Experts predict that by 2025,approximately 36.2 million Americans will be working remotely. With fewer employees gathering within physical workspaces, employers must revisit their training practices. Specifically, many employees are turning to video as a means of training remote, in-person, and even hybrid employees more effectively. So, what are some of the benefits of video training, and how can your company start using it successfully?

What is an Employee Training Video?

Employee training videos can come in many forms, but essentially, this type of training refers to a method of teaching employees new knowledge or skills directly through the use of video. These videos may distribute information about how to carry out specific job duties or provide more general and widespread knowledge about company policies. Many employers use video as part of their onboarding and training for new employees.

Why Use Video Training?

There are many benefits to using video training for employees (and we’ll go into detail about those benefits shortly). However, the main thing to keep in mind is that video is the preferred way to learn new things these days. In fact, according to a Pew Research Center study,87% of people already turn to sites like YouTube to learn new things. Integrating video training into the workplace can make training much more accessible—especially for remote workers.

Types of Videos for Employees

There are many different types of videos that can be used for training purposes. Explore a handful of the most common types below and consider which may be helpful in your own company training.

Instructor-Led Videos

This is a type of live video where an instructor provides a training lecture to a virtual audience of employees. Instructor-led videos perhaps best mimic the “traditional” training experience many employees may already be used to. However, because they are held live, they may not be practical for scheduling purposes.

Screen Capture Videos

Screen capture videos are great for demonstrating how to use new software or carry out other processes on a computer or device. Specifically, this type of video records the screen of the instructor while the instructor narrates the process. These videos can be pre-recorded or carried out in real-time and are great for hands-on learning.

How-to Videos

This type of video has become extremely popular not just among employers but on sites like YouTube as well. With a how-to video, an instructor walks employees through a particular task in a step-by-step process. This is a great way to demonstrate how to use a new product or carry out other tasks for employees. Because many people learn by seeing things explained directly to them, this is an excellent option for training.

Animated Videos

When it comes to explaining more complex processes or ideas, putting together an animated video with plenty of visuals may be the best option. This type of video is designed to leave a lasting impact with excellent engagement, from graphics and tables to icons and text. However, creating an animated video requires some technical skill, so it may be more challenging to develop than other video types.

Interactive Videos

From an engagement perspective, interactive training videos are among the most effective out there. Specifically, these videos allow each individual employee to answer questions and make decisions along the way, with each decision affecting what happens next. This is a great way to keep employees engaged and see first-hand how different actions can play out. Like animated videos, however, they can be a bit time-consuming and challenging to put together.

Employee-Made Videos

Many employers have found success in asking employees to create their own videos on specific topics. This can be a great way to get a feel for where employee knowledge stands on any given subject while also gaining accessible training materials that can be useful for newer employees. These employee-made videos can take the form of a how-to demonstration, a screen-capture video, an animation, or just about any other type imaginable.

The Importance and Benefits of Video Training in Companies

If you’re still on the fence about using video in your new employee training, consider some of these top benefits of video training.

It Simplifies Complex Concepts

Video is an accessible way to learn complex concepts and to tailor training to different learning styles. A well-crafted training video can make difficult concepts much easier to understand while allowing employees to pause and replay parts of the video as needed to improve comprehension. And when you consider that about 65% of people are defined as “visual learners,” it makes sense that video is generally well-received.

It is More Engaging

Compared to many other forms of training, video training tends to be much more engaging for employees. This is especially true when a training video is thoughtfully created with the target audience in mind. And of course, there are many ways to increase engagement when creating an employee training video. This includes making the video interactive, creating assessments at the end of the video, and using editing effects to capture viewers’ attention.

It Makes Sense in Remote and Hybrid Work Models

These days, more people are working remotely than ever before. Meanwhile, hybrid work models are also becoming increasingly popular. With this in mind, video training simply makes sense. Rather than trying to coordinate times for workers to come into the office for training, video allows employees to complete essential training on their own time and schedule. Allowing employees to decide when to complete their training can also improve morale and boost the recall of information.

Sessions Can Be Easily Revisited

With an in-person training session, employees receive the information once and are expected to understand it and remember it from that point on. In reality,up to 67% of new information is forgotten within 24 hours of its presentation. With video training, however, employees will have the ability to go back and revisit parts of the video (or the entire video, as needed) to recall information and strengthen their overall training. This can help to boost overall comprehension and improve the effectiveness of the training itself.

Performance is Easiest to Assess

Video also makes it easy to assess employee understanding and engagement. For example, some video training platforms allow you to track vital analytics to get a better feel for how much time each employee spent on the training and how much they engaged with each video. Meanwhile, employers can also assess performance by incorporating post-video assessments or even in-video engagement to hold employees’ attention. Training sessions can be tweaked as needed based on each video’s engagement analytics to improve engagement and outcomes.

It Supports Just-in-Time Learning and Microlearning

“Just-in-time learning” refers to the idea that training is most effective when it can be delivered precisely at the time the information is needed. This is why YouTube instructional videos are so effective, as users can quickly search for and find the help they need to complete any given task. Successful video training takes the same approach by making training videos easily accessible when workers need them most.

Guide to Making Effective Training Videos

Ready to incorporate video into your company’s training program? Follow these steps to get started.

Set Goals and Objectives Ahead of Time

Begin by sitting down with your training team, Human Resources team, and any other invested parties to determine what the goals of your video(s) will be. Do you want to teach employees how to use new software? Are you looking to provide basic training to new employees? Narrowing down your audience and then choosing specific goals and outcomes will set your brainstorming in the right direction. Plus, selecting measurable goals will make it easy for you to determine the success of your video after training is completed.

Decide on a Video Type

Next, you’ll need to decide on a specific type of video to accomplish your goals. For example, a screen-capture video may be most effective if you’re providing training on a new software program. Walking employees through a new product that your company will be offering? An introductory how-to video may do the trick.

Create a Detailed Script and Storyboard

Next, it’s time to get into the fun part: writing a script and storyboarding the video itself. Having an actual script to follow is typically better than “winging it,” even if you feel confident that you know the material well. When writing a script, however, try to keep it as casual and conversational as possible. Short and to-the-point content tends to be more effective in video training, anyway.

Record and Edit With Care

Once you have your script and storyboard created, you’ll be ready to record your video with the right equipment. Cell phones have come a long way in their video quality over the years—but if you’re going to record with a cell phone, be sure to at least invest in a tripod to improve your production value.

Editing your video is typically the most time-consuming part of the process, so be sure to set aside plenty of time to get the job done right. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the editing process, consider using a video merger to help you out. Online video editors often have templates and other features to make your video look more professional and well-designed.

Decide How to Distribute

Once your training video is complete, you’ll need to decide how to get them to your employees. Many companies choose to upload their videos to a dedicated hosting platform for secure storage and easy retrieval.

Tips and Tricks

Here are a few more practical tips to keep in mind as you create training videos for your employees.

Add Captions

Improve the accessibility of your videos by adding captions. There are plenty of platforms that will automatically caption your videos for you, so take advantage. Captions are ideal not just for employees who may be hard of hearing but for employees who may be viewing training videos in places where they cannot have the sound on.

Analyze Performance

Even after your videos are distributed, it’s crucial to assess their overall success with detailed metrics and reports. Be sure to review the goals and outcomes you set at the beginning of the process and consider how well your training video meets those goals. From there, don’t be afraid to make changes as needed.

Choose the Right Video Host

Selecting the right platform on which to upload and host your videos may not seem like a huge deal, but it really does matter. Not all video hosting platforms are created equal, so there are some specific features to look for. Consider choosing a video host like wave.video that includes easy-to-use editing features and automatic captioning. An online video creator with access to stock images and video can also save you a lot of time when it comes to creating your own content.

Likewise, don’t overlook the importance of secure and stable hosting for your training videos. The last thing you need is for your employees to be unable to access the videos they need to do their jobs. A video hosting platform with secure and reliable servers will give you the peace of mind that you need.

The Bottom Line on Employee Training Videos

As you can see, using video to provide employees with proper training can be highly effective. Not only can video improve engagement and recall of information, but it tends to be more convenient for everybody involved. It can be reused, stored for a long time, and edited once it becomes outdated.  Of course, putting together training videos will require time and resources, but the payoff can be huge if you’re willing to do the work. And of course, once you have completed training videos, you can add them to your company’s resource library to use repeatedly.

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