HR Training Videos: What it is & How to Make it (with Examples)

A Synthesia survey reveals that 97% of respondents find video effective in helping employees retain information they get in training.  

Hence, it’s easy to see why companies prefer training videos over traditional means of training. If you work in HR and you onboard candidates regularly, you could significantly benefit from such videos. This guide will help you understand what HR training videos are and their examples, among other topics.  

What are HR Training Videos?

If you’re looking to understand what HR training videos are, you are in the right place. HR Training videos are designed to educate employees on various HR topics. These include onboarding, company policies, and compliance training. The goal of such topics is to present the complex HR information clearly and engagingly. 

In our extensive experience creating effective employee training videos, we have seen the best ones often do one or more of the following-

• Answer employee questions
• Simplify a process
• Present a solution to their issues instead of making them feel stupid or dumb for having them.

Benefits of HR Training Videos

One obvious benefit of such videos is that they improve retention. Beyond that, there are multiple benefits, which are mentioned below:

 

Improved Engagement

As per Forrester Research, employees are 75 percent more likely to watch a video than read documents, emails, or web articles. 

With that said, it’s easy to see why training videos, especially interactive ones, are great at engaging viewers. When information is presented in a visually pleasing manner, viewers will naturally be more engaged, as compared to text documents. As a result, companies are choosing to create training videos. 

 

Cost-Effectiveness and High Scalability

Now, you might think how a video is more cost-effective than hiring trainers. Well, yes, videos do come with an initial investment. Once you have the video, you can send the same content to every person in the same situation. For instance, one compliance video can be sent to everyone who has a common query. 

 

Everyone gets the same training

When HR, technical staff, or professional trainers impart training, one could argue whether a particular batch of candidates was trained better. However, that’s not the case when everyone receives the same video(s). Such videos can especially help global companies where maintaining a unified culture and process is a major challenge. 

 

Relatively Easier to measure performance

Let’s say you call your latest batch of joiners and give them soft skills training. At this point, you can calculate how many people took part in the session. You can also assess their level of understanding through a quiz and feedback. 

With video, Learning Management Systems (LMS), and Video Analytics Tool, you can do much more. These include discovering the most and least watched parts of the video, parts of the video they rewound, and fast-forwarded. 

Hence, compared to traditional methods, measuring the performance of HR training videos is relatively easier. 

Types of HR Training Videos

While all workplace training videos have the same purpose, they do come in different types. These include-

1. Animated Videos

This video was created by us to train Safety Workers and is a great example of an animated HR training video.

These videos perfectly explain complex or abstract concepts like cybersecurity protocols and DEI training. Unlike live-action videos, these use animation to explain a topic and allow complete creative control. Similarly, you don’t need to coordinate actors’ or employees’ schedules in the case of animated videos. 

2. Live-Action Videos

This is a great example of a Live-Action video, where we see the Chairman and CEO of United Community Bank, Lynn Harton, welcoming new employees to the organization.  

For situations where you need to establish an emotional connection with your viewer, live-action videos work best. For instance, you could record a live-action video featuring the top management and then show it to new joiners. This way, you ensure that each joiner gets a warm welcome without disturbing anyone’s schedule. 

Screencast Videos

We created this screencast video to show how to use Prepr, a workforce development platform. 

As the name suggests, it features screen recording along with audio narration. For example, A video on how to use Macros in MS-Excel will often show what the creator is doing on the software. 

Additionally, we’ll also hear him guiding us through the task. Think of it as a video recording of a classroom session on a topic, minus the teacher’s visuals. Hence, it is best used for guiding employees on how to use proprietary software and SaaS tools, among others.

Interactive Videos

This video is a great example of an Interactive video, where you are presented with two choices at the end. Clicking on either answer takes you to a different video. 

These videos allow you to interact with them and can also take you to a different part of a video, another video, or a webpage based on your response. Additionally, such videos may ask you some questions and reveal the consequences of your choice.

For example, A technical onboarding video might ask which tool you want to learn about first. Based on your response, it will take you to the relevant section. Similarly, a safety training video might show an accident and ask what option you would take.

If you make the wrong choice, it will show you the consequences of that and ask you to try again. Consequently, such videos improve retention and engagement. Such videos are best suited for safety and compliance training.

Hybrid Videos

This video is a great example of Hybrid video, which features elements of both animated and live-action.

These videos have elements of two or more different types of HR training videos. For instance, a hybrid video may have an animated organizational tree. 

It may also feature live-action, pre-recorded welcome messages from the company’s top management. Such videos are best suited for employee onboarding and diversity & inclusion training. 

Tips to create effective HR Training Videos

While there’s no written rule that you can’t create effective HR training by solely following your instincts, having a structured plan does help. Here are some of the most effective training video production tips-

 

Define the goal of your video

At this point, you might feel compelled to start creating your corporate training video right away. However, you’ll most likely end up creating a lovely video that doesn’t solve anything. To prevent that, you should start by defining your training needs and objectives. 

Ask yourself- What is the goal of your video? Are you trying to educate your employees on a new policy or trying to reduce onboarding time? Whatever it is, define one clear goal. 

Don’t try to achieve multiple objectives with one video, or else the video will be a mess. At Motionplay Studio, we have worked with multiple clients who were trying to hit multiple goals with one video. The result was less than satisfactory, and then they came to us. 

Instead of creating one video, we created a video series to achieve the desired outcomes. If you’re ever in need of one or more training videos, contact us today.

 

Understand who your Target Audience is

When you create HR training videos, you’re addressing a specific set of audiences. These could be new joinees, managers, or contract labour, among others. Each of them would have their challenges, attention span, and preferred learning style. To make the most impact, you must create your video keeping that in mind. 

For instance, New joiners will appreciate hybrid videos that educate them about the company. On the other hand, top managers might prefer strategic insights and real-world examples of where a certain strategy worked.   

 

Choose the right Video Style

We have been creating training videos for several years now. It breaks our hearts to see companies choose a video style just because it is trendy. Ultimately, the video fails to fulfill its purpose, and they have to start all over again. 

To ensure that doesn’t happen, you need to choose the right video style, which depends on the message you’re trying to convey. For instance, we have previously mentioned how screencast videos are great for teaching employees how to use a certain software tool. 

In such cases, a live-action video won’t be appropriate. Such videos are best for situations where you need to establish an emotional connection. Example- a welcome message video.

 

Write an engaging script

For your script to be engaging, you must take care of different things. First of all, it should have a proper structure. By structure, we mean that the video should open with a strong hook, then briefly address the viewer’s pain points or what they’ll learn via the video. The next step is to present the solution. 

As an example, let’s say your video covers workplace assessment. Your hook could be a stat about how common it has become. Next, you could touch upon how a person feels when she is harassed. Then, talk about how one could react in such a situation and what to do after that. 

Other things you should pay attention is to remove unnecessary sentences, ensuring the script complements the visuals, and including natural pauses. We often see companies try to cover the entire policy document in a 5-minute video. 

Ideally, your videos should cover only the basics. However, it should still link to deeper resources if someone wants to go into detail about it.

 

Build a Storyboard

Simplify said, a storyboard is the blueprint of your video. It is a record of what viewers will see when each line is being said. Now, you don’t need to have the most professional-looking storyboard, but you should have a rough one, at least. 

An effective storyboard will help you discover pacing issues and uncomfortable visual gaps. Additionally, with a storyboard, the marketing and HR team can understand whether they are comfortable with the narrative. If yes, you can move to the further process. Otherwise, you come up with a different idea. 

 

Production

Regardless of the type of video you’re going for, some rules are universal. For instance, audio quality and lighting can make or break a video, irrespective of it’s type. Also, ensure the video isn’t shaky. This can be done by investing in a good-quality tripod stand. 

If you’re shooting a live-action video, do ensure that you have sufficient B-roll. This will help you in situations where transitions feel too sudden. 

 

Post-Production

In the post-production, you polish your work even further. In this stage, ensure that the video syncs perfectly with the voiceover and remove any unnecessary portions. 

Use sound effects wisely, as even a simple swoosh… effect can potentially keep a viewer engaged. Additionally, ensure that the voiceover is easy to understand and doesn’t sound robotic. 

If you don’t have the expertise to do all of that and want the experts to handle that, we’re here. Book a free consultation with us today and take the right step forward. 

HR training videos Distribution 

When you’re distributing an HR training video, your goal is to get it in front of the right people at the right time & place. Here’s how you should distribute your content-

Internal Learning Management Systems (LMS): This allows easy access for employees and tracking capabilities for managers. 

Emails: You can also send the video to the email addresses of the employees. However, don’t just send the video alone. Pair with a message from the top management to highlight its importance. 

Slack/Team: Through channels, you can ensure that employees can get access to the relevant team. For instance, new employees can view onboarding video training and HR video tutorials in the company’s onboarding channel. 

Company Intranet: This space is perfect for evergreen videos like how to handle company tools and compliance. 

Measuring Performance

HR Video content creation isn’t a one-time process. The results of your current videos should be analyzed, so you can make a better video next time. This can be measured by several metrics, including-

Employee Feedback- Ask them if the video was engaging and easy to understand. Also, ask them which areas can be improved upon. Their subjective opinion can give you valuable insights. 

Completion Rate- The percentage of employees who watched the entire video.

Drop-off points: Helps discover where customers are losing interest. 

Need training videos that hold the viewer’s attention the entire time? We’re experts at that, and if you don’t believe us, you can check our previous work here.

Conclusion

HR Training videos help viewers retain more information than regular text documents. 

Some tips for creating high-converting videos are understanding the video’s audience and goals. Once you have created the videos, you can distribute them to the internal LMS, Slack, and email. Finally, performance can be measured through metrics like completion rate and drop-off points. 

We at Motionplay Studio hope and pray you have a great time creating videos that bring results, not headaches. Goodbye and take care.