For years, training videos have ranked among the top trends in the continuing education industry. But videos are not only a winning method for trainers: We show 10 strong reasons why companies in particular benefit from using training videos.
It is now impossible to imagine any area of everyday life without the use of videos. And moving images are also booming in the online sector. According to the online study by ARD and ZDF, 60% of Germans watch a video online at least once a week. Tutorials and training videos are especially popular: From cooking to dancing to makeup, you can have everything explained to you via video.
More and more corporate educators are also recognizing the potential of learning videos for companies and using it. Online courses or mixed forms of learning combining in-person learning and training videos are thus becoming increasingly popular in the professional context as well. The enormous relevance that the medium of video has for the continuing education industry was confirmed this year, among others, by the mmb-Trendmonitor: There, 94% of the surveyed training experts agreed that videos will have a central importance as a learning form in the next 3 years:
Despite the long-lasting trend movement, in our contact with HR developers and company representatives, we still encounter prejudices in 2019 that apparently speak against training videos in companies.
Typical prejudices against training videos in companies are:
Producing training videos is too expensive!
Creating own training videos causes more effort than benefit!
Videos are just a fad and will soon be "out" again!
We clear up these prejudices and show: There are far more reasons for companies to use training videos than against them!
False prejudices: 10 reasons for using training videos in companies
With the use of training videos, companies have a variety of advantages open to them that are not possible with classic classroom training or in old-fashioned manuals. The following 10 reasons show why training videos are not just a fad, but a long-term asset for your company and its employees:
1. Training videos convey knowledge more efficiently!
In the school context, studies on the effectiveness of learning videos have been known for a long time. The results are just as valid in adult education: When watching videos, in addition to various sensory impressions such as image and sound, emotions are also transmitted. This increases attention and learning performance.
Furthermore, people in videos can "demonstrate" actions and behaviors realistically – and learning by imitation is the most natural and effective way of learning, not only for children but across all age groups.
2. Training videos support individual learning!
Since videos can be replayed, fast-forwarded, rewound, and paused, learners can set their own learning speed. Training videos therefore support the self-organized learning of your employees. This is particularly helpful in companies because it reduces the risk of employees being under- or overchallenged. Videos allow contents to be repeated without time pressure. This increases motivation and learning performance.
3. Training videos can be used over and over again!
In-person events must be organized completely from scratch and paid for repeatedly for new employees. Not so with training videos: They "preserve" the training content. The effort to plan and create a training video pays off at the latest when the video can be provided for the second, third, or tenth time – without causing any further effort or costs.
4. Training videos guarantee consistent training quality!
Videos "preserve" knowledge. As a result, the content always remains the same – and so does the quality of the training! A good area of application is the integration of new employees (digital onboarding): Here, videos guarantee that all new employees start with the same level of knowledge, as they have watched exactly the same training content as their colleagues. The advantage: Thanks to training videos, onboarding is also completely successful from the home office! Training manuals also have this effect, but with videos, the transfer into daily work life is significantly more effective.
5. You can produce training videos directly on site!
This requires neither an external agency nor an expensive rented studio. A simple camera or a smartphone is completely sufficient (see point 6). A meeting room is just as suitable as a normal workplace for filming. As long as there is sufficient light, any available room is suitable for recording training videos. This mobility reduces costs and prevents the time pressure that arises, for example, with a rented studio.
6. You can record training videos with your smartphone!
To record good training videos do you need an expensive camera, professional audio equipment, and special lighting? Wrong! Modern smartphones have really good cameras for this purpose. Add a small tripod and a clip-on microphone – and your video equipment is ready for just a few dollars! And even this small investment pays off quickly if the videos are used regularly.
You can find more information about shooting videos with your smartphone here on our comprehensive info page!
7. Anyone can shoot training videos!
No special training is required to record training videos. An in-house trainer or training manager can also convey the necessary knowledge in front of a camera without prior experience. The fear of many companies of having to "give away" their internal knowledge to external people is therefore unfounded. To speak freely in front of the camera, you can write yourself a cheat sheet.
8. Training videos make organization easier!
If training videos are made available to all employees online, access to knowledge is flexible in terms of location and time. This reduces the number of classic training sessions and seminars. Consequently, the enormous organizational effort for complex travel, suitable premises, and scheduling also decreases. And the stress is reduced not only for the internal company organizers: Employees also benefit from the opportunity to learn flexibly. Time and performance pressure are eliminated, which in turn has a positive effect on learning performance.
9. Training videos lower indirect costs!
With traditional continuing education, the indirect costs are often very high: Employees usually have to leave their workplace, which inevitably leads to a loss of working hours! On average, indirect costs make up almost half of the total costs of training courses in companies:
Conversely, this means: Training videos reduce the necessary in-person events and promote "learning on the job". This allows employees to be trained and deployed at their workplace almost simultaneously. The loss of working hours due to ineffective classic in-person training decreases – and with it, the enormous costs of lost working hours.
10. Training videos are the core method for "Young Professionals"!
The education and training of young employees is a particularly important measure to secure the supply of qualified employees for companies in the long term. For "Generation Y," videos hold a special significance: According to the ARD/ZDF online study, 96% of under-30s consume videos online every week.
Companies that want to train and retain such "Young Professionals" in the long term must accept and implement videos as a standard method for knowledge transfer!
Video production does not have to be expensive and complex: Good training videos can easily be recorded with a smartphone
Conclusion
Training videos make knowledge reusable for companies, flexibly available, and independent of recurring in-person training sessions.
Let's recap: The trend towards online video has been unbroken in the private sector for more than 10 years. And in the continuing education industry as well, there is enormous support for viewing videos as a central form of learning in the future. Training videos have therefore ceased to be a mere fad for a long time! Moreover, as a medium for knowledge transfer, videos are already standard in the youngest generation on the labor market.
Apart from that, learning videos for companies offer a whole range of advantages that can be summarized in three convincing arguments:
Less cost!
Less effort!
More learning success!
Training videos are not a short-term fad for companies. Quite the contrary: Videos are a method to save costs in the long term while simultaneously making internal company training more sustainable!
Frequently Asked Questions and Answers
What advantages do training videos have for companies?
Training videos can be used multiple times, enable a consistent quality of the conveyed content, and can be made available to employees regardless of time and location. At the same time, they reduce the organizational effort for recurring in-person training.
Can companies create training videos themselves?
Yes. For many training videos, a modern smartphone, a small tripod, and a microphone are sufficient. This allows companies to produce learning videos directly at the workplace, without necessarily needing an agency or a studio.
How do training videos support individual learning?
Employees can pause, repeat, as well as fast-forward and rewind videos. This allows them to process content at their own pace and watch specific sections again if necessary.
For which training contents are learning videos particularly suitable?
Training videos are particularly suitable for recurring content, explanations, and processes that can be clearly demonstrated. They can also be used during digital onboarding to provide new employees with consistent knowledge.
