Why Are Training Videos Useful? Benefits of Using Video In Training
Why Are Training Videos Useful. A company, like any organisation, is only as good as the people who staff it. Poorly trained personnel leads to poor quality service, a trait not usually found in profitable companies. As such, any company that wants to get ahead of the competition would be wise to invest in its employee training program. The question is, what exactly should you include in it?
There are many tools and materials you could use to enhance your employee training program. While plenty are effective, one method, in particular, is seeing a sharp increase in use – training videos. But why is this so? More importantly, should you consider using training videos in your employee training workshops?
In this article, we will be answering these questions, discussing some of the greatest benefits training videos have to offer. Let’s get started.
What is a training video?
Put simply; a training video is any kind of video that aims to teach its viewers how to perform a skill or an action. It doesn’t matter whether it’s an employee training video, an informational video to enhance customer service, or simply a video tutorial that shares how to properly do something. As long as your video trains your viewers on how to do something, it falls into this category.
Why are training videos useful?
Training videos are incredibly useful, and can be used to greatly improve the overall effectiveness of your employee training workshops. If you’re on the fence about adopting this method of employee training, consider these benefits.
Reduces the cost of your employee training
One of the main difficulties in creating a good employee training program is finding the balance between cost and effectiveness. While we would all like to implement the greatest program imaginable, the price tag can get in the way. With training videos, you can get the best of both worlds. We’ll discuss the effectiveness portion later, but for now, let’s focus on the costs.
Broadly speaking, many other forms of training require in-person instructors. While they provide their own benefits, they can be costly. You’ll need to pay for their travel costs, training materials, and of course, salary. This can add up fast when done over long stretches of time.
With training videos, however, these costs are cut. Nobody is needed in-person, training material costs and instructor payments are one-time, and there’s no need for travel on anyone’s part. Your employees can watch your videos at the click of a button, even from home. Needless to say, this is quite cost-effective.
Training videos are available at all times
Unlike other forms of employee training, training videos can be used and reused at your leisure. This ties into the previous benefit, as reusing your training videos won’t cost you.
In addition to saving you some money, training videos are useful to your employees due to their availability. Your employees can watch your training videos at their desk, or from the comfort of their own homes. This availability allows your employees to keep pace with everyone else if they happen to be out of the workplace. Additionally, your employees can easily revisit your training videos if they need a refresher.
Higher retention
Having the best training materials means little if your employees can’t remember what’s being taught. Sadly, this is all too common, with the average employee forgetting more than half of the taught material in as little as a week. What’s worse, almost the entirety of the video will be forgotten after roughly six months. Clearly, a focus on information retention is needed to enhance your training program.
Video can provide that enhancement. By complementing you’re written and static training materials with relevant video, your employees will retain much more information. With more information retained, your employees will gain more from their training, and you’ll get more bang for your buck.
Higher engagement
People enjoy video content more than any other, which should come as no surprise considering how pervasive it is in modern culture. From entertainment to education, and everything in between, video reigns supreme.
This is because the format is engaging and easy to sit through, much more so than any alternative. Ask any of your employees to choose between a half-hour video and reading documents or articles, and you can imagine what the answer would be. Videos are more appealing, and if you want your employees to get stuck into your training programs, they’re the way to go.
Video is excellent for explaining complex topics
Explaining complex topics in an easy-to-understand way can be a challenge. With video, that challenge is simplified considerably. Video can be used to complement written information, providing a visual breakdown of something otherwise difficult to explain using the written word. While many types of video can achieve this goal, animated explainer videos are particularly effective.
Video levels the training field
Another common obstacle in employee training is ensuring everyone gets the same experience. While you could go to great lengths to get close to parity, it is impossible to deliver the same training experience to all your employees. Too many variables exist that can get in the way, from the readiness of an instructor on a particular day, to the concentration of a particular group. If even a single variable isn’t identical across the board, your employees will have a different training experience.
Video provides the closest thing to a solution for this problem. While there will still be some changing variables, the quality of the training is static, tied solely to the quality of the video. No more will the quality of instructors be an obstacle, nor will the timing be a problem. Videos retain their effectiveness at any time, and can be viewed whenever is most convenient to you and your employees. By giving all your employees the same quality of training, you can better ensure your staff are equally capable in the workplace, able to tackle the necessary problems as they come.
Wrapping up
As you can see, training videos are an excellent way to improve your employee training programs, without breaking the bank. While you can outsource the production of your training videos, you might be tempted to create your own. In doing so, you have much greater control over how they turn out, and adding your unique flair is much easier. Before you dive in, however, check out our article on what makes a good training video.