We’ve covered why video is so powerful in getting messages across in a previous blog.
But when you are running a company, there are additional reasons to use video for communicating with your employees. If everyone is truly honest, corporate communications are typically the most groan-worthy because they’re well, boring and cheesy, and it would serve you well to find ways to squash that notion. Yes, video is the easiest and most likely form to be digested. The bottom line, you need your employees to be engaged and informed, and there are things they need to know about the goings-on of your business. Using video as your choice of medium will transform doldrum communications into stimulating content your employees will look forward to consuming.
Why Should Anyone Care?
When you’re giving information to your company, bring them all the way in by explaining exactly why the information is important to them and to the business. Employees who feel like outsiders will work like outsiders. Even if the information doesn’t seem like it impacts everyone directly, it probably does, and you can show exactly how. Did the company surpass a sales goal? Explain why that extra money is so important and what it goes toward. Try to tell your employees something they wouldn’t have considered before you let them in. Was there a recent branding change? Use video to explain how management decided to make the change and the steps it took to complete it. If you want your employees to listen, simply let them know why they should.
People First
An important theme to consider when speaking to your employees is how to make what you’re telling them personally in some way. You may not be able to have a message for every person by name, but you can always make the messaging team-specific or even mention names of individuals who contributed to a project or effort. Even if your company is large, your video could include names or profile pictures of the entire team in just a few seconds. Everyone enjoys being the center of attention even in a small way and making your messages as personal as they can be is a powerful way to get and keep your employees’ attention.
The Steve Jobs Effect
Donning his legendary black turtlenecks, Steve Jobs was a true showman on the stage. He knew how to wow, how to awe and his audience was captive. While not everyone can be Steve, you can use video creatively to transform your message into a memorable presentation. A good video production team can make the presenter a superstar with audio and visual effects, clever editing or even animation. Be sure your video production company understands your message, what the intent is and who your employees are. Even if you feel like you don’t have someone quite as dynamic as Jobs at your company, in the right hands your video can be just as inspiring. Sure, Apple also had products that excited the whole world, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make your message just as entertaining as the release of the iPod once was.
Types of Corporate Videos
Company Wins
Be sure to let your employees know often what milestones or accomplishments have been met. Important for keeping momentum among team members and maintaining morale, a win sheet might list goals met or projects completed. Here is another great opportunity to call out teams and individuals for their efforts in meeting the goal or milestone. Tell your audience how much time or resources were saved due to their diligence and how pleased the end-users or clients were with the product or result.
What’s New
If you have some changes coming up, you want your people to know about it. To keep everyone interested, try to say something about each department and how the change affects them. If it truly doesn’t affect some areas, you can say that too. Call attention to that department anyway and tell them to keep up the good work and look for changes that will impact them in the future.
Resource Libraries
This can be a big one. There are countless types of videos you can create to have in your “library” to aid and support your staff. Save time and resources by creating training videos and tutorials. These are excellent for new hires, not only during the onboarding process, but for when a new employee inevitably forgets a step or instruction. Having a video library at their fingertips will help employees feel independent and empowered while saving your designated trainers time. Send a hard copy of major bullet points along with the video for supportive reference. Your employees will be grateful for the effort you put towards their success.
Also, consider the value of a library for cross-training when an employee switches teams or if they simply want to learn more about what another team does. This greatly increases your employee knowledge base which in turn heightens productivity and lessens the likelihood for error when each team better understands the other departments their work impacts. And, building a library sooner rather than later makes knowledge transfer a painless process when an employee exits the team.
If your company uses different internal applications, create videos showing your staff how to use them, for example if you have just rolled out a project management application for tracking time and tasks. Video can be a great tool for teaching the company how to use a new application, for new hires and for features an existing employee may not have had to use yet.
Profiles and Case Studies
Create a few videos profiling clients or outlining case studies of projects that highlight a successful collaboration or an outcome you are especially proud of. Show your employees what their efforts amount to while showcasing the best your business has to offer. These can serve a dual purpose as a marketing video to post on your website, share with potential clients or use during presentations.
Create profiles of your various departments and teams. You could include video clips and still shots from team-building events or office gatherings. Perhaps select a willing participant and give them a little time in the spotlight with a short interview. In addition to asking them about their work, include some personal aspects of their life outside the office to further personalize the piece. Use the team members themselves to explain the process of a recent project or the inner workings of their team.
And while you’re at it, be sure to have your own company profiled in video form. Your vision, mission statement, history, and introductions of management and their roles can be excellent for both new hires and as marketing material. Take some video of customers using your product or service to show employees as well as potential new clients what you do best.
Engagement is Key
In the end, you want your employees to be engaged and interested and to have the tools they need to do their jobs. Use compelling video for announcements and education and keep them readily available. Creating and distributing videos with a personal touch will gain you the productive, loyal interactions you need for your company’s enduring success.
We hope you found this valuable.
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Who is Point in Time Studios? We are a video production company located in Phoenix, Arizona. We specialize in Corporate Video, Student and Multifamily Housing, and Virtual Reality. Please learn more about Point in Time Studios and see more of our work.
