Employee Onboarding Video: What to Include
How to build an employee onboarding video program that gets new hires up to speed faster. Covers what to include, how many videos you need, filming tips, and measuring time to productivity.
Why do companies use onboarding videos?
Every new hire goes through the same first few weeks: meet the team, learn the tools, understand how things work. Without video, this process depends on whoever happens to be available to explain things. The quality varies. Key details get missed. And someone on the team loses a week playing tour guide.
Onboarding videos fix the consistency problem. Every new hire gets the same introduction to the company, the same walkthrough of the tools, the same explanation of how things work. It doesn't matter if they start on a Monday in Sydney or a Friday in London - the experience is the same.
Companies with structured onboarding video programs report faster time to productivity for new hires. The reason is simple: new employees can watch videos at their own pace, rewatch sections they didn't catch the first time, and focus their live meetings on questions rather than basic information transfer.
What should an onboarding video program include?
Don't try to put everything into one long video. Build a series of short modules that cover the key areas. Here's a practical structure.
Welcome and company overview (1 video, 3-5 min)
A message from the CEO or senior leader welcoming the new hire. Cover the company's mission, history, and what makes it different. Keep it personal - a talking-head video from the CEO is more impactful than a corporate montage. This is also a natural piece of internal communications video that sets the tone for the employee experience.
Culture and values (1-2 videos, 2-3 min each)
Show what your values look like in practice. Employee testimonials work well here - let team members describe what the culture actually feels like day to day. Avoid scripted, corporate-speak versions. Authenticity matters more than polish.
Team introductions (1 video per department, 1-2 min each)
Each department head records a short introduction: who they are, what their team does, and how new hires will interact with them. This helps new employees put faces to names before they meet everyone in person.
Tools and systems walkthrough (2-4 videos, 3-5 min each)
Screen recordings showing how to use your key tools - email, project management, time tracking, HR systems, communication platforms. These are the videos new hires will rewatch most often. Keep them updated when tools change.
Policies and compliance (2-3 videos, 2-4 min each)
Cover the mandatory stuff: code of conduct, data privacy, security policies, expense procedures. See our compliance training video guide for detailed advice on making this content engaging.