4 Reasons to use video for corporate training

Whenever employees have a new task to tackle at work, they often turn to how-to videos, tutorials, and YouTube. Millennials, which represent the largest segment of the workforce, know they can find a video online on anything they need to learn. Many of today's employees simply associate workplace learning with videos. So here are four reasons why video should be part of your company’s L&D strategy:

1. Video for training doesn't have to be expensive

   It can be, but it doesn't have to be. It all depends on your specific organizational needs. If your company needs professional videos exclusively and has the budget to cover the expenses, your best bet is to seek professional video services.

   However, most smartphones come with reasonably powerful cameras, getting a tripod and a microphone is not that big of an investment, and there are various video-editing software at fair prices. Also, senior employees can shoot some videos explaining what they know best, thus creating the most relevant video learning content.

2. Video for training is versatile

   Videos can be used to deliver a variety of learning content for employees. From onboarding and compliance training to technical demonstrations of how a product or service works, from fire safety to performance support, employees can be trained by watching relevant videos.

   Not only that, but most training videos can be easily updated, and the same video can be used in more than one training course. You shoot it once and then you can use it and reuse it whenever necessary.

3. Video connects the learner in a deeper way

   The human brain is attuned to color and movement, so a video will always win in terms of employee engagement and learning retention rates compared to written text or even audio files. Hearing someone's voice explaining something and watching his/her body language while doing so makes people pay more attention to the addressed topic in a video.

   What's more, the people in the video have the opportunity to present the facts that need to be learned in the most engaging way possible: by wrapping them inside a story. Even the driest of topics can be associated with a memorable story.

4. Videos make training more interactive

   Probably the best thing about training videos is that they can be interactive. The simple thing of choosing A over B in what will happen next in a training video makes employees more interested in what they learn and contributes to higher retention rates.

   They'll spend more time interacting with the learning content from the video and they'll better absorb the new information they're dealing with. An interactive video puts more power into learners' hands, by allowing them to steer their learning process wherever they want.

Once the necessary videos are created, you as an instructional designer need to find the perfect place for them in one or more training courses. Depending on what your company already uses to manage training materials — a cloud-based business LMS, or another kind of software — the videos should be easily uploaded and then accessed by anyone who needs to learn something new.

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