Remote Onboarding: Creating Engaging Training Videos For New Hires

Remote work is becoming the standard for many companies, and onboarding new employees often takes place online. In this format, the effectiveness of training directly depends on the quality of training materials, and video content plays a key role here. However, creating truly engaging and useful training videos requires a special approach. How can you make them not only informative, but also engaging? Let's take a closer look.

Why Video is the Best Onboarding Tool

According to a study, employees retain 75% of the information they receive through video, compared to 10% through text. In addition, Google searches for video tutorials have grown by 70% over the past few years, confirming the trend towards visual learning. 

Video not only conveys information quickly, but also makes the training process more visual and interactive. It reduces the workload of HR specialists, freeing up their time from monotonous briefings and giving them the opportunity to focus on individual support of new employees. 

However, it is important to understand that simply recording instructions is not enough. New employees need to feel engaged, and the video needs to be structured, understandable and interactive. For example, including animations, real-time demonstrations and explanations from experienced employees makes training much more effective.

Types of Videos For the Onboarding Process

1. HR professionals can use different types of videos during the remote onboarding process, each of which performs its own unique function and helps to ease the integration of a new employee.

   1. Welcome Videos From Management

   This video can be recorded by the CEO, department heads, or HR managers. It serves to create a first impression of the company and show its mission, values, and culture. A welcome video helps the new employee feel that he is important to the company and that he was expected. Such videos often use motivational elements, a story about the company's history, its achievements, and goals for the future.

   2. Company Overview and Its Structure

   This video introduces new employees to the general structure of the company, its departments, key functions, and managers. It can show office premises, main work areas, and also tell how the processes in the company are organized. This video format helps the new employee navigate the space and understand how different departments are connected.

   3. Training videos

   A series of training videos can be used to train employees on corporate processes and policies. These can include, for example, safety briefings, descriptions of standard operating procedures, and how to use internal systems and tools. Video tutorials help to clearly demonstrate actions, showing step-by-step how to perform tasks or use software.

   4. Video instructions for using internal systems

   Employees will need to master the use of various corporate systems, such as timekeeping, financial transactions, or reporting. Video instructions can clearly show how to use these systems, how to fill out forms, submit requests, or perform other important actions. This allows employees to quickly master the necessary tools, without the need for multiple consultations.

   5. Motivational videos

   Motivational videos can be used to inspire and increase the engagement of new employees, showing career prospects in the company, employee achievements, and significant projects. Such videos can inspire employees to achieve high results and demonstrate opportunities for growth and development within the company.

   By using these types of videos in the onboarding process, HR professionals can significantly improve the quality and effectiveness of new employee onboarding by making the learning process more dynamic, accessible, and personalized.

Basic Principles for Creating an Effective Training Video

1. The first step to creating a quality training video is a clear structure. Without a pre-thought-out script, the material can be chaotic and poorly perceived. The video should include a clear introduction, the main part with key information and examples, and a short conclusion with a summary. 

   The optimal length of a video varies from 3 to 7 minutes. Research shows that after 10 minutes, viewers' attention decreases significantly, so if the information is voluminous, it is better to break it up into several small episodes.

   To hold viewers' attention, it is necessary to use dynamic editing, animations, visual highlights of important elements, and examples from real practice. Another important aspect is good sound. If the audio quality is poor, even useful information can lose its value, as listeners will be distracted by extraneous noise or incomprehensible speech. Therefore, it is important to use a good microphone and record your voice in a quiet room.

How-to: How to Record Your Screen on a PC

1. Many training videos require a demonstration of processes on the screen, for example, explanations of how to work in a corporate software or CRM system. For this, you can learn how to take a video on PC by using screen recording programs such as Movavi Screen Recorder or OBS Studio. 

   The screen recording process includes several steps. First, you need to install the selected program and configure the recording settings. Then open the desired window or application, turn on recording, audio capture and, if necessary, a webcam. After completing the recording, the video can be edited by adding annotations, highlighting key points and deleting unnecessary fragments.

Mistakes You Should Avoid to Make Perfect Screen Recordings

a) Information overload
If a video contains too many complex terms or details, it is difficult to perceive. It is better to make the material concise and accessible.

b) Monotone presentation
If the speaker's voice is inexpressive and the video consists only of static slides, viewers will quickly get bored with it. It is important to alternate different formats of presentation of the material, use frame changes and variety in visual design.

c) Poor quality of sound and video
Low resolution, noise, unclear text – all this is distracting and interferes with the perception of information. To avoid such problems, it is necessary to test the equipment, lighting and recording settings in advance.

d) Other programs opened
Closing all other programs and tabs will improve your screen recording software's performance and reduce irritating messages.

Bottom Line

A well-produced training video boosts engagement, eases the load on HR, and accelerates employee adaptability. The training procedure is made comfortable and efficient by the use of a clear framework, interactive components, and excellent audio. Modern screen recording technologies make it simple to produce comprehensive video training that can assist new hires in becoming effective team members. Dry instructions are transformed into interesting and practical training through interaction, visual clues, and dynamic information delivery.

Author:

This article is written by Jason Rasmuson in close association with HR Cloud. HR Cloud is a leading provider of proven HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee communications & engagement, and rewards & recognition. Our user-friendly software increases employee productivity, delivers time and cost savings, and minimizes compliance risk.