Why HR Pros will Turn to Video Conferencing in 2016

98 per cent of HR executives surveyed say video conferencing helps companies defy distance and break down cultural barriers to improve productivity.

HR executives who use video at work today say they will prefer video collaboration over email as their top method of business communication within three years, says a survey by Redshift Research and Polycom.

The majority of those respondents (56 per cent) indicated video would be their most preferred method of business communication, surpassing email (49 per cent) and voice conference calls (32 per cent).

Proving that the benefits of video for HR functions are well understood, the survey of business decision makers in 12 countries revealed that almost all (98 per cent) of the HR executives participating in the survey believe video conferencing removes distance barriers and improves productivity between teams in different cities and countries.

The survey also showed that video is becoming more pervasive for Human Resources teams across the globe. When asked to choose their preferred methods of business communication today, HR respondents ranked video conferencing as a top-three tool for communications, placing third (46 per cent) after email (88 per cent) and voice/conference calls (62 per cent).

Other methods of business communications these HR executives said they use included Web conferencing, instant messaging and social media.

The top three reasons identified for this growth in adoption were to reduce travel costs, shorten the time to hire and to reach geographically dispersed candidates “Advancements in technology and telecommunications are allowing organisations large and small to operate seamlessly from anywhere,” said Mollie Lombardi, Vice President and Principal Analyst, Human Capital Management, Aberdeen Group.

“HR leaders require a new understanding of how technology can help them bridge geographical boundaries and rethink their talent strategies to take full advantage of a broader talent pool.” Vanessa Mauree, HR Director of French retail chain Alain Afflelou is already seeing the benefits of using video during the recruitment process. “I interview candidates for positions all over the country. I cannot make a decision from a telephone interview; I need to see the person to make a good evaluation but flying all candidates to Parisis too costly. Video interviews are ideal, and allow me to see more candidates. A good video interview is as effective as an in-person interview,” said Mauree. Beyond recruitment, video is also enabling organisations to implement flexible work environments. 

This is proven to increase productivity, can reduce employee time spent commuting, and can increase staff satisfaction and loyalty by allowing employees to have more control over work-life balance. Voice, video and content collaboration is impacting many facets of the HR function, including retention, engagement, and training. Video conferencing, video recording and video asset management helps organisations overcome diminishing training budgets, minimise scheduling and travel conflicts, and prevent the loss of knowledge through attrition and retirement with easier, more frequent collaboration and on-demand access to training and knowledge.