You’ve heard the buzz. Video is the next big thing in HR, and for good reason. HR videos engage teams and attract new hires far better than static comms. But despite all the buzz, it’s tough to come up with video ideas from scratch.
How can I make my videos for HR interesting to employees? How do I create a recruiting video that gets attention on social media? And most of all: where do I get good HR video ideas in the first place? I’m an HR manager, not a videographer after all.
Our list of 21 HR video ideas (and templates!) is designed to get you started in no time. It includes ideas for recruiting, training, announcements, social media videos for HR, and more.
After this list gets the creative juices flowing, head over to the Biteable all-in-one video maker for hundreds more workplace-ready templates and brandable video scenes.
Create videos that drive action
Activate your audience with impactful, on-brand videos. Create them simply and collaboratively with Biteable.
HR video ideas for recruiting and hiring
Recruiting and hiring is one of our favorite ways to use HR videos.
Recruiting and hiring requires a lot of one-way communication. New and prospective hires need to get a whole lot of information fast.
Incorporating videos into your recruiting and hiring helps people easily get the info they need in an engaging format that elevates your company above the crowd.
1. Recruitment ad
Attracting new applicants is one of those human resources responsibilities that almost requires the creativity of a marketing department.
A recruiting video makes your job posting stand out in a sea of written job descriptions. Even the simplest recruiting video conveys job requirements and company culture in a memorable way.
In short, HR video makes your recruitment outreach work like gangbusters. Most job boards even support videos in job postings. You can also upload a recruiting video to your company YouTube channel and add the link to your written job description.
2. You’re hired!
A hiring letter is nice, But a video is far more personal. Seeing a face and hearing a voice from your company creates an immediate connection with new hires and sets the tone from day one.
Use this HR video template to create hiring videos for every new team member, even during the biggest hiring booms.
3. New team member welcome
Video is the perfect way to welcome new staff and introduce them to their team members. Use pictures and video clips to give new hires a first look at their future colleagues and help break the ice before their first day of work.
Start with a customizable template and wrap up your welcome video before your coffee cools.
Video ideas for HR on social media
When it comes to recruiting, putting your HR videos on social media is a must.
Each time you hire for a new position, blast your recruiting ad video far and wide. But don’t stop there. These next two HR video ideas help you keep an eye on the long game and generate buzz about your company all year round.
4. Company mission statement
Your company mission statement helps potential hires understand the larger purpose and potential they’ll gain by joining your company. Your mission statement video could be just the thing that sets you apart for top candidates.
Blast the video on social media, include it in your formal recruitment, and make it available again during onboarding so new employees are reminded of their value at every step of the way.
5. What it’s like here
A “what it’s like here” video is another HR social media darling. Use it early in the recruiting process to show potential candidates the office or facility where they’ll work, who they’ll work with, and what their typical day might be like.
This type of HR video works best if it’s infused with personality. Give potential hires a sense of office culture and help them envision themselves working for your company.
As an alternative, prepare new employees for their first day of work by sending your video after they’re hired. Give them a quick tour of their workspace so they don’t feel lost when they arrive, or let them know more about the company structure and how they fit in.
Human resources video ideas for onboarding
Video is a great fit for onboarding, especially in remote or hybrid workplaces. Include a few thoughtful HR videos during onboarding to help new employees get up and running quickly and efficiently, no matter where they’re located.
6. New employee introduction
Employees will be curious about the new face in the office. Send a quick video introduction to give them a heads up and make the first day easy for your new hire.
Keep your video quick and relevant. A one minute video is more than enough to show people what position the new staffer holds and who they’ll be working with directly. Be sure to include a picture of the new employee, so your current staff knows who to greet.
7. Meet the team
The new employee wants to know about their team as much as the team wants to know about them. An engaging video lets new employees know who they’ll be working with and what everyone does at work.
This helps new employees get oriented before they even show up on their first day. When the new hire walks in the door, they’ll already know who’s going to help them hit the ground running.
Gather a few pictures, short bios, and a meet the team template. Put it all together onto a short, fun video and you’re ready to make some fabulous introductions.
8. Work behavior guidelines
These sorts of formalities tend to be tedious because the guidelines are packed into one of the most laborious pieces of documentation out there: an employee handbook.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. A short video covers all the bases, reduces printing costs, and is more engaging and memorable than a traditional handbook.
You can also embed your video in an email, so employees have it whenever they need it, wherever they are, without cluttering their workstation.
9. How to set up your work tools
New employees may need help setting up their accounts on your system, understanding how to change their passwords, or using certain software tools. Send quick instructional videos to prevent new employees a lot of headaches, and save the IT department from fielding zillions of questions.
Create videos for all your tools — Slack, Notion, Jira, and anything else — so new teammates can get their workstations online quickly and settle into more important business.
10. How to contact HR
Even after your new hire is humming along, they’ll still need help from their HR team now and then. Leave them with a quick video about how to get in touch with you, should they need it.
Save your “how to contact HR” video to all the company computers, so employees can find it any time they need.
Pro tip: If you make your HR videos with Biteable, you can also post your video on all of your comms channels with a single, trackable link.
HR video ideas for training and company policy
Training isn’t just for new employees. Long-time staff need continuing education and ongoing training to stay up-to-date. Save everyone time (including yourself) with HR training videos.
11. Key trainings
Every company has unique procedures and tasks that employees need to complete every day. But it’s hard to remember all this new information during the first few weeks of employment.
Create a series of videos explaining how to perform core tasks quickly. A video format helps employees learn and retain the information more thoroughly. Plus, these videos serve as quick references if anyone needs a refresh.
Set up an internal page for key training videos so managers and staff have easy access whenever they need it.
12. Employee wellness initiatives
Microtraining videos are one of the best ways to help employees acquire new skills and implement new practices.
Microtrainings are also a perfect fit for employee wellness initiatives, because the format presents wellness in small bites that feel easy to accomplish.
Create simple, short videos giving employees tiny lessons that help them stay healthy or be more productive, on and off the clock. Larger blocks of information — such as company wide-wellness programs — can also be broken down into microtrainings to make the information easier to absorb.
13. Soft skills trainings
Video is an effective way to help employees gain the soft skills they need to move into higher positions.
Topics like leadership and managerial skills might not be part of your new employee training program, and employees probably don’t have much time to attend external trainings on these subjects.
Instead, create a series of videos for employees interested in supervisory positions. Keep each video short and focused so they can easily fit these trainings into their work day or lunch break.
Not an expert on video trainings? No problem. Build onto a template to keep your training videos focused and informative.
14. Company policy videos
If there’s anything HR professionals know about, it’s fielding questions about company policies. There are leave policies, healthcare policies, benefits packages, and more. And employees expect human resources to have all the answers.
These questions might seem straightforward, but answering them eats up a lot of your time. Use a template to quickly create a series of videos that deliver immediate answers to the most important company policies.
Just like your key training videos, host these all on one internal page for easy access. Employees get straightforward answers delivered with a personal tone, and for many, this is all they need.
Set yourself up for success and watch your email inbox shrink as more and more people find their policy answers the easy way.
15. Quick kudos
Quick kudos videos are a great way to recognize a job well done.
Think of quick kudos like a video fist bump. You don’t have to reserve them for monumental successes. Instead, quickly send kudos videos for just about any job well done.
Even better, make kudos videos a natural part of company culture by encouraging department managers to create their own kudos videos. Set up a template, then use Biteable’s team features to empower managers to DIY.
16. Outstanding achievement awards
Did the sales team hit a major company goal? Did a marketing staff absolutely knock their most recent project out of the park? Maybe you had an office competition, so there’s an actual award to give out. That’s the time to break out your outstanding achievement award video.
But just because the award is for outstanding achievement doesn’t mean you need to spend an outstanding amount of time on it. Pop your company colors and award-specific text into a template to make an award-winning video in just a few minutes.
17. Pay increase congratulations
Getting a raise feels great. Receiving recognition for all the hard work it takes to get a raise is also nice. How about using a friendly video for all of your pay raise notifications?
The personal touch is guaranteed to make staff feel acknowledged and appreciated for their work. In terms of employee satisfaction, that feeling is worth its weight in gold.
18. Employee appreciation
We humans like feeling appreciated. As you already know, regular employee appreciation boosts morale and fosters a positive company culture. But don’t wait until your quarterly all-staff to dole out the praise.
Use video to make employee appreciation a regular part of office life.
A simple video is a great way to spread appreciation around the company with just a single email. Or put a series of appreciation videos on the screen in a common area. You could even start a Slack channel dedicated entirely to staff praise.
Regardless of how you deliver your appreciation videos, there’s never a bad time to thank employees for all they do.
Human resources videos for announcements and events
It often falls on the HR department to send out event invitations and announcements, or to distribute reports and presentations. You could put up a poster in the break room. But an HR video is far more fun and attention-getting.
19. C-suite updates
You may be familiar with Jeff Bezos’s yearly letter to shareholders. Your company may have a similar yearly tradition. Or the upper management may prefer to distribute even more frequent communications to employees. Either way, why not use video?
Many executives are more comfortable speaking than they are writing. And video gives employees an opportunity to see someone from upper management speaking to them, often in a less formal tone than they might use at a major meeting.
Pro tip: Capture first-person video footage of company execs using Biteable’s record feature. Record footage without leaving the app and add the clips to any video with the click of a button, no uploads required.
20. Holiday announcements
If you host company holiday events, you need people to show up. Use video to give people all the important details in a memorable format.
The tone of your event announcement gives a preview of the tone for the event. So if you want to convey fun and a chance for employees to let down their hair, keep the invite lighthearted.
Pop in a few scenes of stock footage that fit the tone of your event, and consider including an upbeat soundtrack to get people in the party mood.
Or, use video to send your people home early for the holidays so they can start celebrating with their friends and family.
Need a video for another holiday? Check out these other event video templates.
21. Regular reports
Company reports and updates can be a bit dry. But not everybody needs the written reports. Some people may just be interested in the progress and direction of the company, especially in businesses with profit-sharing plans and revenue-based bonus programs.
Video is the perfect way to make these reports quick and engaging. But, between monthly, quarterly, annual, and all the other company updates, you could end up cranking out quite a few company update videos.
Set yourself up for success with a video template. Keep one template on hand for each type of report, then update it each time with the relevant data and visuals.
You’ll have an attention-getting report ready and waiting well before the next update is due.
Why you need HR video templates
HR video templates are a critical piece of human resources video production.
Templates take care of all the storyboarding and video planning, so you can focus on making videos quickly. That way you can handle everything from executive messaging to employee work anniversaries with videos that are easy to make and fun to watch.
That’s why we’ve included an HR template with each of our human resources video ideas. Use these ideas and templates to get your HR video production going before the end of the day.
FAQ: All things video and HR
Everything you ever wanted to know about video for HR.
What is an HR video?
An HR video is any video that helps HR managers, people ops, and recruiters engage and activate current teams and potential candidates. Examples of HR videos include:
- Hiring videos
- Onboarding videos
- Video training
- Policy overview videos
- Announcement videos
- Leadership update videos
How can HR use social media?
HR can use social media videos as a recruiting tool. LinkedIn video posts get 3x more engagement than text-based posts, but many HR teams haven’t yet adopted video as a social media strategy. It’s still relatively easy to stand out and generate interest with content like job posting videos and company culture videos.
How can I make HR more interesting?
One of our favorite ideas for making HR more interesting is to include fun videos in your employee communications. Short HR videos pack a lot of information into just a few minutes. The engaging format holds people’s interest better than text-based comms. People also remember information better with video than with text.
How do you engage a team with video?
Here are three of our favorite ideas for engaging a team with video:
- Recognition videos: Create short, personalized videos recognizing team members for a job well done.
- New hire videos: Encourage new hires to make a video introducing themselves to the team.
- Leadership updates: Put a human face on leadership updates.
Make your next HR video with Biteable
Gone are the days of racking your brain for creative ways to engage employees and communicate your message. Whatever you need to say, video helps you say it better.
Make an HR video the right way with Biteable.
Sign up for a 7-day free trial for access to hundreds of HR-centric video templates, brandable scenes, and one-of-a-kind animations. With Biteable, you get a whole library of stock footage, animated text, and music at your fingertips.
Done-for-you editing, plus a collaborative workflow takes all the guesswork out of HR videos. When you’re ready, share your video on all your platforms with a single, trackable link. You’ll make your HR first video faster than you can say “employee leave policy.”