Onboarding that sticks: how to use video to engage new starters

Right from day one, it’s crucial new employees get the tools and support they need to succeed. An effective onboarding process plays a key role in this by introducing company values, building early confidence and setting clear expectations.

Strong employee onboarding should be informative, clear and – above all – engaging. Get it right, and employees feel supported and confident, giving them the best possible start to settle in and perform well.

Get it wrong, and you may find yourself back with a recruiter, losing both valuable time and budget.

Why employee onboarding needs to be engaging

When onboarding is done badly (or not at all), it creates early friction for new starters. If employees don’t feel informed, supported or valued, both performance and retention suffer.

Here are five key reasons to invest in a robust onboarding programme:

• Retention: The first 45 days are critical. Around 20% of new hires leave within this period, often driven by poor early experiences. Make the wrong impression with weak onboarding, and talented new starters may leave before they’ve even had a chance to settle in.

• Time: Whether it’s fielding CVs or multiple-stage interviews, the hiring process is already time-consuming. Poor onboarding increases the risk of having to do it all over again.

• Cost: In the UK, replacing an employee costs around £25,000 on average – rising to £40,000+ for senior roles. Lose multiple employees due to poor onboarding and that amount soon adds up to staggering amounts.

• Performance: Beyond retention, strong onboarding builds confidence and clarity, giving new employees what they need to perform and make an impact sooner.

• Workflow: Poor onboarding slows teams down. When new starters aren’t properly trained, they rely more heavily on others for support, disrupting wider workloads.

In short, effective onboarding protects the investment you’ve made during the recruitment process, while also improving efficiency and performance long term. With a strong onboarding in place, employees are 69% more likely to stay at a company for three years.

How to make onboarding engaging for new starters

Use formats with a high engagement rate

Engaging onboarding starts with your format selection. Overwhelming new hires with heavy, text-only modules is unlikely to inspire them from the get-go. Instead, a blended approach is better, combining formats to keep learning clear, varied and accessible.

Video is a particularly effective format. People retain far more information when it’s delivered visually – 95% via video, compared with just 10% through text – making it an excellent choice for learning that sticks.

Video may sound expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. AI-powered tools like Vyond now make it possible to create high-quality, fully customisable training videos – bringing learning to life in an engaging, cost-effective way.

Create a learning timeline

Alongside choosing the right formats, you need to map out when learning happens. A clear onboarding timeline helps new starters build knowledge gradually, rather than being overloaded in the first few weeks.

Think beyond just week one. Planning learning across the first three months gives employees time to absorb information, apply it in practice and retain it long term. Breaking this into clear stages also creates momentum and a sense of progression.

Here are the key onboarding phases to plan for:

• Day one: Set up systems, make introductions, cover role essentials and agree clear onboarding goals.
• First month: Build role confidence through hands-on training, alongside benefits, policies and ways of working.
• Around 60 days: Recognise progress, celebrate early wins and encourage continued learning.
• 90 days and beyond: Shift towards application, ownership and ongoing development.

Below, we explore practical examples of how video can support learning at each stage.

Video in onboarding: 4 key moments

Day one

The first day of a new job can be understandably overwhelming, so it’s important to not bombard employees with everything all at once. Instead, go back to basics and focus on the essentials – giving people just enough context to feel oriented, welcomed and supported.

Day one learning should stay high-level, covering company goals, values and the basics of the role, without diving into unnecessary detail too early.

How video can support day one onboarding:

• Welcome video: A warm introduction featuring real employees helps humanise the organisation and gives new starters a sense of the culture and wider purpose.
• Tech set-up: Short how-to videos can guide new hires through key systems, helping them get up and running without frustration.
• Company values: A simple values-led video introduces what the organisation stands for and how employees contribute to the bigger picture.
• Onboarding overview: A short video summarising the onboarding journey and expectations works well alongside a written checklist, reinforcing clarity at the end of day one.

This focused approach keeps day one reassuring and easy to digest – setting the tone for the weeks ahead.

Day 30

After day one, onboarding should shift to role-specific learning. Instead of front-loading information, spread short, focused content across the first month so new starters can learn, apply and revisit key ideas over time.

Video works particularly well here. It supports flexible, self-paced learning and makes complex or unfamiliar topics easier to understand without disrupting the working day.

Here’s when to use video during this timeframe:

• Mandatory training: Short videos to explain essential industry or compliance requirements clearly and visually.
• Core role skills: Bite-sized microlearning content that shows how tasks and decisions should be handled in practice.
• Department overview: A simple introduction to team purpose, ways of working and culture to build early connection.

This approach builds confidence and knowledge gradually, while keeping learning manageable and relevant during the first month.

Day 60

By the two-month mark, new starters have built a solid foundation, but they may still be finding their feet. This stage of onboarding is about recognising progress so far, reinforcing confidence and supporting continued development.

Video works here as a reflective and reinforcing tool. It helps acknowledge achievements, revisit key learning and encourage employees to keep building their capability as they move beyond the initial onboarding phase.

How video can support learning around day 60:

• Progress check-ins: Short videos that reflect on progress against early goals and highlight key achievements.
• Recognition moments: Personal or team-led videos that celebrate early wins and reinforce a sense of belonging.
• Reinforcement content: Brief refreshers that revisit important concepts, behaviours or processes as they begin to embed.

This phase helps new employees recognise their progress and feel confident about what comes next.

Day 90

By the three-month mark, onboarding should transition into performance. New starters are ready to take more ownership of their role, apply what they’ve learned and contribute more independently.

Video can support this shift by encouraging reflection, application and knowledge sharing. At this stage, learning becomes less about instruction and more about reinforcing capability and continuous development.

How video can support learning at 90 days:

• Applied learning: Short videos that demonstrate how knowledge and skills are being used in real situations.
• Knowledge sharing: Employee-created videos that explain processes, share best practice or support future onboarding.
• Ongoing development: Targeted content to support continued learning, new responsibilities or evolving priorities.

This final stage reinforces confidence, supports long-term performance and keeps learning embedded – long beyond onboarding.

Whether you’re building a new onboarding journey or improving an existing one, get in touch to see how Vyond can bring your learning to life.