How UAE-based Trainingvideos creates custom training content across sectors

Interactive videos or mundane, non-interactive ones? Which one would you choose? Most of us would go with the former, wouldn’t we?

This is what Neha Gandhi had in mind when she co-founded Trainingvideos in the UAE, with her cousin Akash Gandhi—she wanted to take the mundane away from training.

“Training should not be just a checkbox on your list; it is something that has to be effective, engaging and relatable,” she says.

The company creates customised e-learning content, catering to specific business needs. The content ranges from videos that address an organisation’s communication challenges to those that are used in the recruitment process.

Customised training content

The team at Trainingvideos creates customised content in the areas of human resources, technical training, health and safety training, and soft skills training, apart from unboxing and case study videos. It also makes videos for new employees on the onboarding process.

“We understand the real problems of an organisation and encapsulate them in terms of video content that could be animated or shoot-based,” explains Neha.

When it comes to customised content, it is not enough to merely change the logo or the background, she says. “That does not make the content more engaging."

The team, instead, takes a step-by-step approach and shapes the content starting from ground up. The videos include everything—from motion graphics and 3D animation to doodles, white board animation, and more.

The content is also interactive, says Neha, citing the example of a video that shows how to deal with an irate customer or client. The viewers can be presented with a roleplay or a scenario wherein they would be given options to choose from—different ways to deal with a situation.

“These sessions are interactive, and for each option they choose, they will be given feedback on how the situation may play out,” explains Neha.

Trainingvideos has worked in the sectors of healthcare, e-commerce, and FMCG. It has worked with clients in the UAE, but the content has been consumed by viewers and users across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Neha shares a snapshot of what the team does in the case of healthcare. She says, "For example, it (content) could be about training a security guard on greeting visitors at the gate or training the nursing staff to deal with conflict management situations. The focus area is to help them [staff] to understand why they are the most important touch points in an organisation, how they can make a difference and maintain the brand’s image.”

The process of creating content, according to Neha, involves creating transparency and familiarising the client with the problem that may be going unnoticed.

“Whenever a client comes up with a problem, the idea is to bridge the gap between them and the end user (audience who watches the content). Often, the ground realities do not reach up to the management and we tackle that. Once we do that, we are able to bridge the gap between what the ask is and what the need is."

She cites an example to elucidate this. In a hospital setting, if a security guard is required but not available, the hospital staff must be able to help those who need guidance.

“This will only be possible if you are able to establish relationships with the other strings in the organisation (other people at the workplace). The communication needs to be free flowing,” she says.

Once such issues are tackled, the team proceeds with creating relevant training modules.

The duration of the videos is two to three minutes in order to appeal to those who have a shorter attention span. “We can produce 30 modules over a span of two to three months,” says Neha.

The core team at Trainingvideos comprises around 25 people. The actors for the videos are hired depending on the script in a particular module. The content is created in the language that the end users can understand.

Starting up

With an academic background in journalism, communication, documentary filmmaking, and production, Neha started her career at TVToday as a director. Later she moved to NDTV as a senior producer.

Over the years, Neha realised her interest in corporate filmmaking.

“I decided to branch out and do something of my own for the corporate world and things just started off on that note,” she says.

Her journey towards making custom training content began with N Productions, which she started in Gurugram, India in 2013.

The move to Dubai, UAE happened when she got married in 2018. A year later, she decided to start Trainingvideos with her cousin Akash.

Akash has a background in ad films and corporate films and is the director of advertising agency Brandport Marketing LLC.

Today, Neha runs both N Productions and Trainingvideos.

While the frontend operations of Trainingvideos, involving business development and scripting, take place in the UAE, the backend production happens in India.

Growth and future roadmap

Under the banner of both N Productions and Trainingvideos, Neha’s team has collectively created over 1,500 bite-sized customised training content.

In the UAE, the team has worked with clients such as Aster DM Healthcare, Ajman Bank, Dubai Health Authority, and Road and Transport Authority.

The e-learning market in GCC is expected to grow by $569.04 million between 2020 to 2025, at a compound annual growth rate of 10.66%, as per a report by Cision PR Newswire.

Trainingvideos competes with companies such as Capytech, Xpertlearning, Webanywhere, New Horizons, and Magneto Films (UK).

Going ahead, Trainingvideos plans to come out with a platform featuring custom content for healthcare and eventually test the same for retail. Neha also wishes to explore the African market.