2015 was a wild ride for companies and organizations using myriad new, online technologies to enhance marketing, sales and the consumer experiences as marketing and communication experts leveraged numerous immersive tech experiences to create better engagement with their online communities. IoT (“The Internet of Things”) changed how virtually everyone markets and communicates online. New products and endeavors, such as virtual reality, interactive video, electric cars and 3D printing, to name just a few, collectively lead to more interactive online experiences, sustainable travel and, basically, the ability for anyone to create something out of nothing. And, for 2016, the opportunity is heating up to connect with customers, vendors, stakeholders and employees using many of these tech advances. As an HR and benefits and wellness professional, engagement was an important word in 2015.
In reality, engagement has been a buzz word for many years. Articles published throughout the year, such as Forbes’ How Junk Science Set HR Back Fifty Years, add to the narrative that HR communications are outdated and in need of transformation so we all can connect, engage and educate employees better using new forms of online technologies. So, how can we all bring HR communications out of the dark ages of paper trails and endless one-on-one meetings to better educate, train and communicate with employees in a fun way that also saves time and money?
I believe I have a great starter solution. One method that’s proving effective at driving measurable employee engagement and decreasing HR costs is video communications. Consider these statistics on how people engage with video:
• 78% of employees watch HR and benefits video communications on all types of devices – Flimp Communications
• 94% of employees watched videos and clicked calls to action on video postcards – Flimp Communications
• 3.5 minutes is the average time employees engaged with HR and benefits video and video postcard content – Flimp Communications
• “16 minutes and 49 seconds is how much time the average user spends watching online video ads every month.” – comScore
• “92% of mobile video viewers share videos with others.” – Invodo
• “59% of viewers will watch a video to completion that is less than one minute.” – Wistia
• “39% of executives have called a vendor after watching a video.” – Forbes
The marketplace, consumers and employees are telling us that video drives engagement. If HR professionals refuse to give employees information using their preferred methods, then meaningful engagement with and education of employees on HR, benefits, and year-round communications will remain a problem.
So, how do you get started using video solutions that are within your budgets? Flimp Communications created this employee explainer video to assist employers, large and small, in communicating a complex topic that is causing anxiety for everyone. The video answers employee questions about Form 1095-A, B and C, the deadline for employers to send Form 1095-C to employees, and more. Flimp is temporarily offering these resources free, leaving you with nothing to lose—test out this video among your coworkers and let me know in the comments below if you see a higher level of engagement and, hopefully, fewer questions.
