On day one, a new joiner always asks the same questions: how the company is organised, who does what, where to find information, how things work here. Depending on who welcomes them and how much time that person has, they get very different answers, or none at all.
An onboarding video answers those questions once and for all, the same way for every arrival, on every site and in every language. It does not replace the team's welcome: it frees time for what a video cannot do.
What an onboarding video should say
- What the company does, said simply, as you would explain it to a friend.
- How it is organised: the main teams, who does what, an animated org chart rather than a list of names.
- How things work here: the tools, the rituals, the habits written down nowhere.
- Where to find information and who to ask.
- What is expected in the first weeks, so everyone knows where to start.
What does not belong in the video: information that changes every month, detailed procedures, people's names. They go in the documentation, where they are updated without remaking a video.
One video, or a series?
A single two- to four-minute welcome video is often enough to start. To go further, a series of short videos works better than one long one:
| Video | When to watch it | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome: who we are, what we do | Before arrival or on day one | 1 to 2 min |
| Our organisation | Day one | 1 to 2 min |
| Our tools and ways of working | First week | 2 to 3 min |
| Your job with us | First week, per team | 2 to 3 min |
Sent before arrival, the first video changes day one: people arrive already knowing where they are stepping in.
Why motion design suits it
- It explains an organisation: an org chart building itself, flows between teams, a customer journey.
- It ages well: no faces of employees who leave, no offices that move.
- It can be updated: an organisational change is fixed in one shot, without remaking everything.
- It translates: one voice-over and one set of text per language, for every subsidiary.
A short filmed statement from the leader can open the series: motion design explains, the leader embodies.
Keeping it up to date
An outdated onboarding video does more harm than no video: it teaches new joiners, on day one, that official information cannot be trusted. Two precautions are enough:
- isolate what changes in the files, figures, team names, tools, to replace it without redoing the animation;
- review the video once a year, or at every reorganisation.
Releasing it at the right moment
- Before arrival, in the welcome email, for the company presentation video.
- On day one, on the intranet or in your HR platform's journey.
- In the first weeks, the videos on tools and the job, when they are needed.
- With subtitles, for people watching without sound, and for new joiners who do not yet speak the language well.
Measuring whether it helps
Ask new joiners, after a month, what they missed. Count the recurring questions asked to managers and HR. If they drop, the video is doing its job. Our article on measuring an internal video suggests other indicators.
Price and timing
Our internal video costs €1,750 excl. VAT and is delivered in 21 days. For a series of onboarding videos, we send a tailored quote within 24 hours, with a fixed price written before we start. Each extra language costs €300 excl. VAT.
In short
An onboarding video gives every new joiner the same answers to the same questions, from day one. It explains the company, its organisation and its ways of working, and leaves the rest to the team. For more ideas, see our ten internal video ideas, or our guide to corporate motion design video.
