5 Advantages of Video Onboarding: Boost Engagement & Retention

Traditional onboarding methods are struggling to keep up. New hires are feeling overwhelmed, disengaged, and uncertain about their roles.

The consequences of poor onboarding are severe. New hires are more likely to quit within the first few months, leading to increased turnover costs and decreased productivity. Plus, a subpar onboarding experience can damage your employer brand, making it harder to attract top talent.

Video onboarding offers a powerful solution to these challenges. Below, we'll explore why and how they are better than in-person orientation when it comes to creating an engaging, informative, and personalized training.

» Streamline your onboarding with a video documentation platform

5 Advantages of Video Onboarding

1. Consistency

You can ensure onboarding consistency across all teams in your organization by using videos. Every new hire goes through the same experience, no matter when they join or which team they're on. By having a stable reference frame, you're more likely to find gaps in training, which makes it easy for you to improve the entire process.

When I was charged with overhauling an onboarding process for a previous employer, we used video for both new hires and clients. Because training was the same, I could accurately predict the time necessary for people to settle into their roles. I also knew how long it took for clients to adopt the product, given the resources they had available. This initiative freed up resources for me to help cover internal teams, preventing burnout.

You should have a dedicated person to handle the implementation and content creation for video onboarding. When rolling out a new service or a platform, you should also work on building a good relationship with the technical team at the hosting company. If you have any software issues, they may bump you in front of the line so you can fix the bug faster.

Avoid involving many team members or resources in the project. While it's important for everyone to know how the product works, more cooks in the kitchen can speed up the onboarding. Also, remember to do a trial run. Without testing the project, you won't get feedback, which means you risk facing unknown issues once the onboarding rolls out.

» Learn to structure your standard operating procedures for consistency

2. Flexibility

With the high demand for remote work and the focus on work-life balance, people are looking to learn at a comfortable pace. By using videos for your onboarding, you're showing trust and showing respect to clients. Why? Because you aren't holding their hand. They can access the materials and complete the training on their own.

Many of my clients appreciated the option to review study materials on their own time. The trust I put in them sped up the onboarding, improving our time-to-value and net promoter scores.

For new hires, you should take advantage of a video learning hub's flexibility by setting clear due dates for finishing training sections. You can also automate submissions so the managers are notified whenever someone completes an onboarding task.

Also, a progress tracking feature should be implemented to keep the training on track without applying unnecessary pressure. That being said, avoid micromanaging people. You'll create a negative dynamic and send the wrong message about the company's culture.

» Inspire your training strategy with exceptional onboarding processes

3. Customization

You should customize onboarding so the new hires and clients get the information they need. For starters, employees should get to learn whatever they need to excel at their role at first—nothing more, nothing less. By tailoring content to different groups, you're speeding up time to completion.

At one point, I worked with a cybersecurity startup that had just purchased our product. They needed a lot of hands-on help with implementation, onboarding, and training. Over a series of three calls, we found exactly what they wanted from the training and where they needed detailed guidance.

From there, I customized their walkthrough videos, recorded demos with their technical team, and built a personalized knowledge base to accompany the material. While this wasn't a direct result of our internal video onboarding, previous experience with the process made it much easier to handle these needs for a new client.

Unfortunately, some companies take a one-size-fits-all approach, creating generic onboarding videos that apply to the entire organization. While this may cover the basics, you'll waste yours and the new hire's time.

As a best practice, you should have the team or its manager participate onboarding creation. They will have the much-needed input that will ensure you include only what they need to do their job efficiently. You should also regularly review and update the materials so they stay relevant to the latest company developments.

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4. Scalability

We've talked a lot about time consumption and resource allocation, but one major benefit of video onboarding is scalability. And how can you scale your onboarding process? Automation. You can use it to maintain consistency and format for training across various teams.

Lyse Group, a Norwegian utility company, struggled to scale its onboarding process. It wanted to:

• Speed up the pre-boarding process by a full day.
• Introduce new hires to the company effectively.
• Address turnover.

The company used an AI platform to provide timely reminders, answer questions, and act as a resource for new employees. As a result, it had a 100% message-read rate on reminders and nudges, helping hires feel supported and engaged throughout the process.

Scalability often requires more technical resources than other aspects of video onboarding. Having the right people in place is crucial, and this may mean that you'll need to reallocate internal resources or even bring in specialized, temporary, or consultative help. The goal is to ensure your core team doesn’t feel overburdened or frustrated by the process.

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5. Remote accessibility

The U.S. Career Institute recently studied the benefits of remote work, confirming what many of us already experience: reduced stress, improved mental health, cost savings, and time saved by avoiding the commute.

With remote accessibility, you ensure that new employees or users can access all the necessary resources, tools, and training materials from anywhere. You also ensure that communication, documentation, and support channels are accessible remotely, allowing new hires to complete onboarding tasks without coming to the office.

Airbnb hosts come from all over the world, and each needs to understand policies, safety procedures, and best practices for hospitality, often without in-person training. To tackle this, the company provides an extensive video onboarding program for new hosts. The clips cover essential topics, such as setting up a listing, understanding guest expectations, and following local regulations. Users can access these anytime and learn at their own pace.

You should store your material in a cloud-based platform to track performance. For example, you can use guidde to analyze total views, unique viewers, and average watch time. You can also highlight the top-performing videos, so your team knows what kind of content drives engagement.

» Get tips to make your content accessible and engaging

Essential Elements of an Effective Onboarding Video

To ensure video onboarding is impactful, several key elements should be considered when building out the structure:

Call to Action

A Call to Action (CTA) is a specific instruction prompting new hires to take an immediate step, such as completing a task, engaging with further content, or reaching out to a team member. Unlike general information, CTAs are action-oriented and guide new employees toward tangible steps that help them learn their roles faster.

For example, guidde's "add call to action" feature lets users add prompts for interactive actions within videos, like voice responses, helping non-technical users build foundational product knowledge. Small tasks that showcase features during onboarding also provide valuable insight into how intuitive the product is for new users.

Let's say a tech company creates onboarding videos for new software developers. At the end of a video on using the company's version control system, the CTA might prompt new hires to "Clone the project repository now" or "Access our practice project here." This real-time application helps them get hands-on experience, which makes the training more interactive.

To apply an effective CTA in onboarding videos, you should:

• Use clear, direct language so the new hire knows exactly what action to take (e.g., "Click here to view your first project guidelines").
• Keep it achievable. CTAs should match the viewer's knowledge level at that point in onboarding. An instructional video might prompt them to complete a profile, while later videos may ask them to engage with advanced tools.
• Position CTAs at natural points in the video, such as the end of a topic section, ensuring they align with the video's goal and flow.

Avoid doing the followng:

• Asking new hires to take too many actions can lead to confusion and overwhelm. Stick to one or two essential steps per video.
• Using vague or generic prompts like "Explore further" or "Keep going" lack direction and may leave viewers unsure of the next steps.
• Adding CTAs without purpose. Every CTA should serve a specific training or onboarding goal. Random prompts can detract from the video’s educational value.

» Check out our complete customer success guide

Proper pacing

The total time allocated for onboarding, along with the pacing of individual videos, directly affects how well new hires retain information. The hires then progress at a reasonable pace, acquire essential skills and knowledge, and do so without feeling overwhelmed or rushed.

For training, the allocated time determines the video's length and the total number of clips to be watched over a set period.

For example, a healthcare company may use onboarding videos to train new employees on patient safety protocols. They might allocate 10 hours over two weeks to watch and complete interactive video modules on hygiene, equipment handling, and emergency procedures. By setting a clear time frame, new hires understand that they should focus on one or two videos daily, which makes the onboarding manageable.

To set a comfortable pace, you should find the essential topics and break them down into short, manageable videos. You can estimate how long it would take for new hires to watch, understand, and complete related activities. Make sure the total allocated time aligns with the complexity and importance of the content.

But you should aim for quality and relevance rather than quantity. Trying to fit complex material into a short timeframe can overwhelm new hires and reduce retention.

» Make the most of your how-to videos

Storytelling

Connecting different parts of the onboarding program and the company as a whole helps new hires see how each team contributes to organizational goals. Showing each team’s role fosters a deeper understanding of how everyone works to serve the company’s mission and customer journey.

In my experience, the best way to integrate storytelling is to introduce each team, clarify where they fit within the company and customer journey, and build touchpoints with team members into the onboarding process. This approach gives new hires a well-rounded understanding of their place within the larger mission.

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Visuals

Visual appeal plays a big role in retaining information. Being able to recall what you studied while on the job means the onboarding was successful.

You can use guidde to add elements like screenshots, images, and visual CTAs to your training videos, which is especially useful if you are working for a large company where teams may not always be readily accessible.

Accessibility

Accessibility is a must in onboarding, as some people may need additional support or non-traditional access to materials. For example, a new hire who is hard of hearing may benefit from closed captions on videos, while someone temporarily working from abroad due to a family emergency will need cloud-based access.

I recall one experience with an automation SaaS company where a hiring manager had to care for her mother overseas. Since everything was stored on a cloud-based system, she could still access materials without any issue—only the time zone needed adjusting.

» Check out our guidelines for making accessible documentation

Challenges When Transitioning to Video-Based Onboarding

Every major change can face pushback. It's natural. And transitioning from a traditional, manual onboarding process to a more automated, video-based approach is no exception. Employees may be concerned about the time or resources needed to establish and integrate such a shift smoothly.

For a successful migration, you should dedicate internal technical and informational resources from each team. If the employees still feel they lack the capacity to take on this additional project, you should consider hiring consultants or part-time assistants to ease the load on current staff.

Another potential pitfall is information overload. Simply presenting new hires with a series of onboarding videos and expecting them to complete the content on their own can easily lead to confusion.

You should schedule regular check-ins where managers can gauge the new hire's understanding, provide additional support as needed, and encourage open communication.

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Revamp Your Onboarding With Videos

Traditional onboarding methods are struggling to keep up with modern workplaces. New hires often feel overwhelmed, disconnected, and underprepared. Video-based onboarding offers a better solution.

This approach provides a consistent, flexible, and engaging way to train new employees. It's accessible remotely, customizable, and scalable, addressing many common onboarding challenges. By making new hires feel supported and valued, video onboarding can improve employee retention and strengthen the company's brand.

As the future of work evolves, video onboarding will be a powerful tool for organizations to build long-term success.

» Invest in your onboarding. Test a video documentation platform

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