Remember what watching video on anything but a TV was like 15 years ago? Streaming video was rough—most dial-ups simply couldn’t support data moving through so quickly. You could download a video onto your computer (and a computer was the only device capable of playing such files), but you would need an hour and a big chunk of your machine’s storage to devote for a three-minute movie trailer.
Then, everything changed. Computers and modems became faster, bandwidth was expanded, and new formats were introduced. Portable devices enabled more video use. And then there was YouTube, which forever revolutionized video on demand. In a decade, the website has gone from a novelty to a medium through which 300 hours of video is uploaded every minute. This unabated proliferation of video has transformed how people spend leisure time, watch movies and television, and interact with each other. Also, it’s increasingly making its way into new employee training.
Tablet-based training software is facilitating this shift to video-driven learning. Hires of all ages and work backgrounds are benefiting from this approach, as are the organizations bold enough to distribute content through iPad or tablets. Here are some ways how video for new employee training can accommodate all types of learners:
Younger Employees Don’t Feel Like They Are Studying
Many millennials, who are on the verge of comprising the largest generation of workers in U.S. history, aren’t so far removed from high school and/or college (if they aren’t otherwise doubling as students) to remember what studying was like—tedious. The last thing they want on their first day of a new job is more studying, but that’s what they often face as part of company’s new employee training. Younger hires will engage in their new jobs if the learning is straightforward and interesting, and video is a big part of this strategy.
Millennials Like the Technology
Generations Y and Z are the heaviest users of the technology that was unthinkable 20 or even just 10 years ago. Millennials feel most comfortable with tablets and other mobile options; they have the least amount of learning curve when presented with video-based applications on the devices. Therefore, new employee training on iPad or Surface won’t intimidate them at all, but instead will be welcomed. They may even be impressed, which will, again, give them more incentive to fully engage with their new jobs.
No More Words
Workers across generations do not get as much out of printed training content as they do from video. Generation X and baby boomers may accept the three-inch binder as a reality of the corporate world, possibly because they were given one to study and learn when they were first entering the workforce—but that doesn’t mean they have to like it today. Video simply carries more impact for all new employee training programs; hires retain more from the outset and are less lost once they hit the floor. Furthermore, video on tablets makes training portable, thus allowing employees to learn on the job, where the action is, rather than in some back office.
Older Workers Like the Technology, Too
Just because millennials have grown up with rapidly changing technology doesn’t mean older employees aren’t well versed with tablets and other devices as well. Gen Xers and baby boomers are just as familiar with watching Netflix and Hulu on their iPad and watching YouTube videos on their smartphones as younger generations. Give these age 35-plus hires new employee training videos to absorb instead of printed content, and they will also be more likely to learn the skills, be up to speed faster and retain more in the future. Moreover, they will also appreciate the smoother onboarding process the technology promotes.
How does your company handle new employee training across generations?
