How could we possibly create a lot less onerous employee orientation? Many employers opt for onboarding newest feature: videos, since it is able to accommodate more entertaining approach. An employee’s first day on the job doesn’t have to be a paper-cut inducing slog.
“Hi! Welcome to our new company. On your first day, I’d like you to read through these 43 pages of documentation, and decide which health insurance, what 401k plan, and if you want to receive part of your salary in stock. If you have any questions, I’ll refer you back to the documentation. Plus, let’s talk about the employee handbook. We have a lot of rules. Sign this saying you’ve received the handbook.”
Have you been through this type of employee orientation? Did it make you want to tear your hair out? And those types of meetings don’t stop once you are hired. Every year, there is some new boring technical meeting or paperwork about your employee benefits. And no one–not even the people who run the meetings–wants to be there.
Keith Kitani, CEO of employee-communications firm GuideSpark.com has come up with the solution: videos. These are not the 1970s-era instructional videos that you are used to. They are short, to the point and chock full of information
They also won over investors, to the tune of $15 million. Not too shabby for a company that focuses on explaining employee benefits. No matter if you use GuideSpark or some other company, here are six reasons why you ought to consider showing employee videos instead of the standard first-day routine:
See: 4 Reasons Your Approach to Onboarding is Wrong!
We are on our computers all the time–and when we are not at work, what are we doing? Looking at our smart phones and watching YouTube videos. Your employees are used to receiving information via video format. Thus, why not do it for employee-benefits information?
But what about businesses where most of the employees don’t sit at desks in front of computers? Videos are still an option, says Kitani. Among others, GuideSpark works with Chili’s restaurants, even though the bulk of that company’s employees are on their feet. Another neat feature? You can track who opens it. Thus, employees can’t just chuck it in the trash like they might with standard employment brochures.
That is another perk with Web-based videos: They can tell you how many of your employees have seen them and, if you wish, which individuals still need to watch them. This is not so you can bother and annoy your employees with needless data. Instead, it offers peace of mind. You will know your message has been received, and that people can make informed decisions as a result.
GuideSpark videos don’t replace your legal documentation, of course, You still need that. And they have to pare down the information into three to five minute videos, which means some info won’t make it through. (Kitani explains, “We could do a 20 minute video that no one would watch or a three minute video that everyone will watch. Which is better? No one ever reads the employee handbooks.”)
One GuideSpark client, Synopsys, was making big changes to its health-insurance plans. (Many companies have signed on precisely for explanations of how Obamacare affects their business and their employees.) They gave their employees the option of coming to a meeting or watching a video. They are average employee age is in their late 40s, yet two thirds opted for the videos.
Another company, Ochsner Health, has a lot of employees and a lot of new hires. The new hires need training before they can hit the floor and be productive. The company says the video-orientation method shortened the time necessary for orientation and saved the company $800,000 per year in training costs. That is a smart use of funds.
One thing to remember if you go to a video version of employee orientation and benefits enrollments, you still have to pay people for watching the videos. Sure, they can use their own smartphones, but it’s on the clock. Of course, it is a lot less time on the clock than that mandatory benefits meeting you held last year.
See also: How Technology Can Save Onboarding
Source: Inc
