That is an interesting question. One worth thinking about.
There is no question that Virtual Reality (VR) training is the future and by far the best
way to train your team through a completely immersive experience with its 7 times
better retention rates- but is it the solution for your company?
Firstly, many of us over the age of 30 have never even been in a Virtual Reality headset, let alone understand how it can be valuable to an organizations training needs. Our kids on the other hand are very familiar with it as they use it for gaming etc. and can put one on and feel totally comfortable with the controls, the headset and how the VR experience works. As an example of how effective VR training can be: in 2021 Walmart embarked on a program to train their employees on how to handle complex customer experiences - like those that can happen on Black Friday one of the busiest shopping days of the year. For a long time, they relied on classroom instructors giving lectures and quizzes, or static online courses that associates clicked through on their own. But neither format could convey the heightened experience of dealing with certain situations in the flow of work. Once adopting VR into their training program - employees reported a 30% higher job satisfaction rate and VR trainees scored 70% higher on tests than their non-VR trained counterparts - and they reported that they had a lot of fun doing it! Since the initial trial Walmart has purchased 18,000 headsets and has over 30 VR training modules handling all kinds of customer and employee related situations - for the world's largest retailer it has proven to be a very effective tool to increase customer service, reduce employee conflict and has shown employees their willingness to use the latest technology to help do their jobs better.
So, is VR training right for your team? One of the things to consider when choosing a VR development partner is their commitment to helping you manage change. Many out of the box solutions seem simple enough but if the resistance to change is not handled properly - your efforts will be in vain. Also, how big is your team? Will only customer service be trained (by the way - we are all in customer service, external and internal) or will it only be field sales representatives? It has been estimated that to justify an investment in custom VR training program it should fit into at least one of the following criteria:
A minimum of 25 users who will go through the training. Is the VR training going to help reduce costly equipment damage or personal injury - to this the answer is usually yes.
Do the costs of poor customer service (Lost customers, complaints, refunds etc.) outweigh the cost of the VR training cost?
Do your trainers have to travel to multiple locations to conduct sessions? Would it be more cost effective to do multi-user training through a headset and Wi-Fi connection from your own office?
Is the time/cost saved utilizing VR vs. traditional training costs (meetings, travel, etc.) worth the investment?
Are you finding that your current methods of training (PowerPoint, self-directed
online, Zoom or in-person meetings, self-study) are not as effective as you
though they would be? Would your team benefit from real-time immediate feedback in the safety of Virtual Reality, where it is ok to make a mistake without consequence?
If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, a custom-built VR training
solution may be right for your organization.
Let us help you figure out if VR training is right for your team, info@kaleidoscopexr.ca.
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