November 2009 | The Workplace Improver Blog

Monthly Archives: November 2009

When Safety Training Videos go Bad

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Following up from my last blog post, How to Evaluate the effectiveness of a Training video, I though it best to show a safety training video that’s well, crap!

This is quite an extraodinary example of how to not make a training video.

It’s more of a horror health and safety movie that focuses on educating through fear.

It does this through lots of gore, fake blood and workplace accidents that are too implausible to believe (my favourite is the nail flying through the air into a person’s eye). And of course, lots of bad acting and ridiculous music.

As a video producer, it makes me really embarrased about the sort of videos that our industry makes (okay, it was a long time ago, but it should never have been given the go-ahead). But it’s pretty easy to work out that the scriptwriter/producer must have believed that safety is boring, so let’s make it more entertaining by scaring people. This is another reason why not to get your training video made by wannabe film directors!

How to Evaluate the Effectiveness of a Training Video

Written on November 24, 2009 by Marie-Claire Ross in OHS videos, company induction training, improving safety standards, induction videos, staff induction videos, staff training videos, training videos

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Research has found that expertly produced training videos provide faster training, high usage, flexibility and more consistently trained staff.

Selecting the correct training video producer is extremely important to the success of your training video.

Video production houses often do a full array of video production services from television ads, filming seminars and live events, producing corporate videos and training videos. They can be separated into three categories – advertising commercial, live corporates or instructional-design producers.

For most training situations, instructional-design producer-writers are best for producing video enhanced training sessions. These producers also possess greater expertise in working with detailed training materials.

The best way to assess whether the training video company is producing training videos from an instructional design perspective is to review their work and ask the following questions:

Script
1. Is the level of information easy to understand? Would a school age student be able to easily grasp the messages?

2. Is the script written in a way that engages? Or do you feel as if you are being told to do something by a bossy teacher rather than being shown in a friendly way?

3. What was the pace like for the video? Was it just right, too slow or quick?

4. Was the content presented in a logical, easy to follow sequence?

5. Was new material introduced before you could absorb the previous information fully?

Production

6. Were the work surroundings relevant? Was it trying to be all things for a range of industries or has it been customized for one company?

7. Were the characters and situations shown realistically?

8. Were the desired behaviours modeled in a way that can be copied by employees?

9. Were there things happening in the background that were distracting you from learning (eg: forklift hitting a pole)?

10. Were elements of a process clearly shown so that you could understand what they were referring to? (eg: when discussing say, a ‘stop’ button on a machine it was shown, so you knew what it looked liked)?

11. Were there too many special effects or graphics that took the attention away from the messages, thereby reducing the effectiveness of the program?

12. Were titles used to reinforce important points to enable staff to remember and absorb important information?

13. If you were an employee of this company how would you feel about them? Excited to be working for them, comfortable about the new process or feeling like they don’t really care about their staff?

14. Were employees tested on their knowledge after watching a video to increase mental effort, therefore improving motivation and comprehension?

By keeping these questions in mind when reviewing training videos, you will be able to quickly evaluate how effective the training video will be as an educational tool.

This will enable you to choose the right video production provider rather than developing an employee training video that will end up gathering dust on your shelf.

Using Video to Recruit New Staff

Written on November 23, 2009 by Marie-Claire Ross in Happy staff, induction videos, staff induction videos, staff training videos, workplace performance

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Recently, I saw a fantastic recruitment video. It’s for healthcare company Perrigo.

Rather than recruit new staff, in the usual way, they have gone about producing a video that shows Perrigo in a lively, fun manner.

This is in contrast to most recruitment videos that are quite conservative or even worse, companies that don’t even have a recruitment video to attract potential talent. This video production touches on the fun aspect of working at Perrigo and what make the staff that work there different.

And I don’t know about you, but I’m tempted to work there.

There are five reasons that make this recruitment video a great success:

Engages Staff – It features staff undertaking entertaining activities and gets them on-board with how fun Perrigo is. This will result in a happier workplace where employees feel valued and are most likely to stay at Perrigo for longer.
It speaks to your emotions - Rather than convince talent through rationality, it attempts to talks to people through their emotions. This is very effective, as we do make decision on emotions rather than pure rational thought.
Talent repeller – It will weed out those not interested in working for the company. A great time saver.
Unique communication- it’s unique communication strategy will attract the right talent and even make potential hires put Perrigo at the top of the list as to where they want to work
Alignment - It gets new talent aligned with the vision and values of Perrigo before they even start working at the company. It’s almost a teaser before the staff induction video.

As a video producer, this is the kind of project you enjoy working on. It’s clear on communication, it’s fun to put together and you know at the end of the day you really are helping the company achieve its goals. Most of all, Perrigo isn’t scared to do something different.

Workplace Happiness

Written on November 17, 2009 by Marie-Claire Ross in Happy staff, workplace health, workplace performance

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(image credit: Perantu Sepi Lodge @ flickr)

With so much of our life devoted to paid employment, it’s only fair to say that you might as well be happy doing it, otherwise life becomes a bit of a drag.

And if you’re not feeling perky at work or you’re unfortunately having to work with a grumpy staff member, here are some websites to help:

http://www.workhappynow.com/

http://www.stevenaitchison.co.uk/blog/

http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/2009/09/twelve-tips-to-create-a-happier-and-more-productive-workplace.html

Why Vitamin D is necessary for workplace health

Written on November 17, 2009 by Marie-Claire Ross in workplace health, workplace performance

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Office workers, underground miners, night shift employees and aged-care workers are more at risk of disease due to a lack of Vitamin D.

Vitamin D is obtained through sunlight and a small amount from food. However, the most reliable way to top up this important vitamin is to get outside and enjoy the sunlight.

Over the past few years, the recommendations for the amount of Vitamin D we need have increased due to a growing trend of vitamin D deficiency in the general population. This has been caused by people spending less time outdoors (due to working indoors) and using lots of sunscreen which blocks Vitamin D absorption.

Luckily, in Australia due to our intense sunlight it is easy to get Vitamin D. While residents of countries such as Canada and Scotland need to have Vitamin D supplements.

Ideally, we need to spend 6-8 minutes in the mid-morning sun during summer or about 20 minutes in winter. No sunscreen required. The best places to absorb sunscreen are the hands, face and your forearms.

Interestingly, if you watch the video with Dr John Cannell talking from Stamford Universtiy you will discover the increasing evidence that people with low Vitamin D levels are more likely to suffer from a wide range of diseases. In fact, getting lots of sunlight could be the best way to avoid getting the flu.

How can you get your staff out into the sunshine?

Communicating New Company Initiatives to Staff

Written on November 3, 2009 by Marie-Claire Ross in induction videos, staff induction videos, staff training videos, training videos, workplace performance

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There comes a time when any forward-looking company needs to change strategy. And it can be anything from a totally revamped business model to a new way of selling, manufacturing, a workplace safety procedure or even staff training.

While developing the right strategy is important, it’s being able to execute that strategy and get all staff members on board that is paramount.

All workers need to align with the new strategy and embrace it, in order for the company to move forward.

Of course, change requires people to move out of their comfort zones and work differently. So when companies poorly execute a new initiative among staff, resentment and distrust can emerge. And the results can be disastrous.

According to W.Chan Kim and Renee Maborgne the authors of Blue Ocean Strategy, when Merrill Lynch announced plans to launch an online brokerage service, reports of resistance and infighting among staff led to the stock price falling by 14%. But when Stanley Dean Witter & Co explained openly to their staff about their new online plans, the company’s shares rose by 13% upon their announcement.

In Blue Ocean Strategy, they believe that any new company initiative needs to be introduced to all levels of staff (not just senior management) by a three step process.

Engagement – Allow all workers to have input into the strategic decisions that affect them by asking for their feedback. This shows respect for staff and their ideas. It also can contribute to better strategic decisions.
Explanation – Everyone who is involved is given a clear explanation of the thinking underlying the new decision. This is to build trust in regard to management decisions.
Expectation clarity – Once the strategy is finalised, managers clearly state the new rules of the game. Goals and targets are set. Expectations for staff are clearly communicated.

So how do you get staff buy-in to a new company initiative or strategy?

Recently, we produced a training video to communicate to architects the need to introduce Compulsory Professional Development (CPD). Due to the controversial topic, the Architects Registration Board of Victoria (ARBV) was undertaking a series of consultative talks throughout Victoria to explain to architects the need for CPD.

Luckily for ARBV, their forward thinking registrar decided to get a video made to introduce CPD at the start of each meeting.

It was a smart move.

The educational video explained:

-the reasons CPD was required (explanation)

-the benefits to the community (explanation)

-the benefits to architects (expectation clarity)

-the negatives (explanation)

-the opportunity for input (engagement)

-CPD requirements for members (expectation clarity)

“The CPD video has been able to simplify quite complex information and present it in a clear and logical way. It’s a short video, but very comprehensive. Architects are visual learners and, like most of us, tend not to be good at reading large chunks of text. We introduced the concept of CPD in an innovative video format that no other jurisdiction in Australia had done before. It resulted in our members more easily accepting the proposed CPD concept and ensured that the meetings were pleasant and ran smoothly.

Alison Ivey, Registrar, Architects Registration Board of Victoria

By covering the three step process, members accepted the new proposal and there were no angry outbursts. You can read more about this or see the video by clicking here.

What’s the best time for a workplace meeting?

Written on November 2, 2009 by Marie-Claire Ross in customer training videos, induction videos, staff induction videos, staff training videos, training videos

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According to a recent study, the best time for a workplace meeting is Tuesday at 3pm. This is the office diary sweet spot, when more employees are available, motivated and willing to attend a meeting.

Keith Harris from Online Scheduling Service, When is Good, analysed 100,000 responses to 34,000 meeting requests sent by When is Good users.

3pm was the best time, particularly on a Tuesday, while 9am on a Monday morning was the worst time. This isn’t a surprise given that people tend to rush into work and want to check emails, phone messages and get started on their work, before sitting in on a meeting.

Yet, one surprise finding was that workers are prepared to have lunchtime meetings.

According to Stephen Overell from The Work Foundation, people on the whole tend to be more creative and better at problem solving in the morning while afternoons are better for collaborating and team work. So an afternoon meeting is the perfect time to meet. Although, 3pm is a bit late in the day and a 2pm start might be better so that people can act on the information on the meeting straightaway.

While I find these results intriguing, I always try and schedule important meeting mid-morning as I find it hard to concentrate on important information around 3pm (which according to biological research is the time we need an afternoon siesta). So could it be that employees like workplace meetings at 3pm because they can chill out and recharge their batteries?

Stephen Overell mentioned not to darken the room for a 3pm meeting. So if you want to organise a company meeting to showcase that new corporate video, better do it in the morning!

When Coffee Machine Training Videos make Customers Turn Off

Written on November 2, 2009 by Marie-Claire Ross in customer training videos, training videos

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I love a good coffee. And my world recently changed when we bought a coffee machine. Well, two actually. One for home, one for the office.

We bough a cheapie Sunbeam machine for home and an expensive automated Jura coffee machine for the office.

Both machines are great. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t need to go out to cafes all the time to get a good coffee.

Jura promotes itself as a premium brand using full page ads in glossy magazines featuring Roger Federer (and I thought print advertising never got me). And that did it for me. A quick chat to associates also confirmed that it will last a long time and that it’s easy to use. It’s a beautiful looking machine and comes with attractive manuals and cleaning devices.

But then it let itself down by providing me with a training DVD that had black texta writing scrawled across it and even a crack.

Naturally, I wasn’t expecting the contents of the DVD to be very professional. Surprisingly, the training video was put together professionally and featured a perky female voiceover and broadcast quality footage.

But this is where the accolades stop…

One day my barista left me all alone with the new Jura machine. This just happened to be the day it let me know it wanted to be cleaned. I’m not technically inclined, so I decided to practise what I preach and go straight to the training video rather than fumble through a manual.

So I was rather frustrated to discover that upon viewing the information about care and maintenance I was dutifully informed by the narrator to visit page three of the manual which was displayed to me with a “Sale of the Century” type hand flourish.

Shocked, I listened on only to find more hand gesture references to other pages in the manual.

At this point, I wanted to make my own hand gesture.

And then when I was actually shown how to use the machine, the language was so stilted and robotic that it was obviously lifted straight from the manual.

Now I don’t want to point out something incredibly obvious here, but there really is little value in producing a training video that refers customers back to the training manual. I just can’t understand how anyone thought this was a good idea.

And then of course, everyone knows that we all dislike the cold, distant language of a technical manual. But to do it in training video is pretty unforgivable in my book (or manual as the case maybe).

Producing stilted, un-engaging training videos for a workforce will always be a waste of time and money, but to do this with customer training is incredibly damaging to your brand. I might still like the Jura for the coffee it produces, but my impression of the brand as premium has fallen quite considerably.

A customer training video is a great opportunity to let your customers know that you care about them and want to improve their experience with your product. Talk to them like a human (not a robot), help them love your product, not want to make rude gestures at it.

Produced correctly it can also serve as a multi-purpose promotional tool. And if you are producing a high quality product, your training video also needs to be premium quality.

And what about the Sunbeam coffee machine, you ask? Well, it also came with a training DVD. A beautifully produced, well-written script that makes me feel good about my bargain purchase. I have been pleasantly surprised at how good my low priced coffee machine is. And I would definitely recommend it. Cappuccino, anyone?

Improving Workplace Safety, Performance and Training through video

Monthly Archives: November 2009

When Safety Training Videos go Bad

How to Evaluate the Effectiveness of a Training Video

Using Video to Recruit New Staff

Workplace Happiness

Why Vitamin D is necessary for workplace health

Communicating New Company Initiatives to Staff

What’s the best time for a workplace meeting?

When Coffee Machine Training Videos make Customers Turn Off

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