A successful business is not just about the number of customers or the revenue it generates. For me, real success is about employees growing within the company. When team members stick aroundare eager to learn and evolve over time, this is where I see real achievements.

If these people choose to stay and grow, it means the company is doing something right.

In my last article, I discussed how we find and hire loyal team members. But once we have selected the right candidates, our focus shifts to their growth and development.

At my video editing company, we have a whole system for onboarding and educating employees, and I'd like to share it with you. We're not just filling a position; we are investing in their future and, therefore, the future of the business.

Step 1. Internal course

Wedding videography is a unique industry with its own quirks and challenges. At some point, as we were growing the business, we realized that there was not enough talent for us in the market. We met many talented professionals – TV videographers and social media video editors – but they often lacked the vision necessary for wedding videography.

So we decided—that if we want to stay up and consistent qualitywe must build our talent. At that time we developed our induction course, which has also become an important part of our recruitment process.

Our chief video editor completed the entire job in two months. He recorded 11 lessons using Adobe Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve and Final Cut Pro as the main tools.

The course covers all the nitty-gritty: storytelling for different parts of the wedding, color correction, color grading and sound design – because, let's face it, audio can make or break a video. We also make sure our new editors understand the basics of project management, for example, how to structure and organize their projects and files.

After completing the course, our final candidates work on their first paid project. If all goes well, they join our team. This course has been a game changer ever since. It has helped us educate more than 50 employees and teach them everything they need in just a week and a half.

If you have trouble finding specific professionals, consider creating a similar course. It's a great way to turn generalists into experts in your field or give beginners the tools they need to get started.

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Step 2. Knowledge base

Once someone officially joins our team, we give them access to our Notion knowledge base. Here we've collected everything new employees need to know about the company – who our customers are, like us communicate with them, our mission, our goals – you name it. It's all there for them to read and get to know the company.

We trust our young employees to take the initiative and explore our knowledge base on their own. Of course, if they have any questions along the way, we have mentors ready to lead them through any uncertainty. This approach gives them the opportunity to understand the company at their own pace, while knowing they have support whenever they need it.

Related: 3 overlooked, everyday solutions that actually drive long-term success

Step 3. Competency Matrix

The learning doesn't stop there. As a new employee joins the company, we add his name to the file called a Competency Matrix.

It's a chart that lists all the skills our video editors need to develop. These include hard skills like creating project tables and adding subtitles, as well as soft skillssuch as discipline and meeting deadlines.

Here's how it works: for each skill listed in the Matrix, there's a cell that contains an article about that skill, along with a link to a test the employee must complete after reading.

If the test is passed successfully, the skill cell lights up green. If not, it is marked in red. This clean way to visualize progress and ensure our team members master the necessary techniques is ideal.

So as new employees work their way through the Matrix, they're turning over those cells one by one. Our managers are there to oversee the entire process and help them adjust.

This table has proven to be very efficient, giving us a clear overview of the team's performance. For example, if we notice that a certain skill is often marked in red, it is a signal that the whole team could benefit from additional training.

To address this, we either prepare an in-house course or hire an external expert.

Step 4. Giving a clear path

Another great thing about the Matrix is ​​that it doesn't just track progress; it also helps us decide clear growth expectations for our employees. For example, if someone has 80% of their green skill cells and has completed a certain number of projects, they can be promoted to a senior video editor. It also increases their compensation by 25%.

If their soft skills cells are also mostly green, they are eligible to apply for a leadership role on the team when we have new openings. This system makes career progression transparent and accessible, which motivates our team to keep improving.

We also occasionally add new capabilities to Matrix to keep up with industry trends. For example, our editor might spot a new tool or technique on the market and ask someone on the team to try it out.

If it proves valuable, that person educates the entire team and leads the way in incorporating this new skill. In this way, we are constantly evolving and our team members have the opportunity to pioneer new directions within the company.

To summarize

The onboarding process we've put in place has done more than just accelerate onboarding; it laid the foundations for the continuing culture learning and growth within our team.

While not everyone can move into leadership roles, at least we make sure everyone reaches a high level of expertise in video editing. All this training is a big investment, true, but without it, we wouldn't see the growth we strive for.