How to Improve Employee Engagement Using Video Analytics

Employee engagement rates continue to decline, with more than 50% of US employees not feeling engaged. This is concerning for HR departments that look to leverage employee engagement to help reduce turnover rates, improve productivity, and make employees feel satisfied and passionate about their work.

The consequences of disengagement in the workplace can be dire for organizations. According to Gallup, disengaged employees can cost businesses around $2 trillion due to losses in productivity. To keep up, organizations need to take advantage of video analytics to refine their employee communications strategies.

Keeping engagement levels high has always been a challenge, but the rise of remote and hybrid work models has only increased it. Traditional methods of communication and training can fall short in these new, decentralized work environments.

The effects of this change are apparent. A study revealed that nearly half of all employees in the workplace felt disconnected from their coworkers. And it's these very disconnects that cause employees to feel isolated, demotivated, and resort to 'quiet quitting'—doing the bare minimum without investing any additional time, enthusiasm, and effort into their work.

This has become the catalyst for change for HR teams to think outside of the box and bring employee connection and company culture back into the fold. One such solution is the use of video to communicate messages from company leadership, bridge gaps in communication, and provide training for crucial skills. It's an approach that has garnered success, with 48% of surveyed employees considering video to be the most engaging way to communicate.

But simply creating video content isn't enough. Organizations also need to leverage analytics from these videos to gain valuable data and insights into how their employees interact with video content. This data empowers them to move beyond assumptions and create a more engaging and impactful video experience for their workforce.

The only question is, how can analytics work improve employee engagement? To explore this and more in this blog, we'll be delving into the world of video analytics, why they matter, and how they can help you refine your employee engagement strategy.

But first, let's take a step back and understand why video analytics matters in the workplace.

Understanding Video Analytics in the Workplace

Organizations are large, with several moving parts and tons of variability. A successful, replicable strategy for a business often relies on the use of data to make informed decisions, identify areas of improvement, and optimize their operations. And it's a similar case for video analytics.

When streaming video content for training, outreach, or other purposes, organizations look for metrics that they can analyze and improve on. Simply looking at view counts gives the company a very limited view. It's a bit like a restaurant owner tracking the number of customers who enter the door without considering how many actually place orders or leave satisfied.

Organizations with robust video strategies look for granular video content analytics like engagement metrics, impressions, watch time, and more that help them understand how their efforts are translating into their goals.

What is Employee Engagement and Why Does it Matter?

Employee engagement is a catch-all term that describes how motivated, committed, satisfied, and driven an employee is in their workplace. Here are some of the key identifiers of an engaged employee:

They feel satisfied with their job.
They feel highly motivated to do the work required by their role.
They share the same values and identity as their organization.
They're committed to the success of the organization.

But why does all this matter, you might ask? Because it results in loyal, responsible, and passionate employees.

Organizations don't just want employees who clock in and clock out. They want a high potential (HIPO) employee—someone who feels an emotional connection to their role. These employees are able to put a great deal of effort, focus, and energy into getting their job done—not because they have to but because they want to.

This is what is more likely to drive these engaged employees to reach business goals. They also boast higher productivity and bring in as much as 21% more profitability back to the business.

Employers have taken note of the valuable advantages of employee engagement and have instituted various programs to help nurture it. Organizations that have succeeded in these efforts have reported engagement rates as high as 70%.

How Videos Can Be Used to Increase Employee Engagement

Traditionally, HR departments have used various programs to foster employee engagement and increase morals in the workplace. But the question is, does that strategy still hold true, or is there room for change?

Well, the future of work is changing. Estimates forecast that about 32.6 million Americans will work remotely by 2025. With remote and hybrid work gaining more adoption, traditional methods like in-person meetings and company events become less feasible. Employers are left with no choice but to leverage technology to connect with their geographically dispersed workforce.

This is where video communication steps in. Videos serve as powerful tools for fostering employee engagement in the modern workplace. Let's explore exactly how:

Using Executive Communication Videos to Align Goals and Vision

Let's face it: employees aren't driven solely by a company's bottom line. What truly motivates them is a shared vision, a sense of purpose that resonates with their own values and aspirations.

It's very hard for a CEO to convince an employee on the ground to feel motivated about increasing the company's ROI. However, they can articulate a clear and meaningful business goal and the employee's role in contributing to achieving this larger vision.

A practical way this is implemented in the workplace is by having a CEO or other top-level executive communicate with their team, either through the use of on-demand videos or live streams.

Leaders and visionaries in the company who manage to communicate their vision inspire employees to believe in the company's future and feel personally invested in its achievements.

Boosting Confidence with Livestreamed Mentorship Programs

Continuous learning and development is the key to success for employees in the workplace. However, traditional training programs often leave a lot to be desired. While they excel at ensuring the standardization of knowledge and skills, they often fall short in fostering deeper engagement and motivation.

This is where live-streamed mentorship programs come in. Employers can delegate seasoned executives and senior employees to offer valuable insights, advice, and actionable strategies through live streaming.

This approach allows tailored learning for mentees based on what the organization expects from them and the skills they need to excel. Fostering a culture of mentorship can have a profound impact on boosting employee confidence and unlocking their full potential.

Taking a virtual approach to this gives mentors the flexibility to fit sessions into busy schedules. What's more, mentees can interact with them in real-time through live chat, Q&As, and more.

Building Stronger Work Relationships with Virtual Team-Building Activities

Strengthening relationships between employees is critical to ensuring employee engagement. Employees who feel like they work as part of a team will be better equipped to communicate effectively and overcome challenges together.

Typically, organizations rely on team-building exercises and retreats to foster collaboration and camaraderie. However, this only works when all employees work in the same location. Getting that same level of cohesion is a bit difficult when there are cross-functional teams with off-site, remote, or hybrid employees.

In such cases, HR departments often rely on video to build virtual teams. This can include a range of activities, from video introductions and sharing personal experiences and interests to video-based challenges and games. In fact, research has proven that virtual team-building activities can often result in more effective, engaging, and productive outcomes.

Upskilling Using Training Videos

Nobody enjoys feeling stagnant in their role. The last thing employees crave is a monotonous work routine. It doesn't do wonders for their self-fulfillment, confidence, and, most importantly, engagement.

But luckily, it doesn't have to be that way. The ever-evolving nature of work demands continuous learning and skill development. Giving employees the tools and resources to upskill themselves empowers them to try new things and succeed in other domains—both ideas that do wonders for employee engagement.

Training videos are often put to task for these purposes. Instead of having to re-initiate training efforts, a simple training video can be made and reused as many times as needed. Videos also offer time and cost benefits over traditional classroom-style training sessions.

Instead of having to pay for travel and accommodation costs for employees or instructors to come together in a single location, they can utilize an on-demand video to go over learning materials. This also gives learners the flexibility to learn at their own pace and fit training sessions into their schedules.

Showcasing Organizational Culture Using Onboarding Videos

A company's culture is its lifeblood. It's what defines how employees interact, work together, and approach challenges. New hires form their initial impression of an organization from the start of their onboarding process. For organizations, this first impression is really important.

This is where onboarding videos can be a powerful tool for showcasing unique company culture and welcoming new employees into the fold. These videos can be used to communicate company values, team dynamics, and the work environment that new employees can expect.

From the employer's perspective, this ends up being a proactive approach to employee engagement. New hires are a blank slate, meaning they have the potential to form any perspective about the organization—positive or negative. And that means there's a really solid opportunity to get them engaged with their work right from the start.

An infographic depicting how video analytics can be used to increase employee engagement

How to Use Video Analytics to Improve Employee Engagement

As discussed previously, organizations use videos throughout the workplace to achieve various outcomes. However, the benefits of video don't just stop at the videos themselves. The video analytics generated by these videos offer a treasure trove of insights that can be harnessed to improve employee engagement in powerful ways.

Of course, you have to be able to understand data first before you use it. To harness this potential, you should understand how different types of analytics work to foster engagement in different ways. Let us have a look at these video content analytics and how they help.

Analyze Engagement Analytics to Gauge Employee Interest

When it comes to using video analytics to work on an employee engagement strategy, engagement analytics are your best bet. These are the kinds of analytics you want to look at to track how your employees are interacting with the video content you're putting out.

Video engagement analytics can include a wide range of different metrics such as views, time played, completions, impressions, etc. These analytics give you a solid foundation to understand how successful your content is in delivering its intended message.

If the numbers in your video engagement analytics are high, that means the video content is resonating with your audience and achieving its intended goals. Conversely, if numbers aren't doing well, then that should be your cue to try to dig deeper and make changes if necessary.

For example, say you put out a video message from a C-level executive. The video has high views but low completions. This tells you that employees might be starting the video but not finding the value they expected. Perhaps the initial introduction is too long-winded, or the video dives right into complex topics without providing a proper overview.

In either case, you can use this data to take a second look at the video and try to pinpoint where the issue might lie. Once you do, you can rework it accordingly.

Benchmark Against Popular Content with Content Interaction Analytics

Engagement and interaction often go hand in hand. While view counts and completion rates provide valuable insights, a deeper understanding of how employees interact with your video content can be gleaned through content interaction analytics.

Think of it like this. How do you tell if a restaurant is popular? It has a lot of customers. How do you tell if a restaurant is good? It has a lot of good reviews. Both metrics are important, and you need both to form a complete picture for a more informed decision.

In the case of video, engagement analytics only tell you half the picture. They're good at telling you that your content generates interest. However, they may not be able to tell you if that content is good at retaining that interest throughout its lifecycle.

This is where content interaction analytics come in. These analytics track metrics like the total likes, shares, comments, etc., that a piece of video content has received. These analytics tell you how engaging your content was in making your employees go the extra mile to share that content with someone or leave a comment expressing their thoughts.

Even if you have a video with high watch times and completions, you won't know for sure if that content was actively consumed or just put on passively with half-interest. However, if they're interacting regularly with your content, then you know it's being consumed actively.

For organizations that use video-based strategies for employee engagement, it's really important to identify well-performing content to replicate what works and discard what doesn't. And simply looking at view counts to gauge popular content isn't going to tell them much.

Track Information Retention Using Quiz Analytics

As we touched on earlier, training and upskilling are two of the most effective ways to increase employee engagement. In that sense, ensuring employee comprehension of training materials is bar none.

Video-based training allows organizations to disseminate information in a dynamic and engaging way, but how do you tell if that information is actually being received on the other end?

The answer to that question is quizzes. They help you test your viewers and understand how they absorb information. What's more, you can analyze analytics generated by these quizzes. These analytics give you a detailed look into quiz attempts, passes, fails, average scores, time spent on quizzes, etc.

By analyzing the results of these quizzes, you gain a deeper understanding of how information is being processed and retained by your learners. This data empowers you to move beyond assumptions and build training programs grounded in concrete evidence.

If your learners have high attempt rates but low pass rates, then that tells your training videos may not be getting the message across to everyone. If the time spent on attempting these quizzes is high, then that might tell you that it's harder for your employees to understand the questions being asked.

Personalize Engagement Strategies According to Employee Demographics

If your organization works across multiple different sites or locations, you know how hard it is to implement a consistent strategy that yields results. What works for some doesn't work for others.

It's a similar case for employee engagement. A video-based engagement strategy that works for some offices or departments falls flat for others. Large organizations can have massive workforces with people from different generations and cultures. This makes it difficult to put a meaningful one-size-fits-all strategy in place.

To tackle these challenges, large multinational corporations often enlist regional managers to understand the local demographic and tailor company initiatives accordingly. But that's not the only way. Instead of investing in additional resources, they can also take advantage of the demographic analytics of the employees watching their videos to better understand their workforce diversity.

Demographic-level video analytics often come with insights regarding impressions, views, completions, and time played for specific locations on a heat map. These analytics can also be used in combination with user and media summaries that detail exactly who accesses media and from where.

By layering this data with employee demographics information, organizations can gain a nuanced understanding of video content performance across different demographics and use it to build employee engagement strategies that feel tailored and personal.

Get Insights from Feedback and Survey Responses to Improve Strategies

Surveys continue to be the most reliable metric to monitor employee engagement in the workplace. As Facebook's internal research noted, Facebook employees who didn't participate in annual surveys were 2.6 times more likely to leave the company within the next six months.

However, that's not all they are good for. Employee surveys can also be used to influence the behavior. Asking a question enough times causes the person taking the survey to reflect on the question and act on it. Research indicates that asking consumers about purchasing intent increases their likelihood to buy. But, of course, that influence is applicable to the corporate world as well.

Integrating surveys and feedback should be central to your employment engagement strategy. It's critical to understand where your employees' headspace is at. So okay, you put out a few surveys and get some responses. Now what?

Now, you can dig down into the analytics you gain from those surveys to really understand how many survey attempts there have been and which surveys perform better than others. You could also combine this with the monitoring of feedback analytics to understand how many issues, questions, and improvements have been suggested in your videos.

Remember, just because a strategy has been put forward and implemented doesn't mean it's set in stone or impermeable to change. In fact, some of the best strategies are formed over the course of constant refinement until perfection.

How to Implement Video Content Analytics in Your Organization

By now, you may have understood just how important video content analytics are in putting your employee engagement strategy forward. But the question is, how do you get started?

Your organization may be relying on the use of intranets or file-sharing servers for video storage and streaming to your employees. However, that's not the most effective way to stream your video content, especially when the requirement is leveraging analytics.

Luckily, there is a solution: using a cloud video platform. These platforms are specifically designed for secure video hosting, optimized video delivery, built-in analytics functionalities, and so much more.

Cloud video platforms go beyond simple storage and delivery. They offer a secure and centralized hub for your entire video library, allowing you to easily organize and manage your content.

Make Data-Driven Decisions Using VIDIZMO Enterprise's Video Content Analytics

Looking to unlock the full potential of your video content and create a truly impactful employee engagement strategy? Look no further. VIDIZMO EnterpriseTube is a Gartner-recognized enterprise video platform that offers a comprehensive suite of features designed to empower you with the power of video analytics.

EnterpriseTube offers a user-friendly analytics and reports dashboard that provides comprehensive insights into employee engagement with your videos. You can easily track metrics like views, completions, engagement over time, quiz scores, and more, all within a centralized location.

Interested in learning more? Check out the comprehensive guide to EnterpriseTube's video content analytics.

Kickstart Your Video-Based Employee Engagement Strategy

A successful modern-day workplace is dynamic and demands innovative approaches to keep pace with the evolution of work. Organizations leverage video as a compelling alternative to traditional efforts for purposes such as employee engagement.

However, it doesn't stop there. While video undeniably engages and informs your workforce, simply creating content isn't enough. To truly elevate your employee engagement strategy, you need to leverage the power of data-driven insights provided by video analytics.

Effectively measuring the impact of your video-based programs is crucial. It ensures your organization isn't just pushing play – it's maximizing the return on investment for your employee engagement efforts.

Using enterprise video platforms, organizations can enjoy secure video storage, sharing, management, checking the impact of their video content with analytics, and much more.

Ready to get started with making a data-driven employee engagement program for your organization? Try EnterpriseTube for free for 7 days, or contact us to learn more.

How to Track and Improve Employee Engagement Using Video Analytics