Why video is the key to boosting employee engagement

Employee engagement is a fundamental concept in the modern workplace and while it can be a grind to engage employees, it is necessary for the health of any business. As younger generations come into the workforce, the way companies communicate with employees needs to evolve to meet their needs. The traditional way of internal memos, handbooks, and emails are not necessarily the best ways to communicate and engage with this new generation of employees. Skimmed over or outright ignored, messages get lost, impacting employee productivity and satisfaction, and ultimately, retention.

So how do you communicate effectively in a world where employee experience and engagement is imperative? Video. At its core, video provides a clear way for organisations and HR professionals to better inform, engage, train, and onboard employees.

One of the key benefits of video is that it connects brands and businesses to their audiences in a more meaningful manner across multiple platforms or locations. For HR professionals serious about supporting employee engagement and retention, video should be leveraged as a core part of HR’s strategy from the get-go.

Employee Onboarding
Twenty percent of staff turnover occurs within the first 45 days of employment, so creating an engaging and informative onboarding experience is crucial.

When welcoming new hires, video is a secret weapon to help reduce onboarding time and cost. Learning about a company’s mission, value proposition, policies, products, and services through video ensures new hires can get up to speed more quickly and effectively. Why? Because people pay close attention when consuming video compared to other mediums; especially long-form business content.

Onboarding is also about building connections. Providing content such as welcome videos as part of the onboarding experience enables new hires to virtually meet other team members if they can’t be in the same location. So opportunities to connect and engage employees, especially at the beginning of their time with an organisation, need to be maximised. After all, a business's internal brand is just as important as the external brand, and building an internal brand starts with employees.

Employee Education
Arranging training sessions with multiple employees across different locations and time zones can be a logistical nightmare. But with video, it can significantly simplify the process, especially when offering on-demand training.

Shifting a portion of training to on-demand video allows employees to manage their own learning and development at a pace that suits them while also consuming the same content as their colleagues. This type of autonomous learning enables employees to search for what they need, when they need it, facilitating higher levels of employee participation in training programs.

For example, American fast food chain Wendy’s uses video as a major component of its internal communications and training programs strategies. Wendy’s created its own video led intranet portal, powered by Brightcove, to more easily connect with employees — sharing news, updates, and vital corporate information through the portal.

Wendy’s also live streams director or employee meetings, general conventions, as well as annual investor days in order to deliver off-site viewers real-time information and footage.

Video also revolutionises internal communications at McDonald’s Japan. The empire of fast-food restaurants experienced challenges with their training program - printed training information in paper booklets was no longer scalable. The solution was to deploy training videos so every team of their multi-lingual employee base has the most current and up-to-date information readily available. In addition, McDonald’s Japan also shares CEO updates and team-building communications via video. As a whole, this accelerated the delivery of messaging and training and transformed the organisation’s internal communications through video.

Employee Engagement
A consistent stream of communication from the company to employees ensures there are multiple touchpoints, increasing the likelihood employees are digesting the messages sent. While it is not the easiest task to consistently engage employees, employers are shifting their strategies to include more video. Recent articles point to the success of video in the workplace. For example, almost half of employees (49%) find internal company meetings to be the most valuable use case for live-streamed video. As video continues to be a mainstay in daily life outside of work, it only makes sense that it should be looked to as the solution to keep employees engaged long-term.

One of the goals for any HR organisation is to keep employee productivity and satisfaction high in order to retain employees long term; video needs to play a vital role to help inform, engage, and inspire staff, which ultimately fosters deeper connections. This is particularly important as engaged employees are more likely to stay with their employers.

Regardless of the size of the business, there’s a place for video. Deloitte is a prime example of an enterprise embracing a video-first internal communication strategy to directly connect with and humanise its global brand across its many employees world-wide. The business has created an internal video portal where employees and executives are able to connect on a more personal level. Its videos of casual conversations between hosts and Deloitte management give employees a sneak peek into the everyday personalities of their leadership staff.

Making a Difference
Video has emerged as a crucial way for organisations to engage with employees. In fact, smart companies are the ones that have recognised that video is an incredibly impactful way to differentiate themselves from competitors both externally as well as within their business.

Looking to build a case for video communications? Check out this guide on how to build a strong case for video across the organisation without breaking your budget.

Jason Rau is a Video Specialist at Brightcove