HR executives, who use video at work, say they will prefer video collaboration over email as their top method of business communication within three years, said a Polycom survey.
56 percent indicated video would be their most preferred method of business communication, surpassing email (49 percent) and voice conference calls (32 percent), according to a global survey of business decision makers in 12 countries conducted by Redshift Research on behalf of Polycom.
98 percent of the HR executives believe video conferencing removes distance barriers and improves productivity between teams in different cities and countries.
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 percent) after email (88 percent) and voice/conference calls (62 percent). Other business communications included Web conferencing, instant messaging and social media.
The views of the HR professionals polled are supported by Aberdeen Group’s 2013 report on video talent acquisition that found 32 percent of organizations were investing in video interviewing, compared to 21 percent of organizations in 2012.
“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 Paris is 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 Vanessa Mauree, HR director of French retail chain Alain Afflelou.
Beyond recruitment, video is also enabling organizations 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.
Video conferencing, video recording and video asset management helps organizations overcome diminishing training budgets, minimize 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.
The ability to record live training sessions and playback later for people to view at times when it is more convenient for their work schedule allows for more cost-effective delivery of training content and efficient re-use of training content.
