Have you heard? Traditional methods of employee training are going by the wayside, and in their place are much more intuitive training orientation videos. Today, visual-based communications (most notably, video) is all the rage, quickly devouring more outdated forms of print media with each passing year. In fact, studies have shown that audiences retain information at a much higher rate when they can see and hear it – Forrester Research reports that with regard to training retention, one minute of video equates to about 1.8 million written words. That’s simply an overwhelming, impossible-to-ignore statistic.

When it comes to employee training and development, this sweeping trend has never been more apparent: Video for employee training content can do wonders for retention, making it a modern, essential element for a successful business.

 

• New Employee Training Videos Make Things Interactive –

It’s not enough that training content is merely shared with learners; the improvement of retention comes by way of learner engagement. This is especially important with on-demand learning that audiences consume on their own. By way of elements to interact with such as quizzes, questions, surveys or live polls, engagement is increased, and even questions can be added to video content for audiences to respond to, creating a powerful combination of visuals, audio and interactivity.

 

• Corporate Training Videos Focus on “Smaller Portions” –

It’s often said that learning is akin to drinking: A little at a time can be fun, but too much at once can lead to a bad experience. When it comes to learning retention, less can often be more, which is why leaning works best when it is able to be received in portions – hence the benefit of training videos. These videos can be strategically crafted so that they create a “ritual of learning” that conditions trainees to become more receptive to the content; so, for example, if there’s a great deal of eLearning content to deliver, it can be broken up into standalone modules delivered at various time points.

 

• The Easy-to-Find Factor in Video Training –

Unfortunately, it’s a fact that people forget new information rather quickly, so it sometimes takes a degree of repetition to make it stick. The easier it is for them to find and access training content, the better that training will be – and video has changed this game tremendously. If done right, increases in the productivity of learning can be enormous, so much so that there have been reports of knowledge and retention increasing some 200 to 700-percent.

 

• On-the-Floor Learning in New Employee Training –

Employee training programs that confine workers to a back office, isolated from the action, would seem counterproductive. Yet many companies and their redundant programs do just that, resulting in employees who aren’t nearly as effective once they start performing the task because they are still in the midst of learning it. Imagine a solution that would make training portable? Video content on tablets is that solution, making training portable and accessible to employees using an iPad or Surface on the sales floor or in the field. How exactly does this process assist in making a business successful? These employees can now watch a video detailing a new process they must learn and earn practical experience in mastering that process – for example, if part of the training has a worker a bit confused, he or she can simply pause and rewind the video, focusing on a specific segment as many times as necessary until it makes sense.

Does your company use video in its employee training programs? It may be time to start thinking about it.