"Videos are a must-have in corporate training" - This is the statement from various studies. But what are the actual advantages of video learning in companies? This article provides a quick overview and 6 good arguments for HR professionals who want to start with videos in e-learning.

Overview: The 6 Advantages of Videos at a Glance

Advantage 1: Easily Convey Complex Content

Why do almost 90% of all students learn with YouTube videos? Because content in videos is explained in a visually clear and memorable way. Videos allow for a high practical relevance. Just think of tutorials for operating complex programs or machines (who really likes to read thick manuals and figure them out?). Or situations from everyday work life that can be depicted in video, such as interview situations.

Learning videos have a decisive advantage over traditional instructions and graphics: A video enables employees to go through even complex processes step by step “live” and directly imitate them. And that takes significantly less time than a written or illustrated guide: Ideally, learning videos should be a maximum of 3 minutes long (see also Advantage 4: Time Savings).

More on this: 5 Ideas for Successful Learning Videos in Companies

#2 Video Production is Cost-Effective

Creating, printing, updating, and reprinting training manuals or handouts costs a lot of time and especially money for companies. The production of learning videos, in contrast, is simple and quick:

In the simplest variant, companies can easily create learning videos with smartphones. Most modern smartphones offer very high camera quality, even without additional equipment. With a small investment in sensible video tools, companies can put together their own video studio at low cost.

#3 Better Learning Effect through Repetition

In traditional trainings, content is explained once, maybe twice. If employees do not understand the content, the long-term learning effect is questionable.

In contrast, with learning videos, employees have complete control over their learning process: pause the video, rewind, watch difficult passages again. Taking notes is also easier with a “pause button”. All of this contributes to a higher and long-lasting learning effect.

#4 Time Savings through High Flexibility

Traditional training such as lectures or workshops must be newly organized for each learner group. This results in a high time investment for everyone involved: The time for organization is just as burdensome as the absence (and any travel to and from) of the employees.

In contrast, videos maintain knowledge at a quality standard. Once created, learning videos can be reused over and over again. As part of e-learning, the learning location is also flexible: employees can watch the videos directly at their workplace. Thus, learning videos in companies enable full temporal and spatial flexibility.

Speaking of time: How long should a good learning video be?

#5 Videos Have Many Applications

Not all videos are the same. And learning videos are not only suitable for training in the classical sense. There are different types of learning videos and accordingly many areas of application in companies. For example:

• Digital onboarding with learning videos, ideal for new employees working from home

• Preparation and follow-up of in-person trainings in blended learning style

• Video tutorials for important everyday processes

• Screencasts for step-by-step explanations of processes or software

#6 Intuitive Learning and High Acceptance through Familiarity

Not only for students, video platforms like YouTube have long been part of (learning) everyday life. In 2021, the average usage of videos on the Internet in Germany was 64 minutes. In contrast, texts are consumed only for 20 minutes per day. The popularity of short videos is also evidenced by the success of TikTok. A clear indication: Videos are part of the daily routine for most employees.

Companies can leverage this preference and familiarity: with learning videos, employees in training have a familiar format that most can intuitively handle. This facilitates access to training content and increases learning motivation.

Reading Tip: To ensure that learning videos are really well received, you should avoid these 7 mistakes when creating learning videos!

Overall, videos offer great opportunities for corporate training - both for employees and for personnel development and trainers. The only downside remains the production effort, which can now be significantly minimized by the good smartphone cameras available. Therefore, it is definitely worthwhile to conduct a pilot project with low effort to test the acceptance and added value of learning videos in one's own company.