Strategies for Boosting Employee Retention and Engagement

The world of HR is constantly evolving, and over the past couple of years, we’ve seen the pace of change accelerate. The pandemic sparked a rapid shift towards flexible working, then came the era of the Great Resignation, and we’re now seeing hiring freezes in businesses all over the world as a result of the cost of living crisis. Now more than ever, there is a growing need for HR professionals to build strategies that go beyond attracting new talent and focus on keeping existing employees feeling valued, motivated and engaged.

As we step into 2023, now is the perfect time to rethink the strategic role of your HR team. The pressure to keep staff feeling motivated and engaged during times of uncertainty doesn’t just present challenges for HR professionals: it opens up opportunities to create a more positive, fulfilling, and exciting work environment for everyone.

Depending on your company size and priorities, a strong HR strategy in 2023 should focus on the following:

• Motivating, engaging, and retaining employees
• Creating a strong value-based company culture
• Upskilling and empowering employees to grow
• Aligning employees around one clear vision
• Nurturing team bonds while employees are working remotely

But as you know, the challenge for HR teams isn’t coming up with new initiatives. Rather, it’s being able to execute and package these initiatives into fresh, exciting, and bite-sized communication experiences valued employees will pay attention to and interact with.

Whether delivered in a physical or virtual setting, making sure your employee engagement, training, and retention efforts are visually engaging will determine how “successful,” “forward-thinking,” or “tech-savvy” your team is perceived to be in the eyes of your employees.

Instead of relying on text-heavy group messages, endless emails, and old-school PowerPoints that go unread, we propose a new approach - one that uses visual communication to engage employees on a far deeper level.

Definition: Visual communication refers to transferring ideas and information through visual media such as video, animation, images, and GIFs.

According to the Social Science Research Network, at least 65% of your workforce are visual learners. That’s because our brains are wired to decode visual information 60,000 times faster than written text. On top of this, presenting information in a visually engaging way helps provide valuable context to your employees and can spark important emotions like trust, excitement, and empathy.

Designed for HR team leaders and senior managers, this guide provides actionable tips to help your team package every initiative into a visual experience that keeps every employee excited to be part of the business.

Using Videos to Enhance Employee Engagement

01. DEVELOPMENT

Show your employees how much you value the quality of their learning experiences by transforming text-heavy upskilling materials into enjoyable video learning sessions.

02. ALIGNMENT

Keep employees engaged by reducing information fatigue and using attractive and simple videos that get everyone on the same page.

03. EMPOWERMENT

Motivate employees with video and visual content that encourages them to learn and grow.

04. INSPIRATION

Present initiatives and results in a visual way that inspires employees sparks discussion, and wins support.

05. INCLUSION

Make your employees feel valued by celebrating their diversity and encouraging them to get creative and have their voices heard.

06. COLLABORATION

Foster a sense of connection and community among distributed employees by encouraging them to work together on exciting, hands-on video-making projects.

07. RETENTION

Keep your employees committed to your company in the long term with engaging, informative, and accessible video content that keeps all team members feeling informed, valued, and aligned.

DEVELOPMENT

In 2018, LinkedIn found that 93% of employees would stay at a company longer if they felt the company invested in their careers. When it comes to boosting retention rates, training and development matters, and video and visual content can be powerful tools to help employees and middle managers build knowledge and skills in the short and long term.

According to a study by the eLearning Industry, video-based instruction can improve learning outcomes by as much as 50% compared to traditional text-based methods. Kaltura also found that employees are 75% more likely to watch a video than to read a document and that video-based training results in a retention rate of 95%.

Invitation to Training:

All trainers have one goal: to increase attendance rates. Use short, animated videos to get employees and remote learners psyched for your next training session.

“Powtoon has elevated our learning and development resources from antiquated training binders to lively and engaging content that speaks to our audience. Foot Locker, Inc.’s retail team now receives vibrant and fully branded micro-learning videos that capture our organization’s spirit and celebration of sneaker and youth culture around the globe.”

Jennifer Baker, Senior Manager, Retail Learning and Development at Footlocker

Tutorials:

Creating successful tutorials provides an incredible opportunity to help existing (and new) employees gain soft skills and comply with best practices. Opt for animated or whiteboard training videos to get teams excited about their future in the company.

Pro Tip: Next time your team introduces a new video tutorial, get them to add a star ranking option at the end for employee feedback. The more insights they glean, the easier it will be to optimize your training programs and reach employees’ career objectives.

“Powtoon brings our staff training videos to another level. As our workforce is forced to learn new programs and platforms to face the demand of the virtual world, we turn to Powtoon to train the team, helping staff stay relevant and thrive in our virtual communication initiatives.”

Luz Hinojosa, Education Project Manager at Texas Association of Countries

Product Walkthroughs:

Is there new software that your team needs to learn or train others on? Screen and webcam recordings allow for a comprehensive walkthrough of any product, along with voiceover narration.

Training Completion Certificates:
Instead of basic printouts or documents, your team can award employees and trainees with an official attendance certificate video they can share on social media. No matter how old you are, it always feels good to be rewarded for your efforts!

“Powtoon offers us a way to churn out visually appealing graphics, animation, and special effects quickly and efficiently. No one available to host a training video? Powtoon’s avatar finishes allow us to clear that hurdle.”

Wynnona Haynes, Talent Development Manager at Murata

ALIGNMENT

Clear communication and consistent reinforcement of shared goals is key to ensuring your team stays motivated and engaged. But keeping everyone on the same page can be challenging, especially when employees are distributed in different locations and time zones. The question is: how can your HR team keep everyone aligned around one clear vision?

Project Kickoffs & Updates:

Is your team planning something new? Easily break down a project, action plan, and timeframes with explainer videos that are quick for employees to digest. Highlight key initiatives, timelines, and action items – and update on progress week by week.

“Powtoon has helped me bring people to the story and vision of the region. Now, instead of 20-page strategy documents that go unread, we can send a short video summary directly on WhatsApp. Now there’s a field officer in the middle of nowhere who gets what the vision of this regional leadership team is, and gets what we’re doing, and why we’re doing it.”

Reshma Khan, ECSA Regional Organizational, Development and Culture Specialist at CARE International

Meeting Summary and Follow-Ups:

Meetings and video calls can be draining, especially when your company has numerous distributed teams. Using video messages or explainer videos, your team can clearly relay and contextualize action items, deadlines, and key milestones they want employees to remember. Drop the video into an email, group channel, or your existing LMS/LXP platform where employees can easily refer to it.Meetings and video calls can be draining, especially when your company has numerous distributed teams. Using video messages or explainer videos, your team can clearly relay and contextualize action items, deadlines, and key milestones they want employees to remember. Drop the video into an email, group channel, or your existing LMS/LXP platform where employees can easily refer to it.

Pro Tip: Powtoon offers speed controls so your team can watch your video summaries on double speed in their own free time. Now that’s productive!

All-Hands Meetings:

Engage employees at your next department or all-hands meeting with a memorable video presentation and supporting visuals that boost engagement. This is the most productive way to guide employees through upcoming revenue goals, company projects, and product updates. Don’t forget to shout out all the hard workers that made it happen.

Pro Tip: With Powtoon’s fully-editable project management templates, all your team needs to do is add their messages, swap images, and personalize their branded characters to align with your company! Then, they can present far and wide to visually guide your employees through your latest updates, goals, and projects.

Department QBR:

Another quarter has come and gone — and it’s time to show all your department has accomplished! Present a Quarterly Roadmap video to let everyone know your exciting plans for the upcoming quarter clearly and visually.

EMPOWERMENT

Employee empowerment goes beyond “employee happiness.” It’s about building long-term emotional commitment towards your company. Engaged employees yield higher productivity, lower absenteeism, and boost company morale, leading to greater employee retention. So how can your team effectively show appreciation, recognize hard work, and boost employee motivation?

Morning Inspiration:

Looking to get your team or other teams more energized? Presenting a short video at the beginning of each week with action items, to-do’s, and inspirational quotes can help set the stage for exceptional work and give employees a dose of perspective and motivation for the future.

Employee Recognition:
The best way to motivate employees is by recognizing their talents and contributions, especially when they’re working remotely. At all company meetings, announce your company’s highest-achieving employees, teams, or departments. No matter who presents this shout-out, it’s sending a clear message about your core values.

“Our company needed to create a presentation to thank all attendees to our Virtual Strategy Meeting for their invaluable contributions. The presentation needed to be dynamic, short, engaging, fun and easy to distribute to the target audience, which for me translates into ‘Powtoon’. I was able to create it using some of the many templates available, plus using the image upload, insert objects and other versatile functions. In summary, I received multiple kudos for how well this Powtoon accomplished the target of thanking all participants.”

Jean-Paul Marius, Senior Manager at EH&S Data Management Systems

Announcements:

Having an office party? Releasing a new product? Planning a team building activity? Is it that time of year for staff development? Encourage your team to announce all of your big company changes and celebrate the success of your people by creating a video newsletter like this one

Virtual Events:

Get your team to successfully host a webinar or virtual event with a super engaging video. Educate audiences using webinar best practices and supporting animation that visually guides them through the challenges, facts, and takeaways of your topic

INSPIRATION

Your team invests valuable time, energy, and resources into all kinds of employee onboarding, training, and engagement activities. But how can you help them be recognised for their results and accomplishments in a visual, easily digestible, and inspiring way?

Monthly Reports:

Use video infographics to present the results of your latest program, campaign, or initiative. The structure is simple: introduce your project, state your goals, and reveal whether the results match expectations

“My experience with Powtoon for Business was always excellent! The tool allows you to navigate and create videos in an easy, fast and super intuitive way. I highly recommend it for creating new materials.”

Victoria Olthoff, Training Analyst, Change Management at Accenture

Research Summaries:

Ensure your research findings are presented clearly and unforgettably with a research summary video that’s sure to engage. This is the perfect way to make your team stand out from other departments in the company

Pro Tip: Preparing a visual report can be time-consuming. Using Powtoon, you can efficiently customize and update your video reports on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis.

INCLUSION

By recognizing and valuing each individual's unique perspectives at your company, you create a workplace where everyone feels heard, understood, and appreciated. Companies that prioritize inclusion and self-expression in this way tend to have higher employee retention rates, with Boston Consulting Group finding that teams in inclusive companies outperform their peers and stay with their employers for longer periods. In short, creating an inclusive culture isn’t just the right thing to do - it will also see your employee retention rate rise.

Give Your Employees A Voice:
Encourage employees to shout about their successes that month, propose a new business idea, or present something they’re passionate about. All of these are great ways to show you care about the people contributing to your business, creating a welcoming and supportive environment for everyone.

Character Building:
‍With Powtoon, team members can express themselves by creating a character that represents them, and they can fully customize with endless clothing combinations, skin tones, facial features, and accessories.

"Powtoon’s character builder is fantastic! I spent a lot of time creating and saving characters. My favorite part is that I can change colors to match my brand, all the way from branded clothing to having green skin. I'm looking forward to seeing the extension of the character-building features."

Nathaly Wheller, Marketing Manager at Prepaid Meters

Automated Transcriptions & Translations:
‍AI-powered video platforms can automatically transcribe and translate video content, making it more accessible to a broader audience. This can be especially valuable for companies with a diverse workforce or those looking to expand into new markets.

Allowing employees to present their ideas through video is also a great way to nurture their creativity by encouraging them to choose the colors, shapes, and templates that speak to them, rather than working within the rigid confines of a basic PowerPoint template.

“Powtoon for Business has been a game changer for the Employee Engagement Team. We actively utilize this platform to enhance and add flair to our communication pieces and presentations. The pre-loaded template options are amazing, as it allows us to create and customize our presentations with ease and confidence.”

Lalchan V. Mahabir, Training Manager within the Learning and Development Centre at Republic Bank

Top Tip: Why not host a monthly ‘Lunch & Learn’ session where employees can volunteer to share a video on something they’re passionate about? Whether it be a cocktail-making tutorial, a quiz, or a presentation on a charity that’s close to their heart, the opportunities for self-expression - and team bonding - are endless.

COLLABORATION

Collaboration is a hugely important part of team building, which in turn is vital to boosting employee engagement and retention. If you’re looking to foster a more collaborative work environment, the good news is that video makes it easier than ever for employees to work together and engage; allowing employees to work on hands-on video projects together and present ideas to one another.

Collaborative Video Projects:
‍Increase collaboration amongst your team by encouraging employees to work on video projects together. With Powtoon, team members can make edits, offer real-time feedback, and dip into a shared library of shared branded logos, templates, and company colors to ensure everyone stays on brand.

Top Tip: Divide your team into smaller groups and assign each group a different aspect of the video-making process, such as scriptwriting, voiceovers, or animation. You could even involve team members from different departments in the video-making process to break down silos and foster greater cross-functional collaboration. For example, the marketing team can work with the design team to create the storyboard, while the sales team can provide input on messaging and branding. This can help to build trust and camaraderie among team members, as they work together to create something truly unique and impactful.

Hackathons:

Nothing fosters innovation, collaboration, and fun like a team or department-wide hackathon, which your employees can then walk the rest of the team through by video

“Powtoon makes hackathons easier for everyone involved. In out yearly global hackathon, out teams used Powtoon to grate short videos to pitch their innovative ideas to our pane; of judges in a visually and engaging way. Powtoon added lots of energy to our hackathon”

Valerie Katz Sztybel, Innovation Manager at NICE

RETENTION

To keep employees feeling positive, motivated, and committed to your business, it’s essential that they feel empowered, well-informed, and valued within their team. Asynchronous video can be a powerful tool to encourage employees to stay and grow within your company. As we’ve touched on throughout this guide, video allows you to provide employees with personalized feedback, countless opportunities to express themselves creatively, and interactive courses to nurture their growth.

Video is also one of the most impactful and engaging ways to quickly and consistently deliver clear and consistent messaging about your company, facilitate team workshops and training sessions, and organize social or team-building activities. Together, these activities can make a world of difference in boosting employee engagement, productivity, and retention rates.

“Powtoon allows us to engage with our learners in an interactive and fun way. We use Powtoon in a variety of ways, such as mass communication, learning scenarios, and demonstrating compliance for important procedures. Whether creating a fun message, introducing new procedures, or reinforcing learning, Powtoon is our go-to to bring the content to life.”

Amy Uhrig, Learning Experience Design Manager at EmployBridge

Engaging Workshops:
‍Asynchronous video can help deliver virtual team-building workshops and training sessions focusing on communication, problem-solving, and collaboration. For example, a company might create a series of videos that cover key team-building concepts and techniques and then offer follow-up sessions where team members can discuss and practice these concepts in a virtual setting. This can help build team skills, improve performance, and boost company morale.

Pro Tip: Why not try delivering virtual team-building challenges that encourage team members to work together to complete tasks or achieve goals? For example, you could create a series of challenges that require team members to work together to solve problems or complete tasks and offer video coaching and support to help teams succeed, building teamwork and collaboration skills.

Top tips for HR teams using video to boost retention:

Keep it short and focused: Video content should be concise and to the point, with a clear objective and message.
Make it engaging: Use interactive elements such as quizzes, polls, and Q&A sessions to engage viewers and keep their attention.
Test and iterate: Test your video content with a small group and gather feedback to identify areas for improvement.

Keep employees engaged with powerful videos

We hope you’re feeling well-equipped to take employee engagement and retention to the next level with the power of asynchronous video.

If you’re just starting out, remember to start small and build momentum when incorporating video into your employee engagement and retention strategies. Start by identifying a few key areas where video could be most impactful and focus on those first. As you gain experience and build confidence, you can scale up your use of video over time.

Powtoon is the key to engaging, motivating, and inspiring employees. With the Powtoon platform, you can create and share videos and visual content that make an impact at all stages of the employee experience.

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Engage and Retain Your People in 2023