An employee onboarding video is an effective way to introduce new hires to a company’s culture and values. With the rise of remote work in recent years, companies have required creative solutions to welcome new employees.
Did you know the human brain processes up to 90% of information visually? That’s why we recommend producing onboarding videos for new employees. Onboarding videos help to set the tone for a positive and productive work environment.
In this article, we’ll discuss tips on how to make an engaging video to create the best employee onboarding experiences.
The Benefits of a New Hire Welcome Video
The benefits of a welcome video far outweigh the effort to produce it. A welcome video strengthens retention rates, improves understanding of company culture, increases employee satisfaction, and enhances employee engagement, to name a few! Let’s explore these benefits in more detail:
Strengthened Retention Rates
Studies show that around 20% of turnover occurs within the first 45 days of a new employee’s start date. Why is that? It’s likely due to the unpreparedness of the company. It’s critical to make new hires feel welcomed and set them up for success as soon as possible. Providing onboarding videos for new employees allows them to look back on training whenever needed during the first few weeks of their employment, which sets the standard for a more proactive and engaged team.
Improved Understanding of Company Culture
Remote work can create a barrier to a strong company culture, but it’s not impossible to overcome. An orientation video can quickly introduce new hires to key players in the company and effectively explain company-wide expectations. Although company culture is learned over time, an onboarding video can improve their understanding and build alignment right off the bat.
Increased Employee Satisfaction
Employees who feel valued are the ones who stay. When you take the time to thoroughly discuss company values, culture, and expectations, new hires feel cared for. You’ve made them a priority in your company, and it creates a positive digital employee onboarding experience.
Enhanced Employee Engagement
Interactive video experiences improve employee engagement within a company. Employee engagement ties into the emotional and mental commitment a person has to their company. While an employee can get the same job at a different company, the emotional connection is what will make them stay at yours.
Tips for Making an Engaging Employee Onboarding Video
While onboarding was predominantly an in-person process, in today’s environment of remote and hybrid workplaces, that’s no longer the best option.
Employee onboarding videos are now crucial when welcoming new employees, however there are a few important areas you’ll want to ensure your welcome video highlights. Let’s explore the keys to onboarding videos that are inspirational and impactful!
Showcase Company Culture
Company culture is often one of if not the core reason an employee has chosen to join your organization. Potential employees are even valuing company culture above compensation. When someone accepts their job offer, they may have a preliminary understanding of your culture, but an onboarding video should bring it to life. The fundamentals of this should include showing your:
- Values and ethics
- Emphasis on professional development and advancement within the company
- Respect for diversity, equity, and inclusion
- Teamwork and collaboration
- Company events and organizational personality
The goal is to set the stage for how your employee will interact with other team members, customers, and leadership.
Introduce Key Personnel
Upper-level management and key organizational leaders may not have time to sit down with every new employee. Including leadership features in your employee onboarding video gives new hires an introduction before working with them directly. But don’t just introduce them; encourage leaders to share their personal side, experience, and what it means to be part of your amazing organization.
Make it Interactive
A new hire welcome video should be entertaining just as much as it is educational! Find creative ways to make your video fun and interactive. Here are a few ideas:
- Add gamification like quizzes and polls
- Include a live Q&A or panel session
- Incorporate an “Ask Me Anything” section with questions taken from new hires ahead of time
Interactive videos make digital employee onboarding fun for the new hire and get them excited about what’s ahead.
Personalize the Content
You can create sections of the video that apply to many roles within the company, such as information on company culture and HR policies. But you’ll want to leave room for personalization as well. What does a new employee need to know within the first week of employment? They’re likely feeling a little overwhelmed and nervous to get started. Making their welcome video personalized, at minimum to their role or team, can go a long way in making them feel welcomed and important.
Incorporate Storytelling
Humans are storytellers by nature; emotionally driven stories bring videos to life! Stories help us understand others and the role we play in the narrative. The best employee onboarding videos incorporate storytelling that puts your new employees at the center.
The Best Employee Onboarding Experiences Reimagined
Although the move to a remote workspace made new hire onboarding challenging, many companies are now thriving. Organizations have the opportunity to create digital employee onboarding experiences that are even better than anything they could do in person. With an employee onboarding video, you can more effectively assimilate new employees into your culture and team.
However, the feat of video production is not so simple for many companies. With one-third of HR professionals reporting that creating video takes too long, organizations need a more efficient way to elevate their onboarding experiences without taking too much time away from their daily tasks.
What your organization needs is to reimagine its experiences, and we know just the partner for the job. If your organization is ready to enhance their welcome process with onboarding videos for new employees, schedule a free 30-minute discovery call with us today. We’ll show you how we’ve created hundreds of videos for organizations that engage, entertain, and educate audiences of all types and sizes.
