No longer consigned to science fiction or the world of gaming and entertainment, augmented experiences created through virtual reality (VR) have turned this $22.81 billion industry into a significant part of our present-day reality.
In recent years, the benefits of VR have been recognized by the business world, seeing it gain ground as an important tool for training employees in many high-risk sectors such as construction, manufacturing, and oil and gas. Its efficacy in testing and training employees for hazardous real-world situations has made this simulated platform an invaluable tool for boosting confidence and safety among workers.
While VR is highly effective for training hard skills such as equipment operation and safety procedures, it is also growing in popularity in the area of soft skills training. In this article, we will explore some of the ways virtual reality training can be used by businesses today to help employees enhance their soft skills and become better leaders for their organizations.
Onboarding
While onboarding is important for introducing new employees to their roles and the values and culture of an organization, it can often be a tedious and overwhelming process.
With VR, soft skills training can become a more dynamic and immersive experience that allows users to place themselves in real-life scenarios within the workplace.
Rather than relying on lengthy manuals or presentations to get themselves up to speed, VR soft skills training can help employees absorb the essentials in practical and engaging ways. This approach can enable a deeper understanding and assimilation of information, equipping new hires with the insights, skills, and knowledge they need to swiftly and effectively step into their new positions.
Customer Service
Customers are the lifeblood of any business so ensuring a positive customer experience is essential for their long-term success and growth. VR training can be a highly effective tool for equipping employees with the skills they need to improve their customer service. By simulating real-world scenarios, this virtual platform is ideally suited for helping employees practice their communication skills, handle problems and resolve conflicts with virtual customers in a way that facilitates their learning and development.
Through honing soft skills such as empathy, active listening, and adaptability, employees can become more confident in their roles and better equipped as customer service professionals. This was demonstrated by a PwC study on VR training which found that employees were up to 275% more confident to apply their learnings on the job following VR training.
Performance Reviews
VR training can be used to help managers acquire the soft skills they need to offer constructive feedback and appraise their employees’ performances in effective and impactful ways. By simulating realistic conversations, and monitoring their ability to listen, respond and create rapport with a virtual employee, managers can gain insights into areas of improvement concerning their communication, empathy and leadership skills.
This opportunity to refine their soft skills before applying them to real-world scenarios can help managers become more effective in delivering feedback and reviewing employee performance.
By offering a safe and realistic environment to practice the application of soft skills, VR is proving to be an invaluable aid for employers across all industries.
