Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................1
Employee Engagement.......................................................................................................2
Adoption Trends and Learnings............................................................................................3
Solution Requirements.......................................................................................................5
Best Practices...................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................7
Appendix........................................................................................................................8
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Introduction
Kontiki, Inc., in partnership with Melcrum, conducted a survey of 650 internal communicators. They responded from all over
the world, providing insights into the employee engagement benefits, adoption trends, solution requirements, and best
practices for video enabling employee webcasts.
Video webcasting is a high engagement communication channel, especially for remote employees (anyone located beyond
headquarters and large regional offices), and delivers:
Strengthened employee engagement
A personal connection with executives
Increased alignment with company/organizational objectives
Video webcasting (video broadcasting) has finally passed the inflection point to mainstream enterprise adoption.
Commitment to video webcasting for employee communication is at 85.8% and 71% of internal communicators will
deliver between ten and more than a thousand video webcasts to employees in the next 12 months. The business driver is
compelling, creating a personal connection with executives (56.9%), which has a direct impact on employee engagement
(55.3%). Video webcasting is rapidly becoming an integral part of every internal communicators portfolio.
Its probably not a surprise that so many communicators are incorporating live video into their all-employee meetings.
The reach and engagement benefits are obvious, but some of the challenges are not. One challenge that plagues employee
communication is video quality. A quality video experience is defined by no buffering and high resolution, and is
determined by the video delivery method. Because of corporate network restrictions, it is significantly harder to deliver
video within a company than it is to deliver outside a company via the internet, making a quality video experience for
every employee difficult to achieve.
Addressing video quality is critical because it is a consistent theme, high priority and top challenge for internal communicators,
especially as it relates to remote employees, where the biggest challenge using video is poor quality (57.4%). Corporate
networks have trouble delivering all types of video, but live broadcasts are the most difficult. The impact, if not addressed,
is a poor viewing experience with limited reach, resulting in disengaged employees.
When it comes to a video webcast solution provider, a flexible, easy to use environment for presenting and viewing,
combined with a high quality video experience and easy integration into employee portals were identified as the top
must-have features.
Learning from the early adopters can be invaluable, and they have shared their experiences and best practices by prioritizing
success criteria and identifying important challenges.
In this report, you will find charts and commentary illustrating key findings from the video webcasting survey on the
following topics:
Employee Engagement
Adoption Trends and Learnings
Solution Requirements
Best Practices
We believe the survey findings provide essential data on developing trends, challenges and priorities for internal
communicators focusing on employee engagement programs emphasizing company-wide participation.
PAGE 1
Employee Engagement
Video webcasting delivers engagement:
Primary reason for adding video
Employee engagement initiatives continue to be high on the agenda for many internal communicators and video webcasting is an important part of their portfolio. 44.1% of the internal communicators surveyed, identified employee engagement
as the primary reason for adding video to employee webcasts. Employee engagement was followed by extend learning and
development programs (13.9%) and executive mandate (13.6%), demonstrating the value of video for knowledge transfer
and organizational alignment.
We asked for other primary reasons not offered in the survey and we have listed several below:
Amazing response following the use of webcasting to support an offsite company event by letting those back at
What has been the biggest impact to the business when adding video to
your employee communication webcasts? Select all that apply.
Created a personal connection
with executives
Improved culture/
working environment
Improved productivity
Increased attendance/
participation
Improved retention of
content/messaging
Increased revenues
Increased alignment with
company/organizational objectives
Increased collaboration
among employees
Provided a consistent message
to customers
80
Video webcasting for employee communications is in use by 68.8% of the internal communicators surveyed with an
additional 17% moving in that direction. The typical starting point for introducing video webcasting to employees is the
quarterly all-employee meeting, usually followed over time by functional all-employee meetings and then cross-functional
meetings.
32.9% of internal communicators surveyed, have somewhat adopted video webcasting, delivering company-wide or
functional video webcasts on a quarterly/monthly basis. 25.8% are moderately adopted, using video webcasting companywide and functionally, while 9.3% are highly adopted, using video webcasting at all levels of the company and also crossfunctionally.
In addition to organizational usage, frequency is another metric for adoption. 31.7% of internal communicators surveyed
plan to deliver ten or fewer video webcasts in the next twelve months with the next largest group (26%) delivering eleven to
one hundred.
How many employee-focused video webcasts will your company deliver
in the next 12 months?
More than 1000
101-1000
11-100
10 or less
Dont know
None
10
15
20
Percentage (%)
PAGE 3
25
30
35
High cost
Difficult to forecast and budget
Management doesnt value video
Management intimidated by video
Difficult to produce
Poor experience for
remote employees
Scalability
Security concerns
Tried and failed
None of the above
10
15
20
25
Percentage (%)
PAGE 4
30
35
40
Solution Requirements
Must have features:
Easy to use interface
The foundation for any successful webcast is a credible speaker with strong content, but it must also be supported by the right
solution. This is especially true when adding video to your all-employee events, as there are unique requirements over and
above what you may be accustomed to with audio/slides.
There are many must-have aspects to a video webcasting solution, but there are a few that stand out.
The majority (70%) of internal communicators
surveyed require a flexible and easy to use
environment for presenting and viewing. This is
critical for adoption, ensuring the ability to reduce
the barriers of change for both audience and
presenter. When evaluating a solution, consider the
desired end state of adoption, when video is likely
to be used broadly in the organization. A simple
to use, flexible solution will scale effectively,
accelerating adoption and significantly reducing
training and support requirements.
A quality video experience is the second (68.3%)
most important requirement. After spending the
majority of your time on the message, it must be
viewed as intended to achieve its full effect. As
previously noted, the delivery method determines
the quality of viewing experience and the number
of employees that can properly participate.
The third (62.6%) must-have requirement is
easy integration with employee portals (typically
SharePoint) for event promotion and replay. Not
everyone can be available for the live event, so it is
important to quickly offer a replay. Given that
many employee portals are central to employee
engagement programs, offering high value video
content will not only increase event viewership,
but also draw employees to a portal initiative.
10
20
30
40
50
Percentage (%)
PAGE 5
60
70
80
Best Practices
Keys to success:
Delivery a quality video experience
For those who are embarking upon video webcasting for the first time, the chart below provides a good starting point for an
event checklist. Once again quality video experience (67.7%) is the most important element in a successful event. Reaching
and engaging employees cant happen with a poor video experience, especially on your first event, when success is critical to
future adoption. The remote employees are typically a priority audience for an all-employee video webcast, but can often be
the most difficult to reach, due to network constraints. As previously noted, the delivery method determines the quality of
viewing experience and the number of employees that can properly participate; therefore, its important to choose a solution
that enables you to deliver the highest quality video possible to all employees, including those in remote locations.
Given the added complexity of video, the impact on culture, and the critical nature of the message, it is important to start
small to test and learn (53.3%). Becoming familiar with the tools, testing infrastructure for video delivery, working through
production process and ensuring the talent is comfortable and engaging are all important aspects of a successful live event.
Work closely with the IT team (42.3%),
What are the most important elements when launching a video webcast
speakers, vendors, etc. to produce a small
for the first time? Select all that apply.
event and then scale as appropriate.
Organizational leaders participation (43.4%)
is an important part of any program and their
qualified support should be secured prior
to initiating any video program. Executives
can become somewhat uncomfortable if it
is their first time with live video. Integrating
an all-employee webcast with an in-person
meeting of a large employee group offers a
natural environment for executives to deliver
a compelling, engaging message. It is also
encouraged to bring remote teams together
in local offices for the event, but also provide
a quality option for employees that cannot
make the group meetings.
10
20
30
40
50
Percentage (%)
PAGE 6
60
70
80
What are the critical success factors for an employee focused video webcast?
Select all that apply.
Communications and promotion
Format and style
individual presentations, panels, etc.
Changing viewing elements throughout
webcast size and location of slides, video, etc.
Quality video experience
no buffering, high resolution, etc.
Engaging, knowledgable
speakers/panelists
Compelling subject matter
Every employee can participate
Preparation and dry-run sessions
Incorporate social features
polling, Q&A, etc.
Post-event replay
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Percentage (%)
Conclusion
Video webcasting will soon be a standard channel for internal communicators. The ability to create trust and empathy
without physical presence is a powerful benefit, especially with the rapidly growing trend in remote employee workforces.
For most internal communicators, video starts with the CEOs all-employee meeting, a perfect application for a video
webcasting channel because of the importance and reach needs of the message. Adding video to your webcast will accelerate
employee engagement and organizational alignment, but presents some challenges compared to audio/slides only. The most
important difference with video is the need to provide a quality viewing experience to every employee, which is considered
a critical success factor for any employee event. Corporate networks are not designed for video, especially live video
broadcasts, so it is important to partner with IT and choose a video delivery method that meets your standards for quality.
Video webcasting is a high engagement channel, well suited for employee communications. There are some challenges to
overcome, but the benefits are compelling and there are many experienced communicators and solution vendors that can
assist with all stages of adoption.
PAGE 7
Appendix
Communicators responded from all over the world with
North America at 43.7%, Europe 19.4%, U.K. 16.7%,
Asia-Pacific 6.8%, Middle East/Africa 5.2%, South/
Central America 1.7% and Other at 6.5%.
Asia-Pacific
Europe
Middle East/Africa
North America
United Kingdom
South/Central America
Other (please specify)
10
20
30
40
50
Percentage (%)
Consumer goods/FMCG
Education
Financial Services
Govt/Public administration
Healthcare
Heavy industry and manufacturing
Leisure, hotel and catering
Media
Non-profit
Pharmaceutical
Primary industries
Retail
Technology products and services
Telecommunications
Transport and logistics
Utilities
Other (please specify)
PAGE 8
10
15
Percentage (%)
20
25
About Melcrum
Melcrum, a privately held research and training business, is the leading authority on best practice, emerging trends and
strategy in internal communication.
Melcrum advises internal communication leaders at 69% of the Global Fortune 100 largest organisations and 84% of the FTSE
100. Through independent research and executive education, Melcrum helps internal communicators achieve the
rewards and recognition they deserve.
With global networks and offices in the UK, US and Australia, Melcrum researchers and editors spend their time meeting and
talking to practitioners to find out where the best work gets done. Melcrum makes these tools, techniques, and case studies
available to its members through publications, research, events, forums and websites.
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