Why Not Integrating Videos into Your Training Strategy in 2020 Would Be a Mistake

Today, leveraging videos is an important part of any training strategy. In this article, I provide compelling reasons on why and how you should integrate videos into your corporate training strategy and what you will miss if you don’t!

Why Should You Integrate Videos into Your Corporate Training Strategy?

Alongside the challenge of managing diverse expectations of the multi-generational workforce that L&D teams already have, they now also need to contend with the Generation C or the YouTube Generation! On their wish list for training formats, using videos for corporate training would certainly be on the top.

This apart, given the fact that we consume videos several times during our day (could be for entertainment or for learning), using videos to offer high-impact training is a “must have” today on account of the following factors:

• With the wider adoption of Mobile Learning, integrating videos into your corporate training strategy is a lot easier today.
• Today, you have wide-ranging options (beyond traditional videos) that you can pick from. These include:
  1. Interactive Videos – This is a Next Gen approach that creates highly interactive and immersive Video Based Learning solutions (in contrast to the passive view only option in traditional videos).
  2. Microlearning Videos – These short, focused, bite-sized videos can be used effectively as teaser videos or as a Social Learning tool.
  3. 360 degree videos for VR and AR – Because of the highly immersive and engaging approach, these can uplift your learner engagement manifold.
  4. Personalized videos – These create a more relevant and more sticky learning experience.

The following stats also affirm why using videos for your corporate training strategy makes sense:

• According to Forrester Research, employees are 75 percent more likely to watch a videothan to read documents, emails or web articles. (Panopto)
• Studies have shown that adding video can improve people’s ability to remember concepts and details — with effects that increase over time.Presentations that include visuals like video along with slide text are 9 percent more effective than text alone when audience comprehension is tested right away. (Panopto)
• A study from the SAVO Group found that when you pair relevant visuals with learning information, retention levels rise to an impressive 65%. So video is actually proven to be more memorable than other training materials. (SAVO Group)

What Would You Miss If You Did Not Integrate Videos into Your Corporate Training Strategy?

Now, I highlight 3 aspects that you would miss out on if you did not integrate videos into your corporate training strategy in 2020.

What you would miss – The impact that video based corporate training strategy can create

1. Videos are a high-impact medium, and they have a universal appeal. This enables them to be used for today’s multi-generational workforce training.
2. So, their usage in employee training leads to a higher engagement and better completion rates.
3. They offer a more sticky learning experience on account of a better retention and recall.
4. You can deliver them as stand-alone nuggets or as a series of videos connected over a learning path that is connected through a master narrative.
5. They are a very versatile medium and they can be used to meet the diverse training needs including:
   1. For Formal Training that can be consumed “on the go.”
   2. As Performance Support intervention – as just-in-time learning aids or job aids that are available within the learners’ workflow. This helps them use them precisely at the moment of their need.
   3. To support Instructor-Led Training (ILT).
   4. To create awareness (significantly for crucial change management).
   5. As Self-Directed, Informal Learning.
   6. For Social Learning.

What you would miss – To offer an option that your learners want

Modern learners face challenges of distractions and multitasking, and they certainly do not want to carve out a block of their time for training. This is what their wish list looks like:

• They want their training to be available on the go and bite sized.
• It must help them achieve a specific learning goal in a few seconds.
• They want training sessions to be engaging, visually rich, and immersive.

A video based corporate training strategy ticks all these boxes.

You can use my list of 5 strategies as you offer video based corporate training:

1. To create the buzz or awareness and establish WIIFM (What’s In It For Me).
2. To set the context or teach concepts.
3. To offer learning followed by practice, application, and summaries.
4. To checkpoint learners’ progress and understanding.
5. To reinforce and keep the “Forgetting Curve” at bay.

What you would miss – The ability to enhance the impact of corporate trainings manifold

You can use training videos for employees to offer or supplement your corporate trainings and see their impact soar.

Here is a list of trainings that can leverage videos for employee training:

1. Induction and Onboarding.
2. Leadership Development training.
3. Soft Skills training.
4. Product training.
5. Sales training.
6. Application Simulations training.
7. Compliance training.

What Should Be the Way Forward – How Should You Integrate Videos into Your Corporate Training Strategy in 2020?

Let’s begin by examining why organizations invest on employee trainings that help them:

1. Improve skills.
2. Reskill due to changed business dynamics.
3. Acquire new skills to scale up.
4. Address a specific gap.
5. Push the acquired learning to an application on the job.
6. Provide just-in-time support at the time of need.

To successfully meet this mandate, L&D teams are moving toward a Learning and Performance Ecosystem. At EI, we use the following framework to help our customers implement their corporate training strategies.

To leverage on videos for corporate training, your strategy must use this framework.

Let me show you how you can do so.

Option 1: To Support Initiation/Create Awareness of Key Programs 

• Teaser Videos to connect with learners (to improve engagement).
• Videos that create awareness.
• Videos that support key change management initiatives.

Option 2: To Watch and Learn

• Videos for learning specific concepts or skills.
• Videos to demonstrate processes.

Option 3: To Practice and Apply

• Videos to practice the acquired skills.

Option 4: To Reinforce and as Instant Job Aids

• Videos to reinforce—to offset the “Forgetting Curve.”
• Videos for Performance Support intervention (instant learning aids/job aids).

I hope this article provides the cues you can use to integrate videos in your corporate training strategy.

If you have any specific queries, do contact me or leave a comment below.

Read More

• How To Successfully Integrate Video-Based Learning Into Your Training Strategy
• How To Use Interactive Video-Based Learning To Enhance Your Training’s Impact
• Upgrade Your Training With 5 Interactive Video Strategies
• Free eBook: How To Choose The Right Kind Of Video For Your Employee Training – Featuring 15 Formats That You Must Use In 2019
• Free eBook: Video-Based Learning For Corporate Training—14 Examples—Including Interactive & Microlearning Videos