82% of company executives believe that immersive technologies such as VR are here to stay and will be part of their business model in the next three years.
Virtual reality is indeed the future of training and onboarding for employees across industries.
Since effective employee onboarding training and regular training are essential for organizational success, it becomes necessary to leverage the next-gen technology instead of relying on traditional methods.
Also, with the rise in remote work and efficiency, businesses need to look for innovative solutions to develop their talent for improved productivity.
In this article, we explore how you can leverage virtual reality for immersive learning to motivate, engage and connect your employees in a virtual workspace.
Table of Contents:
What is Virtual Reality for Onboarding and Training Employees?
Virtual Reality (VR) fundamentally changes how we experience digital content by creating fully immersive sensations within three-dimensional (3D) environments.
Using a VR headset, an employee can navigate a simulated space, interact with virtual objects, and practice job-specific tasks in a controlled digital world.
VR training involves using technology like headsets and controllers to create realistic virtual environments where employees can learn, interact, and practice essential skills hands-on.
It allows for a simulated environment that mirrors the actual work setting, offering a safe space to make mistakes and learn from them.
VR onboarding and training utilize this immersive technology to integrate and educate new employees.
It’s a revolutionary approach that moves beyond traditional classroom-style training or online modules, transporting employees into realistic virtual environments where they can develop skills.
Why Leverage Virtual Reality for Employee Onboarding and Training?
Boost Employee Engagement
VR training is inherently more engaging and interactive than traditional methods. The immersive nature makes the learning process fascinating, fun, and efficient.
With VR, many companies witnessed a significant increase in employee engagement and satisfaction compared to traditional methods. Employees who are more engaged feel more confident and satisfied with their jobs.
Better Knowledge Retention
Traditional methods, particularly lecture-based ones, are often light on practice, which can hinder understanding and retention. Interactivity in VR helps employees memorize information more effectively.
Learners retain information better with VR i.e. 75% of content compared to 10% from traditional methods. VR platforms exhibit significantly higher knowledge retention over time.
Improved Spatial Understanding
VR tours allow new hires to navigate their work environment, understand the layout, and know locations like emergency exits before their first day. This is especially helpful for large scale facilities.
Faster Learning Curve & Skill Development
New employees can gain a better understanding of complex tasks and systems from the beginning. VR enables hands-on practice of difficult skills in a safe, controlled environment, which is crucial for developing competency.
It allows employees to practice job-specific tasks and acquire necessary skills more quickly, accelerating their transition into productive team members. VR can accelerate the learning process, reducing the time needed for employee training and development.
Employees can learn at their own pace, and training modules can be tailored to individual learning styles.
How To Leverage Virtual Reality for Onboarding and Training for your Employees?
Implementing a successful VR onboarding and training program requires careful planning and execution. Organizations should consider a phased approach. Here are key steps and considerations:
Define Clear Objectives
Start by clearly defining what you aim to achieve with VR training. Evaluate your current onboarding process to identify gaps and areas for improvement.
Objectives will shape content, structure, and measurement. Consider the types of skills requiring training and the target audience.
Invest in Infrastructure & Choose Hardware
Organizations must be willing to invest in the necessary VR infrastructure, including hardware and software. Make sure you choose the right VR headsets that balance pricing, comfort, features, and support like warranties.
High-quality headsets with low latency are recommended to reduce physical discomfort. Consider the delivery method – seated, standing, or room-scale – based on the level of interaction required by the training content and available real estate.
Making a financial commitment demonstrates seriousness and can lead to more engaged employees. Also, conduct a cost-benefit analysis to evaluate the ROI.
Develop High-Quality, Customized Content
Creating effective VR training content is a essential task to achieve desired results. Content creation involves instructional design, structuring the content, storyboarding, 3D modeling, and validation.
It is crucial to customize VR content to align with specific organizational objectives and skill development needs. Tailored VR experiences are more relevant and engaging.
Organizations can develop content in-house or partner with specialized VR developers or platforms. Using detailed images, videos, and sounds can help build photorealistic and realistic training environments.
You can start with ready-made modules and then transition to custom content or take a phased approach that can help manage costs.
Prioritize User Experience and Accessibility
Not everyone is immediately comfortable with VR. Organizations must address potential physical discomfort, like motion sickness, the learning curve associated with navigating virtual environments, and accessibility for employees with disabilities.
You can go for using high-quality headsets, keeping sessions short, providing structured onboarding tutorials, and incorporating accessibility features in content development.
Just ensure the solutions are user-friendly for employees with varying levels of tech familiarity.
Establish Evaluation Metrics
While VR training generates data for employee onboarding, effectively analyzing it is important. Use tools that provide detailed analytics beyond basic metrics like time spent or completion rates. Track metrics like usage rates and completion times.
You must combine analytics with employee feedback to get a complete picture of effectiveness. Defining clear metrics is key to measuring success.
Other Considerations to Remember
- Consider Ethical Implications: With increasing use, ethical issues regarding privacy, psychological and physical harm, and biased representation need critical evaluation. Establish ethical guidelines covering data privacy, consent, and responsible use. Ensure user comfort and safety are prioritized.
- Provide Ongoing Support: Offer adequate support and resources for employees transitioning to VR, including technical assistance.
- Integrate with Existing Systems: Integrate VR software with existing learning management systems (LMS) or human resource management systems (HRMS) to track records and generate reports seamlessly.
- Promote Collaborative Learning: Utilize VR for collaborative learning experiences, allowing employees to practice teamwork and communication in virtual scenarios. This can foster a sense of community, particularly for remote teams.
Conclusion
Leveraging Virtual Reality (VR) for employee onboarding and training requires a strategic approach focusing on key steps to maximize its benefits. Organizations should define specific objectives by assessing current processes and identifying areas for improvement.
This is followed by investing in the necessary VR infrastructure, including hardware and software, ensuring it is scalable and compatible.
Further, customized VR content can be used to implement the theory into practical actions within an interactive learning module.
Integration with existing HR and learning systems is also important for tracking progress. VR in HR can help boost increased knowledge retention, faster learning curves, practice in safe environments, and potentially improved employee retention.
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