How to Make Onboarding Videos for New Employees (+Templates)

Onboarding videos help new hires understand your company, their role, and how to get started with confidence.

When designed well, they reduce confusion, shorten ramp-up time, and ensure every employee receives the same core information.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to make an employee onboarding video step by step, from defining the purpose and scripting content to creating, distributing, and evaluating onboarding videos at scale.

The steps below are designed to help you build onboarding videos that support clarity, consistency, and early productivity for new hires, whether they are in-office, remote, or distributed.

Employee onboarding video templates you can customize

Employee onboarding

‍I use this template to welcome new hires and walk them through what to expect in their first days. It’s a simple way to introduce the company, key tools, and basic processes, while keeping onboarding consistent for every new employee.

Step 1: Define the purpose of your onboarding video

Before you start scripting or producing an onboarding video, be clear about what this specific video is meant to accomplish.

Onboarding works best as a series of short, focused videos, each designed to support a particular moment in the new hire journey. Trying to cover everything in a single video often leads to overload and lower retention.

Start by identifying:

• Who the video is for (all new hires, a specific role, or a specific team)
• When it will be watched (day one, first week, or later in onboarding)
• What the viewer should understand or be able to do afterward

A good rule of thumb is one video per purpose.

Many organizations structure onboarding as a series of short, purpose-driven videos. Criteo uses onboarding videos to deliver consistent messages to new hires across teams and locations, helping employees get up to speed while maintaining a shared understanding of how the company works.

Short, focused videos are easier to:

• Understand and remember
• Update when information changes
• Reuse across teams and roles

Once you’ve defined the purpose of your onboarding video, you’re ready to plan what it should say and how it should be structured.

Step 2: Script your onboarding video

An onboarding video is most effective when it answers the questions new hires are already asking.

The goal of scripting is not to explain everything at once. It is to help new employees understand what matters at this stage of onboarding and what they should focus on next.

Before you write, confirm:

• The purpose of this specific onboarding video
• What information is essential right now
• What can wait for a later video

A focused script reduces overload and helps new hires retain what they need to know.

Step 3: Create the onboarding video

With a clear purpose and a finished script, you can move into production.

At this stage, the goal is to create onboarding videos that are easy to understand, consistent across teams, and simple to update as information changes.

Match the video format to the onboarding purpose

Keep each video aligned to its role in the onboarding journey.

• Welcome or orientation videos:
  Simple, conversational delivery that helps new hires feel grounded on day one.
• Role or team introductions:
  Short, structured segments that clarify who does what and how teams work together.
• Tool and process walkthroughs:
  Step-by-step visuals that show how key tools or workflows are used in practice.
• Culture and ways-of-working videos:
  Clear examples that set expectations for communication, collaboration, and decision-making.

Create consistent onboarding experiences

Onboarding works best when every new hire receives the same core information.

Creating onboarding videos allows you to build a shared library of modules that can be reused across roles, teams, and locations. This helps reduce confusion and ensures that policies, processes, and expectations are communicated consistently.

Personalize without fragmenting the message

Onboarding videos can be tailored where needed without changing the underlying message.

For example, you can:

• Adjust examples for different roles or departments
• Reorder modules based on job requirements
• Add or remove videos depending on a new hire’s onboarding path

This keeps onboarding relevant while maintaining consistency across the organization.

Support remote and distributed onboarding

Video is especially useful when onboarding employees across locations or time zones.

Onboarding videos make it easier to:

• Share the same guidance with new hires regardless of location
• Help employees get started without relying on live sessions
• Reduce the need for travel or repeated in-person training

This allows new hires to access onboarding content when they need it and revisit it as they learn.

Step 4: Distribute onboarding videos to new hires

Once your onboarding videos are created, the next step is to make sure new hires can access them at the right time.

Onboarding videos are most effective when they are delivered in context, rather than all at once. Distribute each video based on when it is most useful in the onboarding journey.

Choose the right delivery point

Most teams distribute onboarding videos through an LMS, LXP, or onboarding platform. This allows videos to be:

• Assigned automatically when a new hire starts
• Grouped into a structured onboarding path
• Revisited by employees as questions come up

For example, orientation videos are often shared on day one, while role or tool-specific videos may be introduced over the first few weeks.

Set clear expectations for new hires

When distributing onboarding videos, make it clear:

• Which videos are required
• When they should be completed
• Where to go next after watching

Clear guidance helps new hires move through onboarding with confidence.

Keep onboarding flexible

Onboarding does not happen in a single moment.

Distributing videos digitally allows new hires to:

• Watch content at their own pace
• Revisit videos as they encounter new tasks
• Catch up if they start on different dates or time zones

This flexibility is especially useful for remote or distributed teams.

💡Tip: Onboarding videos can be shared through most LMS and onboarding platforms, making it easier to assign content and track completion as new hires progress.

Step 5: Evaluate the effectiveness of onboarding videos

Creating and distributing onboarding videos is only useful if they actually help new hires get oriented and productive.

Evaluation helps you understand whether onboarding videos are clear, timely, and useful at different stages of the new hire journey.

What to look for

Use a combination of learning data and qualitative signals to assess effectiveness:

• Completion and access
  Confirm that new hires are watching the right videos at the right time in onboarding.
• Early understanding
  Check whether new hires understand basic expectations, tools, and processes after watching the videos.
• Time to readiness
  Observe how quickly new hires are able to perform core tasks or contribute in their role.
• Common questions or gaps
  Pay attention to questions that continue to come up after onboarding. These often signal where videos need clarification or additional examples.

Use feedback to improve onboarding over time

Onboarding videos should evolve as your organization changes.

Use what you learn to:

• Clarify confusing sections or terminology
• Split long videos into shorter, more focused modules
• Add new videos when roles, tools, or processes change

Small updates over time help onboarding stay relevant without requiring a full redesign.

💡Tip: When onboarding videos are delivered through an LMS or onboarding platform, you can track completion and revisit points where new hires may need additional support.

Bringing it all together

Onboarding videos work best when they are designed as part of a system.

By defining the purpose of each video, keeping scripts focused, and delivering content at the right moment, you can create an onboarding experience that helps new hires feel oriented, confident, and ready to contribute.

Whether your team is in one office or distributed across locations, onboarding videos make it easier to deliver consistent guidance, update information over time, and support new employees as they ramp up.