New employee orientation aims to onboard new hires and help them assimilate into the company culture. A growing remote workforce — 22 percent by 2025 — means the role of video in new employee orientation heightens. Let’s take a look at:
- The role of video in new employee orientation
- How interactive video enhances orientation
- 5 tips for new employee orientation leaders
The importance of video in new employee orientation in 2024
A new employee orientation video communicates a company’s core values and provides a glimpse of what to expect, and introduces new hires to fellow staff members. Video remains a powerful tool. Researchers at Rochester University found more than half of the surface of our brains, called the cortex, is dedicated to processing visual stimuli.
According to Insivia, viewers retain 95 percent of a message when they watch it in a video, compared to 10 percent when reading it in the text. One thing is sure: Many people prefer videos, which are much more effective in helping hires familiarize themselves with the company during new employee orientation than reading.
Why?
An employee can read about leadership. But they can’t see their smiles. They can’t hear their voices. Now, when they walk past the director of sales in the hall or hop on a Zoom call together, familiarity has been established.
Well-planned new employee orientation pays dividends. Don’t stress about covering everything.
Orientation lays the groundwork, but training would ideally continue over the next 6 to 12 months during employee onboarding. Onboarding is a longer process that provides more job-specific training for hard skills. It’s common for all new hires to go through the same orientation but then be funneled into different onboarding programs.
Using videos in new employee orientation helps employers cover some of the following important aspects of their company:
- Introduces leaders and familiarizes new hires with current staff members
- A tour of the office, which is a great opportunity for an interactive video
- An introduction of the company’s history as well as its mission and vision statements
- Explanations of processes and a brief glimpse into why things are the way they are within the company
Both orientation and onboarding create first impressions.
Commenting on a survey of 37,000 employees across 32 countries about the state of work, Qualtrics Chief Workplace Psychologist Dr. Benjamin Granger said the following:
“It’s not enough to get great talent in the door. The first several months are when employees form first impressions of working at a company, and first impressions are difficult to change. Hiring and onboarding are inextricably linked experiences that need a common thread tying them together. Otherwise, organizations run the risk of early and costly turnover."
As the first step of the more extended onboarding period, leaders planning new employee orientation in 2024 must understand how it directly impacts how long employees stick around.
The Harvard Business Review has found that a great onboarding experience can boost employee retention by up to 50 percent. Every retention effort matters in a world where a quarter of new hires will quit within the first six months.
The power of interactive video in new employee orientation
Again, first impressions matter. Interactive videos wow viewers. It’s a commonly used format in learning and development, but its usefulness extends to new employee orientation.
Because cognitive processes are triggered when viewers actively engage with content, leading to improved memory retention, interactive video is an effective tool. It fosters greater attention, reduced cognitive overload, and improved reflection.
Standard or linear video is the most traditional type of digital media most people are familiar with. In new employee orientation, this medium helps viewers get a high-level overview of the company: its leaders, its core values, its operations, and its workforce.
How much of that will they retain? Half of it within an hour. A day? 30 percent. By the end of the week, they’ll only remember about 10 percent.
Interactive video changes the game.
Interactive video provides on-demand options tailored to a hybrid and remote workforce
With interactive video, leaders can gauge user engagement and provide individualized learning opportunities during new employee orientation.
In WeVideo's interactive video design studio, PlayPosit, employers can customize playback options to make the experience as flexible as possible.
PlayPosit comes fully loaded with a variety of playback options for interactive videos.
Interactive videos include clickable elements such as:
- Multiple choice questions
- Questionnaires
- Different video paths
- Decision-making scenarios
- Drag-and-drop elements
- Polls
- Informational overlays
- Fill-in-the-blanks
Imagine the power of a poll to gauge how hires feel throughout new employee orientation. And interactive can be saved in a shared media library. Providing a place for new hires to rewatch encourages retention and reduces stress.
Groundswell shows this well with their interactive virtual tour. The video lets employees learn about their co-working spaces and what they offer by interacting with a menu. The menu's specific call-to-action buttons give them everything they need to know through a single video.
The power of interactive videos like this cannot be overstated, especially in a hybrid environment. There may be a disconnect between the orientation and in-office days. Thoughtful planning can eliminate some of this, but every case and employee presents unique challenges. If a hire is at home for new employee orientation, a saved, interactive video tour of the office will help them feel more comfortable on their first in-office day.
Explore more: 5 Ways to Retain Staff with Interactive Video
Interactive video sets the stage for a personalized onboarding experience
Many employees might attempt to breeze through new employee orientation, feeling that it will be like all of the others: impersonal and just a box to check. Interactive video communicates that the company is dedicated to professionalism and excellence. Content can address new hires by name and include branched paths and interactive touch points that make sense for their roles.
This tailored approach sets businesses apart. As new hires move to onboarding, interactive videos allow for continued learning opportunities highly relevant to their position and job-training needs.
New employee orientation leaders can assign certain employees to specific training by creating a playlist. Not only does personalization boost engagement, but it also makes employees feel more seen—and valued—by their employer. This process increases their job satisfaction and engagement, making them more likely to work harder, smarter, and more creatively for an organization. When businesses invest in employees, the employees invest in the business.
5 tips for new employee orientation leaders
Remote-only companies face unique challenges. Typically, new hires can expect a tour of the facilities and the chance to meet other new hires. Remote setups require specialized attention to pull off a great new employee orientation in 2024. Many of the same principles apply. The context, however, shifts.
Generally speaking, here are 10 items to consider working into your new employee hire orientation:
- Welcome and introduction
- Structure of the remote work day
- New hire paperwork
- Headshots (if relevant)
- Passwords and security protocols
- Company overview: mission, vision, culture, values, etc.
- Introduction to leadership
- Organizational chart and key contacts
- Company policies and employee code of conduct
- FAQs and open Q&A time
Maximize new employee orientation in remote work environments by following these tips.
1. Be empathetic
If you had to choose just one best practice to follow, it would be this: be empathetic to your new hires.
Many attendees will be feeling anxious about keeping pace with so much new information while also making a good impression. This may be a hire's first time working in a remote setting. The new employee orientation is a time to help them feel at ease. So for every agenda item, consider your new hires’ perspective and how you might reduce potential stress or uncertainty.
2. Keep it digestible
A big part of being empathetic is doing what you can to avoid overwhelming newcomers. As much as possible, try to keep things digestible by:
- Splitting orientation sessions over several days
- Providing an agenda and sticking to it
- Dividing topics into logical chunks of information
- Incorporating short breaks between sessions
- Presenting information in an engaging way
3. Make it engaging
As mentioned before, people retain information better when they engage with it in multiple ways. In other words, you can help new hires remember more details from orientation simply by varying how you present things.
Make sure to take notes of questions recent hires have. This attention to detail shows a willingness to listen and opens up a dialogue between current staff members and newcomers.
Use a tool like fireflies.ai to provide recaps from meetings. These summaries provide great information for leaders, can be shared with new hires, and can help companies improve their processes.
4. Build relationships
We’ve all been to work events where you’re a nameless face in the crowd, and that’s exactly what you don’t want your new hires to feel. This is even more of a challenge in a remote setting.
To show genuine interest in your new employees and to help establish meaningful connections, consider including casual Zoom get-togethers. Make it short and natural. It can be something as simple as a morning coffee break for ten minutes.
5. Welcome packets and company gear
As part of new employee orientation, it’s a good idea to provide a physical or digital welcome packet summarizing the key takeaways. This packet could include:
- An organizational chart and list of contacts
- Your employee handbook
- A glossary of common terms (especially if you frequently speak in acronyms!)
- A “cheat sheet” listing important links, processes, checklists, or tools
- Handouts from specific orientation sessions
If you’re handing out a physical welcome packet, a few branded swag items can also go a long way toward making any new hire feel part of an awesome team. Gear is an especially important way to help employees feel more connected to the company. A simple coffee mug with the company’s tagline can help a remote worker remember their why.
Getting your orientation right is an ongoing process that will evolve alongside your business. Video is a key component of orchestrating an effective new employee orientation in 2024. Using the power of interactive video, leaders can ensure new hires feel welcome — even in a remote setting.