A growing number of training managers are becoming increasingly interested in incorporating video into their learning programs because of its benefits for bringing dispersed employees together, while driving effective communication within the organization.
These managers realize that providing their employees with effective training tools that include video can have a profound impact on their business. But, even though there is little doubt that people respond better to video, creating one for training can still be challenging. That’s why learning and development departments are constantly looking to develop content that is not only engaging, but also helping the trainee retain the information better.
Any training manager would tell you that they personally want to nurture each employee’s development and provide him or her with the tools necessary to succeed. But, that’s in a perfect world. These days, it is becoming increasingly difficult to provide the appropriate training due to limited training budgets and time.
But, that’s where video integration comes in.
There is a good reason companies such as Apple and SAS maintain employee quality — using video training in their employee development strategies. People just respond better to video. Educational research shows that 83 percent of human learning occurs visually, and combining pictures with an audio soundtrack can be quite compelling and effective. In fact, an effective training video not only engages its audience just as well as a television show or movie would, but, also arms employees with the training and knowledge needed to properly carry out day-to-day tasks. Additionally, an engaging video can do what a traditional training manual can’t – demonstrate complex concepts or processes.
Alex Salop, Director of Enterprise Product Marketing for BrainShark, said his company helps design programs that incorporate video into training.
“A one-minute video equals almost 1.8 million words in terms of retention,” said Salop, whose company creates platforms for how businesses create and share content. “Effective training videos incorporate subject matter experts, not just instructional designers.”
It is almost impossible for training managers to sit down with each employee, especially ones who are a part of a global workforce, for proper onboarding and knowledge transfer. This often results in a lack of connection between the company’s strategy and its employees — who are in most contact with customers and suppliers. Furthermore, this contact can be damaging to any organization’s success if not properly managed.
“Branding consistency is key, especially if there are regulatory implications,” Salop said. “Video integration in training ensures consistency across the board resulting in each employee receiving the same message and not straying from the organization’s standards and guidelines.”
Even the best trainers admit that incorrect information often slips through the training cracks, especially if an organization is dealing with a global workforce. Additionally, the message’s quality can vary from trainer to trainer. Incorporating video into training allows the company to control the message — content and delivery, no matter the location.
Lowering Training Costs
Even though video integration, especially high-quality ones, can be a tremendous expense for any company’s training budget, it is important to note the return on investment it delivers over a time period. Typically, training videos have a shelf life of about five years — an investment that has a long term pay off, since facets of it can always be reused over time.
Salop said that training videos also help with volume training.
“We were able to help save one client more than a $1 million by incorporating video to train their 1,000-person sales force,” he said. “We did so by interviewing subject matter experts [on camera], as opposed to sending them in the field to train the employees.”
Spreading the Word
Learners these days tend to use the tools provided just before they really have to. And, to meet this need, training managers are now looking for ways to provide asynchronous or student-centered learning.
Audrey Polce, a solutions consultant at BrainShark, works with L&D departments. She said that video integration helps with training since it can be delivered to an audience in several ways.
“You can send employees an email with a link to the video,” she said. “Most videos these days are mobile-enabled allowing viewers to watch them on their own time from any IOS device.”
Training videos continue to evolve with users accessing them in several different ways. Additionally, research shows that combining audio and video reinforces the content in several areas of the brain — increasing the likelihood of the material being stored in long-term memory. Learning managers are paying close attention to this developing ways to provide effective training tools that incorporate video into their programs.
Tips for Effectively Using Video
Taking your Message from Being Informative to Transformative
Do not rely on testimonials. Instead, gather footage of employees’ day-to-day activities. This helps the trainee gain a better understanding of the company and its expectations.
Involving Leadership in the Video
Globally dispersed employees often feel disconnected with leadership and struggle seeing the big picture. Try incorporating short interviews with leadership to add to the training. This not only allows you to translate strategic objectives to ground-level trainees, but also, shows the collaborative and unified spirit at your company.
Gone are the ways of over-produced videos with unrealistic scenarios, aspiring music, and bad graphics. Do not just narrate expectations. Sometimes, it is just better and effective to show visuals detailing a process instead of talking about it.