the new hire up to speed as quickly as possible and kick-start integrating them into the wider team.

As it has across almost every aspect of corporate training and communications, technology plays a key role in improving onboarding activities for new hires. For a growing number of companies, a key component of that “e-onboarding” experience is video.

Employee onboarding videos offer several benefits, including:

• The ability for staff to consolidate new learning by allowing them to view back training materials on-demand
  The possibility for companies to onboard cost-effectively at scale by offering significant savings vs traditional classroom-based training.
• The opportunity to create more consistent messaging is particularly important when teams are spread out over disparate office locations and may onboard employees remotely.
• The ‘engagement factor’ is that video can capture nuances in staff culture and practices often lost in written documentation. This can be a crucial factor in helping a new hire get up to speed with how things are done at their new organization.

Of course, video can be used in many ways to improve on-site and remote onboarding. And creating your new employee onboarding videos is not as hard as expected. Panopto’s free video and screen recorder makes it as easy as clicking a link, choosing your recording inputs, and pressing record.

Try creating these five types of onboarding videos to welcome new employees.

5 Employee Onboarding Videos

1. The “Welcome to the Team”

Nothing sets the stage for staff engagement like feeling part of the team, even before a new hire starts. With video, it’s possible to reach out to a fresh recruit before they set foot in the office so that they feel right at home when they walk through the door.

The welcome video message could be from the company’s CEO, the new hire’s line manager, or even from key staff members they will be working with when they arrive. Whoever delivers the message, this type of outreach can alleviate first-day nerves and demonstrates the kind of inclusive, engaging, open corporate culture many employees seek in a company they envision staying with long-term.

2. The “Knowledge Handoff”

Many new hires don’t get a face-to-face handover with the person who previously did their job. This can drastically impact the amount of time it takes an incoming staff member to pick up key skills and understand the intricacies of various processes. Companies are starting to see video content as a way of bridging this gap, capturing important knowledge from the members of staff leaving for the new hire to refer to when they arrive.

3. The “Key Company Policies”

An important part of most induction processes is giving new starters an overview of critical company policies. Sometimes, this is done via face-to-face presentations and other times; it is done by giving new hires extensive documentation on the relevant processes and procedures.

With much of the information imparted being intricate and detailed, these delivery modes are far from ideal. Video content, however, can allow an experienced HR practitioner to outline a complex policy in layman’s terms and in an engaging format that can be watched back in the future if a new starter needs to refresh their memory.

4. The “Quick-Start Job Skills Training”

Of course, the part of the onboarding process that will have the greatest impact on how a new employee does their job is the training specifically tailored to their day-to-day activities. Video training helps mitigate against the kind of ‘information overload’ that often plagues onboarding procedures and gives new hires the best chance to effectively assimilate a large amount of learning on how to do their job in a short amount of time.

A video content management system like Panopto allows employees to add their own notes to a recording or create collaborative notes with other colleagues to get even more out of the recorded training. In addition to providing the option to play back on-demand, the system also allows employees to add their own notes to a recording or create collaborative notes with other colleagues.

5. The “Little Things Matter”

How often have you started at a new company only to realize that you’re not sure how to use the particular model of photocopier they have? Or are you not sure how to navigate around the building? Or do you not know where important documents are stored? Rather than expecting every new hire to ask how they place a stationary order or what the code is for the elevator, a series of short video tutorials on office basics can save everyone time.

Learn More About Employee Onboarding Videos

With the right video platform and onboarding program, employees learn more, feel more connected, and remain loyal longer — all at significant cost savings for the company.

Our white paper expands upon the benefits of video in your onboarding program. Download it for free today: 15 Ways to Enhance New Employee Onboarding with Video.