Everything You Wanted to Know About Video Training

Using video-based training is hardly a new approach to learning and development these days. Companies have been using professional training videos since the 90s. Today, companies like Lynda provide video training modules to millions of employees.

But taking a modern, proactive approach to corporate video training takes more than handing employees a Lynda subscription and setting them loose to fend for themselves. The combination of video-savvy employees and more advanced video technologies can be combined for a far more powerful, flexible video-based training strategy.

The Importance of Training Videos

Why are videos popular for corporate training to begin with?

There are two other ways to teach employees. In-person instructors allow for personalized learning, but is hard to scale. Text-based materials are (relatively) cheap to produce, but are unengaging and hard to ensure people actually read them.

Instructional training videos provide a far more scalable, engaging solution.

• Video is more effective than text for ensuring learners retain practical skills. (Advances in Medical Education and Practice) Because we’re fundamentally wired to respond to visual stimuli, it’s not surprising that we learn more effectively from video than from text. Our brains are built to be more stimulated by moving images, and our memory captures them better.
• 98% of employees agree video is valuable for training employees better/faster. (The State of Video in the Enterprise 2018) Today’s employees are increasingly from a video-oriented generation. Millennials and Gen Z are used to turning to videos to learn new skills and follow thought leaders. Training by video feels natural to them.
• Video allows employees to learn anywhere, at any time, at their own pace. When so many employees work far from headquarters, whether in satellite offices or working remotely, trying to get everyone in one place at one time for a training session is almost hopeless. Video training courses allow employees to fit training into their schedules, no matter where they’re based or what time zone they’re in.
• Video is trackable. It’s not easy to tell if someone has read a document. But today’s analytics make it possible to tell exactly when a viewer drops off a video, which makes it easier to hold employees accountable for completing training.

When to Use Video Training

Companies today have a wide array of situations in which video training can be useful.

• On-boarding, to get employees familiar with corporate culture and up to speed on their particular role
• Basic skills, such as using common software such as Microsoft Office or Salesforce
• Soft skills workshops, like conflict resolution or managerial skills
• Job-specific skills, such has how to use a particular piece of equipment or the best way to sell a certain product
• Company-specific skills, including how to fill out all the different kinds of HR paperwork
• Compliance/governance training, from network security refreshers to certifications
• Knowledge sharing, where employees give tips and explanations to each other and preserve institutional knowledge

In each of these training use cases, video can make a huge difference. When learning and development teams are required to support so many different kinds of corporate training, having a flexible, scalable training method is critical.

Where Do Professional Training Videos Come From?

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of training videos your company might want. But it doesn’t actually all have to come from one place. There are many different potential sources for company training videos.

• Generalist sites like Lynda offer a wide range of skill-based training videos. Using externally produced videos to cover broad topics is a great way to bring in useful learning and development video content.
• Specialist companies can offer more specialized video content. It’s also possible to outsource video training for industry-specific certifications or compliance videos around security, ethics, harassment, and more.
• Creating your own videos in an in-house studio is a great solution for training that’s specific to your company. It’s also possible to hire production companies or freelancers, sometimes for surprisingly reasonable rates, to make explainer videos to cover the topics you want to train your employees on.
• Allowing employees to create their own videos. Subject matter experts within your company are often eager to share their expertise with their colleagues. Giving them some very basic tools to create and share videos allows your best practices and institutional knowledge to spread across teams. Remember, these are internal videos – you don’t need a fancy studio. A webcam or a phone or a screen capture is all you really need. Employees today are increasingly video-fluent and able to create their own material without much help. A lot of times, they just need permission and a way to organize the videos so others can find them.

Next Steps: Making Video Training More Effective

Once you’re past the basics of professional video training, today’s video tools offer opportunities to make your video training even more effective.

• Make your video interactive. Add hotspots. Use an interactive video quiz. Even create a fully interactive video learning experience in which the video changes based on the viewer’s behavior. By encouraging learners to interact with the material, you will increase engagement and retention.
• Try adding captions. Not only does this make your training videos more accessible, it helps make the information even easier to comprehend and remember, no matter the viewer’s learning style.
• Take analytics to the next level with predictive analytics. Imagine that you could list degrees and certifications, initial onboarding personality assessments, what internal training they’ve taken and how they did, and then compare it to how they’ve performed over the years—KPIs, disciplinary infractions, reviews, promotions, accidents, every tangible result they’ve produced. Now imagine you could analyze that data to predict how your employees’ future careers are going to play out, so you can influence those results. Video-based training takes this one step closer to reality.

Video training is not new, but it’s more popular and powerful than ever. Are you fully leveraging the potential of corporate video training?