7 Examples of Onboarding Videos that Give New Hires a Strong Start

Video content is key when creating engaging content for your onboarding program. New hires want to experience - and not just read about what to expect and prepare for. Landing a new (perfect) job is emotional experience, and you as an employer would want to confirm and enhance that feeling. So, what kind of videos to include in your pre- and onboarding program? Look no further. Here is some inspiration: 7 videos your new hires will love to see before day 1.

Before we dive into the specific examples, let’s revisit the benefits of employee onboarding videos. Cause actually, they do much more than serve as a feel-good, informative learning.

In fact, if you’re looking to justify spending both time and resources on video production, here’s a list of benefits:

1. Video fosters an emotional connection
2. It is the best medium to capture the culture of the company
3. It help build trust with managers and executives
4. With video, it is easier to maintain consistent company messaging
5. It communicates product features or service benefits clearly
6. With video, you enable self-paced learning
7. It is easy to reuse video content
8. Video training shortens time to productivity
9. It makes learning flexible and lowers on-site training costs

Now, let’s take a closer look at different types of video content:

Mindvalley: 1 day at the office experience 

Mindvalley, The Kuala Lumpur based educational company, decided to shoot a normal day at the office. The result: A 4 minute video showing the extraordinary office atmosphere, people, rituals, and events. Now, Mindvalley invited a film crew, but actually you could shoot this yourself with a handheld camera. Even with the simple effects of adding time stamps,  event headlines, and music, this video manages to deliver a glimpse of the Mindvalley culture - and why the company claims that Happiness is the new productivity.

BambooHR: Work life balance

In 2 minutes BambooHR clearly communicates how they disassociate themselves with an ever-working startup environment and rather advocate: “Lead a balanced life”. The video is highly creative, which makes it stand out Employer Branding wise. It not only claims to balance work life, it also shows the employees at work and after work in different contexts. 

Canva: Fun add-on product intro 

Why not 'preboard' your new hires with a video that gets them acquainted, or even better become a fan of your product? In this video, Canva walks you through creating your first design using their software. And here is what they do so well: They avoid showcasing feature by feature, and instead they center their video around completing one task successfully. Nobody cares about what a bunch of features do . Your customers - and new hires - want to know what your service can do for them. This fast-paced product onboarding video takes you through each step of creating a design and points out fun add-ons to inspire you to get designing.

GrubHub: Employee tips and tricks

This 2-minute video is a great example of peer-to-peer content. In a simple way, Grubhub shows the work environment and give tips and practical tricks to new team members. While the real training on the job happens during the first weeks and months this kind of video serves the purpose of how best to prepare and tune in on a great daily routine. Of course, you could add even more “insider” tips and tricks - however, adding many doesn’t always mean adding more value. Let the new employee get to know the job better first.

Zappos: CEO + employee interview video

The legendary shoe company Zappo talks about work life integration and how the Zappo culture is the main business driver. Naturally, any recruit should get the opportunity to “get under the skin” early on and understand the full concept of living the values that got him/her the job. This video is a great example of what you can do with informal interviews mixed with short, authentic footage of team members in the office.

Spotify: How-we-engineer illustration video

How do you explain or show your work processes as an agile organization? Spotify decided to illustrate this in a 26 min video that not only explain how engineering teams work with scrum but how team collaboration and autonomy define Spotify’s culture. Yes, it is very long, but the smart thing with this video is that Spotify manages to uncomplicate a complex work process and at the same time bring life to it with simple illustrations and a voice-over. For new hires, this gives insight into how he/she will take part in the work process and shape the culture: “You are the culture, so model the behavior you want to see”

Google: Interns’ first-week experience

Don’t feel overwhelmed with our last example here. The idea is to get inspired about showcasing the first week for new employees/interns and give them an emotional experience of what to expect. Google’s 6 min video is a great example of video footage of your environment, like office and surroundings, and people sharing authentic comments in the very moment of their first week. Why not focus less on introducing week 1 as formalities and instead let new hires inspire others by sharing their first week experiences?  It’s relatable and empathetic. Now, include it in their preboarding and let them watch the video BEFORE day 1. Shouldn’t that convert nervousness into excitement?

Want to know more about how to create a great Employee Onboarding and Preboarding program?

3 Steps to Making your Digital Onboarding Successful

The Preboarding Checklist: How to excite, engage, and prepare your new hire before day 1

Onboarding mistakes to avoid - and what you can do instead