Corporate training is vital to the success of any organization. UNICAF stated corporate training has the ability to advance employees’ skills, expose weaknesses and gaps in the organization, and improve employee performance and motivation.1 Most employers understand this. In fact, US companies spent about 11% of their budget on corporate training in 2018.2
Traditionally, employers have delivered training in-person. Due to the pandemic, many of today’s organizational leaders have switched to a remote training model. Learning technologies such as a learning management system (LMS) make remote corporate training possible.
While it’s good that employers provide training for their employees, it doesn’t mean training is always effective. Some methods of corporate training delivery are much more impactful than others. Video is one of the most effective corporate training mediums and should be used liberally in remote employee training post-COVID.
In August 2020, Research.com reported that in a survey of more than 2,000 companies, 74% of employee trainers claimed to use video learning as part of their training delivery.3 The source explained that “on average, employees will forget 90% of the information learned during training within one month,” but video training helps individuals remember what they learned. A contributor stated,
“Studies have shown that video training helps employees gain knowledge as well as retain them more effectively than other methods of instruction…. It will also be beneficial for companies to follow research-backed best practices to make their training videos highly effective and worth the investment…”
A few of the practices mentioned include:
1) Keep training modules short
2) Add quizzes
3) Make whiteboard sketches
4) Keep video learning fun with video game training
Not all companies include video learning in their corporate training courses. By learning more about the benefits of video learning, organizational leaders can make an informed decision about whether or not video learning is worth their investment.
Video Learning is Convenient, Self-Paced, and Promotes Audience Retention
Video learning features a wide variety of benefits. First, it is convenient. Since learners access videos online, they can watch them anytime and any place, at home or on the go. The accessibility of video learning makes it perfect for a busy employee trying to juggle the demands of life.
Also, video learning is self-paced and allows learners to choose their own speed of training. Unlike traditional courses that pack a lot of information into one corporate training session, video-based training can be consumed in bite-sized pieces. This prevents learners from feeling overwhelmed by training and puts them in the driver’s seat of their own learning experience.
Additionally, video learning promotes audience retention. “Forrester Research estimates one minute of online video equates to approximately 1.8 million written words,” an article by the Huffington Post said. 4 Media Platform reported, “Research suggests that by boosting the viewer’s engagement and comprehension through video, audience retention rates are increased on average by 3-6 times over the use of traditional training methodologies.”5
The Human Brain Prefers Video Over Other Learning Mediums
The human brain has been proven to have a favorable response to video. The Yahoo News article Did Video Kill Text Content Marketing? unpacked this concept.6 It explained that the brain processes video 60,000 times faster than it does text. Since people are designed to avoid cognitive stress, it is natural that they would prefer training that is easy to assimilate. The article stated,
“When we watch a video, we become immersed in it and create an empathetic connection with the screen. If you want your visitors to fall in love with your content, it makes sense to deliver it via video. That’s because it’s much easier for us to become emotionally attached to something we watch in a video than something we read in an article.”
This principle can also apply to employee training. If employees connect emotionally with corporate training, there’s a better chance that they will engage with it and retain it long-term.
Is Video Learning Worth the Money?
Still unsure if video learning is worth the investment? The Arc + Crown Media blog gave even more reasons why video learning is essential:
“Statistics say that every individual is likely to remember only 10% of textual content, 65% of visual content, but 95% of audio-visual content. Hence, organizations should incorporate (video learning) to train their employees effectively as it enhances self-learning and engages learners’ attention throughout the course.”7
If you decide to use video learning in your corporate training program, be sure to keep it brief for maximum impact. Administrators should strive to create videos no more than five minutes long. They should ideally be made of up content that is easily digestible for learners. Just one topic per video should be touched on.
When You Should Use Video Learning in Remote Corporate Training
There’s no denying video learning is an effective employee training medium. But when is the best time to use it? Employers could use video learning when providing product education, onboarding new workers, summarizing a remote corporate training course, simulating new software for employees, and offering soft-skills training.
Product Education
A product cannot be confidently marketed and sold by someone without a thorough understanding of what it is and how it works. With this in mind, companies that sell products have the responsibility to provide product training for their employees. Video learning is ideal for demonstrating new products to workers. Short videos can be watched over and over, until an employee feels they have a handle on a new product. This will boost workers’ confidence, which can lead to increased sales.
Onboarding
Stepping into a job role during a pandemic can be intimidating. This is especially true since many new hires are starting new jobs remotely, away from a central office.
es should have a plethora of online corporate training materials at their fingertips. By making videos explaining your company’s vision, mission, procedures, and protocols available to new hires, you increase their chances of success at your organization.
Course Summaries
Summarizing a remote training course or program to employees is a helpful practice. It literally shows learners what to expect from a course or program and how to make the most of it. You can summarize any remote training course or program in a 2-to-5 minute video outline. Consider providing an online syllabus, as well.
Software Simulations
Employees should have a working knowledge of how to utilize new software apps that a company develops. Ensure employees understand how to use apps by offering video training that features software simulations. This will give employees the practice they need to navigate new apps confidently.
Soft-skills Training
There are too many soft-skills failures in today’s workplace. “According to LinkedIn’s 2019 Global Talent Trends report, 89 percent of recruiters say when a hire doesn’t work out, it usually comes down to a lack of soft skills,” stated SHRM.8 Employers can correct this by offering soft-skills training in communication, leadership, problem solving, etc., through short videos delivered right to learners’ mobile devices.
How to Integrate Video Learning Into Remote Training Courses
Ready to integrate video into your employees’ remote training courses? Here are a few tips to help you do this:
- Keep videos short (no more than 5 minutes long)
- Keep video content current (regularly refresh visuals)
- Ensure videos download rapidly
Integrate video into your remote training courses the simple way by launching a learning management system (LMS). About 82% of companies used an LMS in 2020.9 An LMS has built-in features that make hosting video easy. TOPYX LMS features mobile learning, which ensures video-based corporate training is accessible on any mobile device. This is vital in the age of COVID-19, when many employees are working from home.
Just a few of the benefits of mobile learning include greater video learning accessibility for all users, reasonable training costs for the organization, and increased employee productivity.
With the TOPYX mobile learning feature, users can seamlessly access training materials from either desktop or mobile and collaborate with fellow teammates as they learn together or on their own.
Wondering if TOPYX LMS is right for your employees’ corporate training needs? Find out by requesting a free LMS demo of TOPYX.
References:
1) UNICAF. https://www.unicaf.org/corporate-training-benefits/.
2, 3, 9.) Research.com. https://research.com/careers/training-industry-statistics.
4) The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michal-tsur/research-confirms-video-i_b_5064181.html.
5) Media Platform. https://www.mediaplatform.com/resources/improving-learning-retention-with-video/.
6) Yahoo News. https://news.yahoo.com/did-video-kill-text-content-143000064.html.
7) Arc + Crown Media Blog. https://arcandcrown.com/2020/02/07/top-stats-for-why-you-want-video-in-your-elearning/.
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