A streaming video revolution is under way in the enterprise and millennials are the ones leading the change. With video already wired in their DNA, millennials in the workplace are taking the lead in embracing video consumption across organizations. According to Frost & Sullivan, the market for enterprise streaming video platforms and solutions is expected to witness tremendous growth, and triple in size by 2021, as enterprise video moves past an experimental technology phase to become a business-critical communication tool and productivity enabler.
Organizations that fail to integrate streaming video in their everyday business processes already risk being left behind the competitive curve, while also overlooking the needs of the fastest growing segment of their workforce. Savvy corporations, on the other hand, are leveraging enterprise streaming video for a wide range of business use cases, including employee communication, training, learning, knowledge sharing, product marketing, sales enablement, and more – all of which contributes to maximize employee engagement, enrich learning among the workforce, and allow for more effective communication across the board, which in turn boosts business outcomes.
Here are some ways streaming video helps millennials thrive in the modern workplace:
A generation that grew up around technology, device and video proliferation is naturally most effective when enabled by these tools. Millennials and their familiarity with streaming video means they not only prefer visual learning but can also deliver more efficiently using a medium they already use and consume heavily outside of work. A modern enterprise streaming video platform can help millennials record, create, store, search and share live or on-demand video content from any device, anytime, anywhere.
Moreover, live streamed corporate messaging, training, and innovative activities and initiatives such as employee-generated content or employee-led live product demos can also add significantly to employee interest, creativity and engagement levels. Gartner predicts by 2020, the greatest source of competitive advantage for 30% of organizations will come from the workforce's ability to creatively exploit digital technologies – and for businesses, innovative use of streaming video will be an important factor in creating tangible market differentiation.
The question of how corporate training, learning and knowledge sharing should be structured for millennials in the workplace is an important one. Millennials’ comfort level with technology means they respond well to a digital learning styles and delivery methods, of which streaming video plays a significant role. Streaming video can be used to disseminate live and on-demand training and learning sessions in the form of online learning modules, live training, webinars and interactive courses with polls, surveys, and quizzes or even gamification elements comprising leaderboards, badges, and certifications.
Such video-driven self-paced learning then promotes a competitive and collaborative work environment that could have a far-reaching impact on millennials’ need for continuous interactive learning through a medium of their choice and at a pace and time that is convenient for them. Streaming video can also enormously ease the employee onboarding process by establishing ‘corporate YouTube libraries’ with valuable information from subject matter experts, veteran employees, and institutional knowledge which serves to maintain knowledge continuity in the face of employee turnover and helps newcomers learn faster and more effectively.
Having grown up with social media and technological gadgets at their fingertips, millennials are accustomed to openness, flexibility and instant connection with people, regardless of their whereabouts. The millennial generation craves social interaction, networking, and collaboration, which naturally also extends to the workplace. Streaming video not only opens new avenues for employee collaboration but also provides millennials the opportunities for social learning, which in turn contributes to their professional ‘network,' and allows them to express ideas in the form of meaningful workplace participation. Such video-enabled avenues for employee expression can also increase organization-wide recognition, acknowledgment and even career progression opportunities in the workplace.
Why should business leaders care? Because collaboration is the key to maintaining a functional workforce. According to a Salesforce survey, a whopping 86% of corporate executives attribute workplace failures to a lack of collaboration. Not only this, millennials are even more opposed to working in silos than the generations prior. In fact, a study indicates 40% of millennials would even pay out of pocket for social collaboration tools to improve productivity at work, which alludes to the degree to which millennials believe in the power of social learning and integration that combines technology and collaboration.
Contrary to commonly held misconceptions, Pew Research suggests millennials are just as likely to stick with their employers as their older counterparts in Generation X. In fact, college-educated millennials are found to stay in their jobs longer than their Gen X counterparts. However, as noted by Forbes Magazine, millennials are loyal to a job rather than an employer, and they put purpose over a paycheck. What this means is millennials have a greater need, or expectation rather, for meaning, purpose, and fulfillment in work, more than their predecessors do.
For millennials, the quest for workplace fulfillment can be met with technological tools that enable them to voice their ideas, contribute to the company’s purpose, seek out new ideas via collaboration, and develop their skills with timely feedback – just as they do at home with social networks and other communication technologies. Streaming video is one of the most powerful tools that give employees the ability to share ideas and knowledge, giving way for collaborative learning and meaningful workplace participation. All employee-generated streaming video content can also be logged and chronicled in video libraries within an enterprise video platform for everyone else to view and learn for years to come. Not only this, but such involvement also encourages individual initiative for value contribution that transcends corporate hierarchies.
VIDIZMO’s enterprise streaming video platform provides a comprehensive solution for live and on-demand video streaming adapted with a complete set of features for video capture, storage, processing, viewing, sharing, and more.
For more information on how VIDIZMO can help you employ the best streaming video technology for your evolving workforce demographics, visit our website or contact us for details.