How to Use Video Throughout the HR Lifecycle: Onboarding

Last week in our tour through the employee lifecycle, we discussed using video to recruit the best candidates. Video makes every step of the HR system easier. Now that we have our outstanding new employees, it’s time for onboarding. What can we do with video to make onboarding more effective?

Get everyone started off on the right foot with standardized information. Whether you’re starting off a new crop of employees together, hundreds at a time, or rushing in a single new face, video makes it easier to get everyone up to speed.

Tips on Using Video for Onboarding

– Record a welcome message from the CEO and get everyone started off right. Your CEO probably doesn’t have time to meet with every new employee, but a single recording can give your new employees a personal feeling of welcome.

– Break company information into digestible chunks and include it as a playlist. It’s easier for people to absorb than a three-hour lecture. It’s also a lot easier than dragging in your subject matter experts every time you have a newbie.

– Consider embedding a quiz or two, or other interactive elements, to make sure your
viewers don’t get lost daydreaming. Have individual departments also record department-specific onboarding materials.

– Every time you hire someone new, everyone in the department slows down as they
have to teach their new coworker. Eliminate the drain their time until their colleague gets up to speed.

– Make these videos easy to find so people can refer back to them. Often, the first
week or so on a new job is a blur of information overload. When people have access
to the recordings, especially if they can search within the video for spoken text, it’s
much easier for them to go back weeks or months later to find half-remembered
information. It’s also a lot less embarrassing than asking a coworker.

– Send these all to the new employees before they even arrive, so they walk in already
feeling like part of the team!

With these tips, video for onboarding becomes a powerful tool.

Next week: Enablement.