Does your organization see your employees as a replaceable commodity? Or as a key resource to be cultivated as part of the path to long-term success?

Are you sure?

The latest data suggests many organizations still aren’t doing enough when it comes to fostering employee engagement. According to a study released by WeSpire, 57% of respondents wanted their employers to do more around employee engagement — a number that increases to an astonishing 76% among employees under the age of 30.

And it’s not only engagement that employees are seeking. They’re also asking for greater transparency — not just of the specifics of their own jobs, but also of the entire organization, from the corporate strategic vision down to how their individual role contributes to the company’s overall goals.

If the above sounds like your employees, you’re not alone. According to a Deloitte Human Capital Trends report, 87% of organizations cite culture and engagement as one of their top challenges.

Culture Starts at the Top

As company leaders, CEOs are in the best position to drive improvements to culture and engagement from the top down. In fact, in an interview with McKinsey & Company, Richard Edelman, CEO of public relations firm Edelman, used the term “Chief Engagement Officer” when discussing the CEO’s role in earning the public’s trust. It’s a term that carries over to a CEO’s role within the company as well, through leadership and executive communication.

If you’re looking to find ways to engage and communicate with your employees beyond traditional text emails or impersonal interoffice memos, there’s no need to look further than your corporate video platform. With as little as a laptop and webcam, or even just your smartphone, you can record videos that your employees can see at their convenience: company news, program announcements, recognition of achievements, or other communications. If you’re using Panopto, you can record your screen, presentation slides, and more to create even more engaging video presentations.

For an example of just what’s possible, click the video below to learn how Stanley Young, former CEO at NYSE Technologies, used video to train, communicate, and connect with his employees across the globe:

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3 Ways CEOs Can Use Video Messages To Engage Employees in Communications

1. Employee Onboarding and Introduction Videos

Your corporate vision and mission statements are essential guideposts to who your company is, where you’re going, and how you’ll get there. Presenting these in a video message helps to make these all-important guiding principles easier for your new recruits to see — and to remember. And there’s no better way for new employees to hear it than straight from you.

2. Live “Ask Me Anything” Webcasts

Following the popularity of Reddit’s “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) sessions in which celebrities, notable people, and subject matter experts answer questions, companies such as Deutsche Bank and Vistaprint have begun hosting AMA sessions of their own. Holding Q&A sessions in which your employees can ask you nearly anything can help foster trust and transparency between you and your employees.

Panopto customers can use the system’s live streaming software to broadcast CEO AMA sessions to employees all over the world, using the built-in Live Q&A feature to take questions from the audience in real-time. At the end of the session, a recording of the webcast is automatically uploaded to a secure video portal, where employees who missed the chat can catch it on-demand from any device.

3. Employee Awards and Other Recognition

Never underestimate the power of recognition. Studies have shown that employees who are recognized for their hard work are more loyal and productive. When used in moderation, the recognition of employees by the CEO or other executives for rare achievements, and milestones can serve as an especially strong motivator. Recognition can be as simple as a note t in a company-wide email, but if you want to make more impact, record a short video message with your smartphone that explains the  employee’s efforts, then share it internally so can be watched by anyone in your company.

Get More From Your Executive Communications 

Today, corporate communications professionals are increasingly leveraging live and on-demand video to break through the noise and more effectively engage and inform employees. But to maximize your investment, you’ll need the right video tools.

In our latest white paper we dive deeper into how technology is changing video-based corporate communications strategies and what tools give you the most flexibility and agility when it comes to cost-effective video production.

Download the white paper >>