How video can help you to communicate your expenses policy
There’s no point in producing an exceptional expenses policy if you never tell anyone about it.
If you find that people have broken the rules it is a fair defence for them to say that you never told them what the rules are but on a positive note, having a clearly communicated expenses policy means that people aren’t left out of pocket when they pay for work things out of their own money.
Video is everywhere nowadays and given that it has rapidly become the number 1 form of media used in advertising, we can see that it works. If you have a successful medium it therefore makes sense to utilise it as a tool to deliver your company policies and procedures. You don’t have to deliver the whole policy either as a ‘highlights reel’ of the most important and common aspects of policy will work really well.
Why video is better
Probably the main reason that video is better than a written policy alone is that people are more likely to watch it. As we noted in our opening point - a great expenses policy is of little use if no-one ever reads it.
You can use video to impress on people the important points and use language that is conversational rather than the more formal wording of a written policy. A well-delivered video makes much more of an impression and you can use simple, real-life examples that illustrate your points and is much more likely to be viewed appreciate by younger team members.
If you have an expenses system you can also include footage of people using it and some training tips to help new staff get used to the software. When you host your video somewhere that people can return to it in the future then you’ll find that it gets more views as they brush up on the rules.
Getting creative you can even use your video to show real situations in your own office to illustrate your points. If you work for an international company you can even shoot the same video in different languages for different regions, making it even more relevant to your staff.
Producing your video
Your start point has to be to write an outline script for the video. Choose the main points you want to bring out and think about how you are going to develop them. You don’t necessarily need to script it word for word, but you do need an outline or ‘storyboard’ that gives the general approach you are taking and roughly what you want to say. It’s a good idea to confine yourself to 10 minutes at the maximum (and even better 5 minutes) as more than that will inevitably cause people to switch off!
For very big organisations, producing a professionally shot and edited video makes complete sense. If you are showing the video to thousands of people then the per view cost is going to be negligible, even if it does look expensive at the start. However, you don’t have to go to that extent to produce a perfectly acceptable product, in fact, we’d argue that most small organisations can do a very good job at a very low cost.
Most modern smartphones have excellent HD video capabilities and so you don’t need to invest in special cameras and by thinking about where you’ll shoot the video you can ensure that you don’t have to buy any extra lighting or sound equipment. Since the pandemic, there has been widespread acceptance of videos that have lower production values and so you shouldn’t worry about being ultra-professional. Just make sure that your points are clear and that they are well delivered.
Most cameras and phones come with video editing apps bundled, but if not, then you can easily find software online to help you edit your production at little or no cost.
Think about perhaps using text to illustrate your main points and also putting close captions or subtitles on so that people can watch with the sound off in the office and to help people with impaired hearing.
Above all, video is available to all types of companies and doesn’t have to cost the earth so it is a smart move to use the medium to reinforce your expenses policy.
Distributing your video
Once you have a finished product, you’ll need to find ways to distribute your video to your staff.
You can make viewing the video part of the induction process so that everyone sees and understand the expenses process from day one. It’s a good idea to host it somewhere that people can find it so think about putting your explainer on the company intranet, or in a central location that is available to all staff. It’s also helpful to upload to a service like YouTube or Vimeo so that people can watch it at any time, anywhere.
You’ll need to make sure that you update your video when you make changes to your expenses policy so include it in any review process you have for your main document.
Video explainers make sense
We’ve seen how video can be a really cheap but high-impact method of delivering your expenses policy. You’ll find that people take in the information better and when you use it creatively as a way to explain typical errors that you are seeing it can really save you and your team time and effort.
You can even combine a policy video with a training video to show how to use your expenses system.
Although we’ve used expenses as an example, video explainers can be used for any area of policy procedures or systems that you feel may be helpful for your employees, especially when they are new. Why not start of by producing a short expenses video now to just cover the FAQs that you are seeing and you may be pleasantly surprised at the reception it gets.
Access Expense helps you to manage your staff expenses and enforce your expense policy, giving you the freedom to do more, such as ensure your expense policy is effectively communicated. Our cloud-based expense management software removes manual processes, helps enforce your expense policy, improves the employee experience and enables you to make better financial decisions - freeing you up to focus on what’s important.
For more information on Access Expense, why not download our product brochure.
