Imagine if every great job candidate you wanted to hire received five offers from competing companies.
The competition for top talent is fierce — and this is only one of the key struggles that your HR team is facing today.
Not only are they responsible for recruitment, onboarding & training, and building an amazing employer brand, but also engaging your employees. Even for large HR teams, each of these areas is becoming more challenging by the day:
- 74% of recruiters out there faced hiring competition in recent years, according to Jobvite.
- When it comes to onboarding, as much as 20% of staff turnover occurs within the first 45 days of employment because of ineffective employee integration.
- More than half of employees are becoming disengaged at work, highlighting that there’s an internal communication problem.
HR teams need a simple solution that can help them streamline their communication to different audiences, in a dynamic and engaging way.
That solution is video.
HR videos help improve recruitment, onboarding, and communication processes effectively
Hands down, video is the most effective, engaging, and enticing way to present information. In fact, audiences retain up to 95% of what they learn this way, compared to just 10% from reading text.
That makes it an incredible tool to help improve processes like recruitment, employee onboarding, or internal communication. The goal of these processes is to get people up to speed on knowledge of a new job or retain new information, which means the better you can engage them, the more effective your message will get across.
With video, you can get your employees and new hires in the loop, engaged, and excited much more quickly than with dull, traditional onboarding documents and packages.
What’s more, video is Millennials’ and Gen Z’s preferred type of content. By prioritizing video, you’re able to deliver messages in their favorite format, making your audience more likely to take notice.
But if you’re new to making human resources videos, even deciding where to begin can feel overwhelming. Tools like PlayPlay make producing videos fast and easy, but what if you’re not sure what you actually want to say?
That’s why we’ve rounded up the best video ideas for your human resources team to try out. From recruiting to talent management to workforce planning, we’ve included a video for every stage of the employee journey, such as:
- Company Culture Videos
- ‘Meet the Team’ Videos
- ‘Meet the CEO’ Videos
- Company Tour or Day-in-the-life Videos
- ‘You’re Hired’ Videos
- Corporate Presentation Videos
- ‘How to Set Up Your Work Tools’ Videos
- Key Training Videos
- Company Policy Videos
- Company Event Promotion Videos
- Tips Videos
- Internal Job Postings
- Employee Testimonials
- Employee Wellness Videos
- ‘What is…?’ Videos
- Employee Appreciation videos
- Company Event Recaps
- Company Perks Videos
- ‘Happy Holidays’ videos
- Company FAQ Videos
- Company Perks Videos
- Company FAQ Videos
- Software and Hardware Tutorials
- Company Values Videos
- Onboarding Videos
Keep reading to see 25 of our best HR video ideas, along with real, stellar examples to get you inspired. You’ll have top-notch employee engagement, organizational development, and employer branding social media content ideas in no time!
25 HR Video Inspirations to Help You Communicate Better
1. Company culture videos help you stand out
What is your company all about? What values does it stand for? What do you believe makes a great workplace, and what steps are you taking to create it? If your company was introducing itself at a party, what would it say?
That’s essentially what a company culture video is — a quick, entertaining first look into what makes your company a wonderful place to work. Include your employees to show real people speaking authentically about their experience, making sure the interviews don't sound stiff or overly scripted.
Company culture videos have many possible uses, but they’re particularly useful for recruitment. In just a few minutes, candidates will get a sense of what your company cares about, and whether they’d be a good fit. That helps you work towards lower turnover, better hiring processes, and retaining your best people.
In this Hubspot video, we see employees interacting in a relaxed, collaborative way at their offices. By bringing together workplace footage with voiceovers and employee testimonials, Hubspot shows candidates what it would be like to be part of their company culture and how to make a recruitment video.
2. ‘Meet the team’ videos to help break the ice
When you feel more at ease during your onboarding, it’s much easier to collaborate with your new team members. That’s where Meet The Team videos come in! Imagine if you could begin your next position already knowing who you’d be working with — how much more comfortable and reassured would you feel?
A video introducing people’s names, skills, and responsibilities might not sound very exciting, but these videos are at their best when they’re relaxed, real, and unfiltered. Try letting your employees speak naturally about themselves and their day-to-day lives. Then, you can pick out the most charming parts and edit them into one engaging video.
In this example, we get to meet senior Canva employees through authentic interviews and learn about their company, their roles, and what they love about the workplace,
3. ‘Meet the CEO’ videos can inspire candidates and stakeholders
The CEO is the big decision-maker, who keeps things ticking at your company. No matter how friendly and approachable they are, all that influence can be a little intimidating! But they can also be highly inspirational figures.
That’s why video is such a great way to help your team, stakeholders, or prospective employees get to know the CEO. By building up some rapport through video, collaborating will be easier, more comfortable, and more productive when it’s needed, either in person or virtually. Also, your CEO helps personify the visions and missions of your company, which can inspire new candidates for recruitment.
And there’s no need for your CEO to go on and on about themselves (unless they want to, that is). Having your CEO discuss a topic they’re passionate about can provide just as much of a window into their personality and expertise.
4. Show off your company with a tour or ‘day-in-the-life-of’ videos
Sometimes, the best way to get to know a company is to actually see them at work. Why not take your viewers along with you on an actual tour of your company?
This can work especially well if you have an interesting or unique facility, such as the motor manufacturing plant in this video from Hyundai. You can go further than showing viewers around your space — why not walk them through what a day hard at work actually looks like in your world?
Company tour videos are a great way to pull back the curtain, highlight the cool stuff, and show your people what really goes on behind the scenes at your company.
5. Use ‘You’re hired’ videos to create excitement
A job candidate can always get cold feet and change their minds, even if you’ve told them that they’re perfect for the job.
Alongside your email offer, you can create personalized ‘congratulations’ videos with your team members to show the candidate how excited you all are that they are joining you. Highlight each member of your team and how they are unique. Ask each team member to explain why they’re excited about the new team member arriving.
With such a cool, personalized video to butter the candidate up, how can they not be excited to show up on their first day?
6. Use corporate presentation videos to make information easy to retain
When you’re delivering a presentation at work, your goal is to share information in a way that’s as compelling, interesting, and efficient as possible. You want your message to stick with your audience long after they walk away — so ditch the yawn-inducing PowerPoint and have some fun creating a video presentation that’s as entertaining as it is visually appealing!
There are as many types of corporate presentations as there are companies (a lot)! But no matter what you’re trying to say, video is your ticket to making your presentation as clear, memorable, and interesting as possible.
7. ‘How to set up your work tools’ videos can make onboarding scalable
A key challenge of any HR department is to help new employees make sense of the myriad of systems, tools, and platforms that your company relies on to get things done!
Video helps streamline this process through self-guided educational resources that can be referred to whenever needed. These videos don’t need to be fancy — even a recorded screen-share or Zoom call will go a long way towards helping your new hires get ready to work.
8. Key training videos help scale your onboarding
Employee training matters. It’s so important that you must deliver it in the most effective way possible — and, of course, that’s video. If your employees aren’t aware of safety standards, key HR policies, and codes of conduct, you’re putting your entire company at risk.
Set yourself up for success and make engaging, educational videos a part of your training on important topics. In this satirical, yet excellent example, fictional villain Gus Fring (from the series Breaking Bad) guides his employees through his fundamental work principles.
9. Company policy videos ensure everyone is on the same page
How many employees will read an employee handbook from cover to cover? Not a lot, probably. Company policies are super important — they just often aren’t that interesting to learn about. But they are necessary to ensure the safety of your employees and the health of your organization.
Whether your company policies are concerned with safety, compliance, or office romance, video can make them as engaging as a new episode of, well… The Office!
What’s great about the example video is that they envisioned the ‘worst case scenarios’ in a fun, entertaining, but understandable way.
If you’re looking for ways to spice up your company policy video, try upbeat music, motion graphics, and even stylish animation.
10. Event promotion videos to get more attendance
With all the time and energy that companies put into planning amazing events, you’ll want to make sure your employees actually attend.
Build hype and interest with a slick, intriguing event promo video for your next webinar, conference or company mixer.
This is your chance to broadcast the value your event offers and induce serious FOMO! Create a cool video with testimonials from past attendees, and captivating footage from the previous edition.
In this example, PlayPlay zooms in on its employees’ preparation for an upcoming marathon to get more staff donations for its chosen charity organization.
11.‘ Tips’ videos to share knowledge quickly and effectively
We’ve covered a lot of different HR videos in this list. But really, video is the ultimate tool for teaching your employees pretty much anything.
‘Tips’ videos are not quite the same as ‘training videos’. This type of content provides employees with quick and easy tips to help them improve a specific skill or process — instead of giving an in-depth tutorial.
Create these types of videos to help scale efficiency at your company, whether it helps employees submit expense reports, write more professional emails, or create better social media posts.
12. Internal job postings to seek out your company’s existing talent
In some cases, you won’t have to look far to find the best candidate for your new opening — they may be sitting at the next desk!
Internal job posting videos are very similar to other recruitment videos. The main difference is they’re designed to seek out any suitable candidates already working at your company.
Make sure to highlight the role’s main responsibilities and any key details about when and where to apply. Don’t forget to put your employee’s stories at the center of your content and add catchy soundtrack!
13. Employee testimonials boost employer branding
Your people are the best ambassadors for your brand. Whether you’re aiming to hire new recruits or highlight employee achievements, testimonial videos are a great way to put your people front and center.
Find willing volunteers within your company who’d be happy to speak on camera. Dig into their daily work lives: what are their biggest achievements? What keeps them motivated from one day to the next? Why would they recommend your company to candidates? Remember, authenticity is key!
This employee testimonial by Dental Monitoring is a good example. The interviewee speaks naturally, makes jokes, and explains why her company is a great place to work. She’s an excellent brand ambassador!
14. Employee wellness videos to take care of your people
For HR departments, employee wellness is crucial to keeping a workforce engaged and motivated. Afterall, a happy and healthy team is the key to any company’s success!
You need to provide your people with the resources and means of communication they need to take care of their mental health, seek help, and thrive. But first, it's crucial to nurture an environment in which employee wellness is a priority.
Employee wellness videos add a much-needed human touch to your HR communications, letting people know you’re always there to help.
This excellent example by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, titled How We Heal, was created in honor of the National Day of Racial Healing. Featuring poignant interviews with staff members, the video encourages other employees and students to reach out with their own stories of healing.
15 ‘What is…?’ videos explain your business to new employees
‘What is…?’ or ‘Discover’ videos help to summarize your business in a short, snappy video.
Although they’re mainly used for marketing purposes, ‘What is…?’ videos are also perfect for onboarding a new employee. Get new recruits up to speed with your company’s mission and value proposition in an engaging, bite-sized format.
This ‘What is…?’ video by Slack uses eye-catching animations and a voice-over to introduce its product as a guided walkthrough.
16. Employee appreciation videos boost staff morale
Everyone loves a little appreciation, and your employees are no different.
Whether it’s been a tough quarter or there have been some outstanding achievements, employee appreciation videos show your people how much you value them.
Expressing appreciation for your people will make them feel valued, proud of their efforts, and motivated for the challenges ahead. And it’s not all about the KPIs! Maybe there’s one colleague who always brings in snacks to share, or another who organizes birthday gifts. As a HR rep, it’s important to recognize any positive contribution to company life — no matter how small.
In this excellent example by Actimo, employees write notes to express what they appreciate about each other. Their reactions are filmed on camera and the results are heartwarming — a great initiative to boost morale and employee retention, and fun for everyone!
17. Company event recaps to relive the best moments
Just had an unforgettable company retreat? Or organized the best office party ever? Keep the fun alive and create an event recap video!
Recap videos highlight all the fun and key takeaways from your company events. Employees will be able to relive the experience, refresh any learning outcomes, and feel even keener to sign up for the next one!
Whether your CEO gave a great speech or that quiet tech guy revealed a killer range of dance moves, create a recap full of clips and photos of the memorable moments, all to the sound of a catchy beat. Fun for employees to watch, and great content for your employer brand strategy!
In this example by PlayPlay, we get a peek at the ‘top 5 moments’ of the company retreat in mallorca.
18. Company perks videos to highlight added benefits
From flexible working hours and dental plans, to free gym memberships and mental health support, employee perks can help you attract the top talent. But sometimes, current employees aren’t even aware of the many benefits they’re entitled to!
With information overload being a problem for many employees, it’s all too easy to miss a company memo or email. By sharing this information in an engaging video, it’s less likely to fall between the cracks and employees can make full use of the perks that they deserve.
This video by Nestlé Purin presents a guided tour of the company headquarters, highlighting the perks and benefits employees can enjoy at the office.
19 ‘Happy Holidays’ videos to wish your employees a restful break
After a year’s hard work, it’s important to send employees off on their holidays feeling appreciated and valued.
‘Happy holidays’ videos will leave a smile on your customers and employee’s faces and encourage them to take the restful break they deserve.
Whether you go for a simple video-recorded message from senior staff, or a creative video like in this example, it’s the time of year to spread some joy!
20. Company FAQ videos inform employees about key information
As a HR professional, do you feel like you spend too much time answering the same questions from staff, over and over? You’re not alone.
Many company employees will repeatedly ask similar, if not the same, questions. And that’s normal! But what if you could get ahead of the game and answer staff’s most common questions in an FAQ video?
Hosting these videos on your intranet will save you time and keep employees well-informed, allowing them to quickly access information whenever they need.
This fun FAQ video by JDIMI is a humorous take on the format, with questions like “who is always on time to work” or “who calls Helpdesk the most?” A great way to onboard new employees with a very human touch.
21. Company news videos keep employees informed
Most companies evolve a lot, so it’s essential that your employees stay updated on any important changes to your business.
Whether you’ve released new features, changed your prices, opened a new office, or are welcoming a new senior staff member — it will be relevant and useful information for most employees.
Think of these videos like an internal newsletter, only in a shareable, engaging format that your people will actually notice!
Although this video by PlayPlay was created for its customers, it was also shared internally to update staff on awesome feature releases on the platform!
22. Software and hardware tutorials to help employees with tricky tools
Learning how to use new software or an unfamiliar device can be tricky. That’s why user manuals exist, of course!
These days, new users are far more likely to watch a tutorial video to learn about a product. Video tutorials often include screen recordings and a voice-over to guide users through the learning process, step by step.
Video learning is ideal because it immerses viewers in the process, making full use of visual and audio aids. This helps employees to quickly learn how to use new software or hardware and adopt it in their daily work lives. In addition, they can quickly revisit the tutorial video if they ever need a refresh on a specific element.
23. Quarterly recap videos
A business quarter can be over in a flash — especially if your employees have been busy making things happen. These recap videos offer a refresh of your company’s recent activity in a bite-sized, engaging format that’s perfect for sharing internally.
Remind your employees of what each team has been working on, highlight any achievements, and get everyone pumped for the next quarter.
24. Company values videos
Company values express what the organization stands for, its mission, and its way of working.
Pasting flashy abstract nouns on the office wall won’t cut it — you need to show the world how your company actually embodies those values.
And who embodies these values better than anyone? Your people! Getting your employees on camera to discuss your company’s values — and what they mean to staff on a concrete, practical level — is the best way to make them come to life.
This video by Netflix is an excellent example; employees are handed the microphone to discuss how “freedom and responsibility” guide their daily work.
25. Onboarding videos to welcome new employees
When new employees first arrive, you want to help them feel as welcome and valued as possible.
Onboarding videos are a fantastic way to introduce new hires to the whole company — their names, what they’ll be doing, where they’re from, etc. Breaking the ice is so important for new employees to settle in, and introductory videos will make those initial conversations much smoother.
PlayPlay welcomes its new recruits with a monthly intro video, featuring funny poses, photos and key details about who they are. A great icebreaker and a fun activity for everyone!
Take your HR team’s efficiency to the next level with video
Video makes crucial information about policies, workplace tools, and company culture more engaging, entertaining and easier to remember.
With video, you’re able to create a sense of belonging in every area of your HR process, from recruitment to retirement. If you use it well, it can help you scale recruitment, communication, and onboarding in a big way.
But once you’ve got that A+ video idea, you’re only just getting started. Next, you’ll need to think about writing your script, creating the best possible filming set-up, and making your video sparkle in post-production. We’ve got resources to help you along the way. And when it’s time to edit your new HR video, try out PlayPlay. Whether you’re already a whiz or experimenting with video for the first time, PlayPlay has an extensive range of HR video templates to inspire you and ramp up your production. Try it out for yourself, for free, right now!
Louise Antonas
Head of Recrutment
With 12 years' experience in recruitment for major French groups. At PlayPlay, Louise is responsible for a team of 5 people, covering an international scope to recruit from our offices in Paris, New York and Berlin.
