How To Prepare For An Economic Downturn While Still Offering Quality Corporate Training Videos

The predicted economic downturn is already starting to have an impact on budgets for corporate training programs. 

Back in 2020, the pandemic created the urgent need for progressive businesses to go online, initiating training, learning and development programs which would allow staff to keep up with the fast-moving changes. And it wasn’t just push from employers, it was also something employees were demanding.

According to Deloitte, 42% of employees looking for a new opportunity say one reason is that their employers are not helping them maximize their skills and capabilities. If workers feel they aren’t keeping current, they’ll likely quit, becoming part of the ‘Great Resignation’ movement in which 4 million Americans are leaving their jobs on an almost monthly basis. 

So, to stay competitive and innovative, executive leadership needed to provide effective training programs, corporate training and upskilling opportunities, to give employees the skills they needed to excel in their jobs and advance within the organization. 

The predicted economic downturn is having an impact on corporate training budgets

But just 18 months later and companies are now starting to hit the brakes when it comes to expenditure. Despite the importance of creating training videos, as it’s not an immediate revenue-producing area, there is a risk that management views reducing the quantity of training videos as an easy way to cut costs. But the winning Learning & Development (L&D) departments are figuring out a way to continue delivering corporate training programs and training video presentations and e-learning at a low-cost, without forsaking high quality. 

To help you continue offering quality corporate training video at a low cost, here are some areas you might want to consider.

Companies Are Tightening Their Belts: How To Offer Cost-Effective Corporate Training Program With A Smaller Budget

Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance

Being clear on your company’s goals will help you build your training programs in the most cost-effective way

Before you start producing your corporate training video content, it’s important to put in place proper planning and strategy. This will help ensure that you are outputting effective training video and engaging content. Here are a few things to consider:

– Who is your target audience for your training courses? What are their needs and learning objectives? Is it for compliance training? Project management? Training for the sales team? Or is it more soft skills like problem solving or teamwork?

How to offer cost-effective corporate training program with a smaller budget

• What format will your own training videos need to be in to be most effective for your online training program? Should you consider interactive training?
• How will you deliver the content for your training programs? Will it be self-paced or delivered in a live training session? Is it mandatory training?
• What technology do you need to produce and deliver the corporate training video? Do you have the necessary equipment and video editing software, or will you need to purchase or lease them?

An investment in technology like AI or video editing software could be a huge cost saver

Before you roll out and create training video, identify the key needs for the business. Ask for feedback from both the management team and workers to ascertain what are the most important areas for training programs. Once there is an understanding and ranking of mission-critical job training tasks, the L&D team can use the feedback to produce e-learning and your own training video to match the high-priority needs of the business. 

Quality over quantity

Fewer but better beats more but worse

When it comes to an employee training program, quality is more important than quantity. Instead of producing a large quantity of training video, in the hope that it will address all of the needs of all employees, consider delivering fewer videos, but put in the time and effort to make them really standout and resonate.

Effective training videos with real impact will be worth so much more than creating videos for the sake of it

Instead of cranking out a bunch of mediocre training video, it’s better to produce fewer videos that are top-notch and truly resonate with employees. By taking the time to create engaging, informative videos that capture employees’ attention, you can ensure that your job training materials are effective and well-received. 

Additionally, by incorporating interactive elements or real-life scenarios into your training video, you can further enhance their usefulness and make sure that employees are getting the most out of them. 

By investing in quality over quantity, you can create training video that will make a lasting impact on your employees.

Get Creative And Fluid With Your Budget

Necessity is the mother of invention – time to get inventive

In turbulent times of uncertainty, companies need to continually pivot and change – and that includes your training program. The company may have a history of in-person learning; however, in a recessionary environment when costs are a big issue, there is a need for training video creators to be creative, flexible and open-minded to changing the nature of the programs and doing things in new ways. 

If you don’t have the funds to produce the creative videos that you want, consider crowdsourcing training content and information from mentors and contacts within your network—those that are willing to champion the advancement and success of others and the company. There’s no reason why you need to do everything yourself. 

Businesses can also forge strategic alliances with other organizations. For instance, if you are making a sales-related training video, enlist a company that has a large and well-respected salesforce to partner with. This will defray some of the costs and also increase the visibility of your training video to a wider audience, gaining additional attention for your firm.

AI-based technology can also help you reach your DEI goals, making it much easier to create diverse representation in your development programs

Another example is in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. In our post-George Floyd society, there is a nearly insatiable demand for video training content around DEI.

As this movement has garnered the interest of both the public and private sectors, progressive companies can partner with educational institutions, city, state and federal government divisions, nonprofits and other groups who champion this cause to share the cost of video creation for online training.

Make better use of the talent already in your business

Great people with extraordinary skills are already in your organization. You just need to make use of them

Mentoring and two-way training via video can be an effective low-cost training tool. For example, using a web-conferencing platform, members of  executive leadership can offer training online, in an inexpensive and personalized fashion. 

The staff can offer feedback and ask questions to the senior management. This will also serve as a way to solidify engagement between two groups of employees that don’t ordinarily fraternize. Both the executives and staff will gain a better appreciation for each other and create a bond, which will help with both corporate training and retaining talent.

Is there already talent in your business you can leverage to help create your corporate training content?

As part of your training program, additional videos can be initiated on a regular basis to share what skills and expertise needed to meet and exceed employee development goals. 

Also, as anyone who has ever gone viral on social media knows, the reach of these platforms can be staggering. And for businesses, that kind of attention can be extremely valuable. After all, there’s no better way to position your organization as media-savvy and adventurous than by sharing employee-generated training videos directly on social media sites.

Not only could this help to burnish your brand, but it will also motivate the workers who produce the videos. They’ll take pride in their initiatives and feel a sense of ownership over the content. And of course, there’s always the chance that one of the videos will go viral. That kind of exposure is priceless.

Use AI-based Tools To Save Money And Speed Up Output

Corporate training is being shaken up by the world of artificial intelligence, helping people do a lot more for a lot less

Cutting-edge, AI-driven technologies can be a huge solution to this issue. AI-generated media, offers a way to continue upskilling and growing employee development in a way that dramatically reduces costs of corporate training.

D-ID, is one of the world leaders in this area. The firm has launched a new platform that provides the software to offer dazzling e-learning, corporate training videos and marketing content.  

With D-ID, there isn’t a need to spend a small fortune hiring actors, directors and a film crew. You won’t have to wait weeks or months to get a finished product. 

The startup makes everything easy and simple. For example, given a photo of the CEO or Chief People Officer, and D-ID’s AI technology can dynamically and vividly offer corporate training videos and other important matters without them even needing to be there.

For large firms with international offices, executives can create training videos in multiple languages to share with employees across the globe in their language. It doesn’t just have to be the C-suite.

With AI-generated content, your training programs will be able to address teams across the world in their own languages

The startup offers a virtually endless amount of choices of corporate training speakers, teachers and instructors across ethnicity, color, size or gender. Within seconds, you can create beautiful videos, along with content and realistic audio to be integrated into your video editing software

Deploying technology can provide high quality training videos for less money compared to traditional office-based or offsite training sessions. The tools and platforms are readily available and cost-effective to deliver within a tight budget.

In conclusion

Training professionals must become adept at finding cost-effective solutions that don’t sacrifice quality.

As the saying goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” The same can be said of preparing for an economic downturn. By making some cost-saving changes now, you can still offer quality training videos without breaking the bank. 

D-ID’s AI technology increases the engagement, interaction and comprehension of corporate training, while radically reducing the time, cost and effort required to produce, personalize and revise video content.

Even in a tight economy, employee training is still a critical investment for businesses. By taking a strategic and creative approach to your e-learning content, you can provide high-quality effective training videos at a fraction of the cost. D-ID has years of experience helping companies create engaging and effective video content, so contact us today to find out how we can help you get the most out of your corporate training programs without busting your budget.