Get latest insights on immersive learning trends

In the modern world, technologies are advancing at a rapid pace. For companies to stay competitive in the market, organizations need to keep up with tech advancements. To achieve this, companies should stay informed on these technologies and ensure that their employees are well trained. Workforce training has become a priority for many businesses. However, conventional training methods have proven difficult due to several factors such as travel, safety concerns, complex training scenarios, etc. That is why more and more companies are incorporating virtual reality (VR) technology into their training programs. A report predicts that virtual reality in the training market will reach $601.85 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 13.7%. It clearly indicates that more people are warming up to the idea of using VR in training. VR technology has the potential to revolutionize corporate training and can help companies gain a competitive advantage.

Do you want to learn more about using virtual reality for employee training and how it can offer a better training experience?

On 29 August 2022, 01:00 p.m. EST, HoloPundits is conducting a webinar on "Off-the-Shelf Workforce Training in VR." Join our webinar to learn more about using virtual reality in workforce training.

1. Why Consider Virtual Reality Training?

Virtual reality in training is a computer-generated simulated experience that can mirror real-world scenarios. Traditional employee training methods rely on user manuals, online videos, on-the-job training, and one-on-one training sessions. The conventional training approach is often expensive and is ineffective when training larger groups. That is why VR-based training programs are gaining attention among major corporations. With the help of VR applications, learners can immerse themselves in a simulated life-like environment and get a better training experience. Companies can now offer complex, expensive, and dangerous training in a simulated safe environment, which is much more effective and quicker.

VR technology combines hands-on, practical elements with the curriculum developed by experts, providing an effective training experience and significantly improving knowledge retention. Adopting VR also opens the pathway to enhancing job performance, collaboration, and workplace safety.

2. Use Cases of Virtual Reality in Training

A wide variety of industries are adopting VR technology for employee training. Here are some use cases where VR training is being utilized to great effect:

2.1. Remote Training

The pandemic might have pushed you and your employees to work remotely. Remotely training your employees is a challenging and time-consuming task. Further, bringing the whole team and the trainer to one location can be expensive. VR-based training helps to overcome such challenges, enabling effective employee training even from remote locations. Virtual reality meetings and VR avatars mimic the classroom training experience.

2.2. Crisis Management

Real-life scenarios that involve handling dangerous situations or critical tasks can be created with the help of VR to prepare employees better to deal with these situations without any potentially harmful consequences. For instance, medical practitioners can gain proficiency in performing surgeries. With VR training, medical students can practice surgeries in a computer-generated environment without risking a real-life patient.

Incorporating VR into your organization is a great way to prepare your employees for emergencies.

2.3. Hands-on Experience

Some professions require hands-on experience to perform their day-to-day operations. Unless employees understand their roles and safe practices in the workplace, they cannot be allowed to operate on their own. VR helps employees master complex tasks in a controlled computer-generated environment. The immersive nature of VR and advanced VR equipment immerse learners into the scene rather than just observing and reading. Using VR makes training fun, engaging, and memorable.

3. Examples of Companies Using VR Training

Listed below are some examples of successful adoption of virtual reality by organizations.

3.1. Walmart

Retail giant Walmart uses VR to train its employees' soft skills. It is using immersive VR simulations to help employees learn how to interact with customers better and improve the consumer experience. These VR-based training programs will help employees gain confidence and become more comfortable dealing with challenging real-life encounters.

3.2. KFC

With branches all around the globe, it is paramount to ensure consistency in taste with the right ingredients and preparation techniques. KFC uses VR technology to teach its employees how to properly prepare its world-famous fried chicken. It is using VR as a supplement to their training program for cooks, called the Chicken Mastery Certification. The game, The Hard Way - a KFC Virtual Reality Training Escape Room, is aimed to help trainees understand the five main steps (inspecting, rinsing, breading, racking, and pressure frying) involved in cooking the KFC Original Recipe chicken like a professional.

3.3. Verizon

Verizon wanted to offer realistic workplace safety training to its employees. Verizon uses VR to teach employees how to react to armed robbery scenarios. VR helps Verizon employees make smart decisions that would not put anyone at risk during high-risk moments and understand the critical steps of de-escalating intense situations.

Verizon also implemented a VR training module to train call-center employees on building empathy and how to de-escalate a conversation with an unhappy customer. According to Verizon, VR training reduced employees' training time from 10 hours per person to just 30 minutes!

4. How Companies Can Take Advantage of VR Training

Incorporating virtual reality into business is redefining employee training methods. The experiential VR learning experience offers immense benefits and helps organizations to gain a competitive advantage. Here are some benefits of a VR-based training approach:

4.1. Decreased Onboarding Time

Every company wants its new employees to start contributing at the earliest. Utilizing VR to train your workforce helps achieve this business objective. Statistics show that learners complete training 4-times faster in VR than in the classroom. Training in an immersive 3D world eliminates distractions and allows trainees to master basic and advanced skills relatively quickly, thus reducing the onboarding time. For instance, Boeing believes that by using VR for training, they have been able to reduce training time by 75% per person.

4.2. Reduce Incident Expenses

A report by Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index states that U.S. businesses spend more than one billion dollars a week on serious, nonfatal workplace injuries. Workplace safety training using books, videos, or quizzes is often less effective and cannot offer hands-on experience. Further, learners show a lack of engagement while training through these traditional methods. Adopting VR presents an efficient way to train employees for workplace safety. Immersing employees in an interactive digital environment allows companies to prepare the workforce for any potentially dangerous situations.

4.3. Enhanced Customer Satisfaction

An effective training strategy is crucial to improving customer service. A well-trained employee should be ready to face any customer with empathy and deal with unhappy customers. Interpersonal skills are another vital aspect of customer service. VR training can help employees improve their communication skills and enhance the consumer experience. VR simulations can mirror real-life scenarios, which helps employees to be better prepared to deal with all types of customers, from frustrated ones to noisy ones.

4.4. Improved Recruitment and Reduced Employee Turnover

With the collaborative capabilities of VR, recruitment processes will drastically improve. VR enables recruiters to connect with jobseekers from remote locations, ensuring easy recruitment of top talent. Further, VR also has the potential to reduce the employee turnover rate. Before accepting the job, candidates can shadow their jobs and get a clear picture of the work environment, culture, and day-to-day responsibilities. This ensures that candidates join the company with realistic expectations, thus reducing the turnover rates.

5. Takeaway Thoughts

Businesses have to adopt cutting-edge technologies to stay competitive in this modern era. Virtual reality technology has emerged as a tool to provide immersive workforce training that keeps employees engaged, motivated, and productive, ensuring your employees perform at their best level. Several enterprises are successfully implementing VR to create next-generation training experiences, so the question is, "why are you waiting?"

Join Us for Our Next Webinar

Title: Off-the-Shelf Workforce Training in VR

Enhance Training Outcomes with Virtual Reality!

Do you wish to offer an engaging employee training experience? Are you exploring unique ways to improve workforce training? Learn how to use virtual reality for corporate training and the benefits of virtual reality-based training programs.

Join our live webinar to learn more about using virtual reality for off-the-shelf workforce training.

If you cannot attend, register anyway, and we will send you the recording.

Host: Doug Smith

When and Where:

01:00 p.m. EST, Monday, August 29, 2022

25 Minutes

Zoom Link for Registration

Goal: To help companies understand how to use virtual reality for workforce training and how it can help organizations improve the training outcomes.

Who Should Join:

Highlights of the Webinar:

Outcome: Attending this webinar can help you understand how utilizing virtual reality for workforce training can increase productivity and offer your employees a better training experience.