A corporate holiday video gives leadership a chance to build human connections in a hybrid work environment. While an all-company email or even a card mailed to employees’ homes will check the box of season’s greetings from the CEO, a holiday video engages employees and adds a human element to the leadership team. With video, CEOs or any leadership team members can be humanized by simply sitting in front of a computer webcam and talking through a communication that can feel more personal to employees.
How do you make an engaging and authentic corporate holiday video?
Whether you shoot just the CEO or the entire executive leadership team, here are some tips for those who’ll be on camera:
- Be Authentic: Be your true self. Speak from the heart, and don’t use a script.
- Be Realistic: Acknowledge the realities of the current events but move on quickly to the adjustments those realities prompt.
- Build Pride: Discuss the challenges met throughout the year and how the organization overcame them.
- Express Gratitude: Make sure to show appreciation for both hybrid and frontline workers in moving the business forward while accommodating the change.
- Be Personal: Talk to employees about your human experiences. You build connections when you share life’s human tragedies and joys — losing a loved one, celebrating a milestone like a wedding anniversary, welcoming a grandchild, or even a new puppy.
- Show Humor: Employees love to laugh with their leadership. You don’t have to be a stand-up comedian to show humor; a silly pair of socks can do the trick!
- Offer Hope: Great leaders unite their people around a common vision — so paint your employees an inspirational picture of the future. End your holiday video with excitement for the year to come.
What if you can’t get the whole leadership team in one place?
One of the challenges of a hybrid work environment is that people are spread across many remote locations. Over the past few years, Tribe has developed and refined techniques and processes for shooting video over Zoom. (See this Best Practices tip sheet for some pointers.) More recently, we’ve been developing our process for using employees’ and leadership’s iPhones to shoot footage with higher resolution.
Hybrid is here to stay
The hybrid model will be around for a while; use internal communications like video messaging to ensure your employees feel included and valued. Ultimately, videos can help build a human connection with leadership and make heroes of employees. Consider a holiday video rather than an email or letter for a holiday greeting that’s more fireside chat than a corporate memo. For more reasons to use video, check out this Tribe blog.
For inspiration, you might like this list of Top 10 Corporate Holiday Videos. Want help developing your holiday video this season? Tribe can help.
