How video engages employees and benefits CEOs

The workplace looks fundamentally different than it did six months ago, with digital workplace communication now at the heart of how businesses operate. We wanted to know— several months into the largest experiment in remote work the world has ever seen— how’s it really going? In partnership with GlobalWebIndex, Vimeo surveyed thousands of company leaders and remote employees to better understand the state of workplace communications and the impacts of remote work on employee productivity, efficiency, and engagement. Today, we’re excited to unveil the fruits of this research: This Should Have Been a Video: The state of communications at work. The findings show that the pandemic fueled a digital transformation for businesses in ways that both affirmed and surprised us. Some of the things we learned:

1. Leaders think they are great communicators. Employees disagree. 

The data shows a sharp disconnect between senior leadership and employees in how they perceive the effectiveness— and the frequency— of their communications. 

2. We’re all nervous on video. 

Surprisingly, the results show that executives and young staffers show the highest degrees of social and performance anxiety on video.

3. For many, the transition to remote work was not an overnight success, and employees could be feeling the impacts for years to come. 

More than a third of HR professionals reported that their companies completely stopped training during the pandemic!  

4. When it comes to workplace communications, the medium is the message. 

Using video (vs another form of communication, like email) has the potential to make employees more aware, engaged, and invested in a company’s strategy. Employees at video-forward companies were over 70% more likely to say their company was ready to face the future of work. Video-savvy workforces were also twice as likely to rate their companies’ collaborative environment and employee training as “excellent” and 75% more likely to report excellent employee engagement at their workplace. At its core, this report addresses a truth: the workplace changed overnight, and many companies were ill-prepared. No one really knows what the future of work will bring, but we know video is a consistent, driving force in helping businesses and their employees succeed. Our work with Global Web Index made this clear — video has the power to reshape how we work. It connects us. Download This Should Have Been a Video here, and watch four CEOs discuss the real-life implications of these findings during our Workplace Communications Workshop.