Remote work has risen by 44% in the past decade. This has brought immense changes in the work environment, leading to a workplace redesign, which may not go back to a 9-5 desk job and 2 hour travel time to and for work anytime soon. This change has also redefined corporate training in a miraculous way. With affordable and portable VR headsets delivered to homes with safety and sanitation procedures, VR remote training to upskill employees is the holy grail to combat training obstacles in the present times. VR Soft skills training has helped employees unlock their immense potential and upgrade the workplace environment through their elevated skills. Companies that use VR training for elevating the soft skills of their employees, see a huge shift in their leadership skills along with efficiency and communication skills.
The following is information gathered from one of the largest studies conducted to analyze ‘The effectiveness of Virtual Reality Soft skills training in the Enterprise’ by PWC. This study evaluates, compares and analyses the benefits of three types of learning- classroom, E-learning and VR learning. Around 78%, an overwhelming number of participants preferred VR training style as compared to the prior forms of learning.
Soft skills training through Virtual Reality headsets has brought a new meaning to up-skilling and given training a new outlook.
Let’s see how VR training is setting a new milestone for skills training in the corporate environment:
More Focused
‘Fully Immersed’, is what leads VR soft skills training to be one of the best for when it comes to training and learning. Since it gives such less space for a learner to be distracted, it leads the trainee to be fully engaged with the learning modules, immersing all their senses into the simulation thus leading the technology to also make use of time and focus way more efficiently. Employees were found to be most distracted while participating in E-learning, possible because of its independently facilitated nature and least with VR learning. It also took the least amount of time to get the learners attention back on the task, with E-learning taking the most amount of time.
Faster
VR training, even when onboarding new employees and adding an extra 10 mins to the time, is still 4 times faster compared to classroom and 1.5 times faster than e-learning.
With the efficiency provided by V-Learning, employees are better able to compartmentalize time for training and other forms of learning leading them to grasp more and spend more time on building soft skills.
More Confident
Among numerous, important soft skills that enhance an employee’s potential like leadership skills, handling adversity, empathy etc., confidence is the highest driver of success and connection with oneself and their surroundings. Confidence is seen to be increasingly values soft skill in the workplace. With VR training employees feel immensely more confident in handling issues in the workplace. Studies found employees 3 times more confident in handling issues related to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Since VR training doesn’t stop only on theory learning, instead goes beyond with putting the learner through series of simulations and scenarios of practicing handling of such situations, employees feel more confident in their knowledge of being able to get best outcomes from such situations in real life.
More emotional connection to learning content
One of the biggest reasons of retention of learning materials is emotional connection. When we feel emotionally connected to our experiences they last longer in our memory and make a stronger impact on our behaviors. This is exactly what VR training achieves by immersing its learners in life like simulations which put learners in positions of ‘experiencing’ the learning. Learners are found to be 3.75 times and2.3 times more connected to trainings as compared to classroom and e learning respectively. Such emotional connection with training material leads employees to retain the morals of their trainings and apply them in real life situations leading to marvelous outcomes from the training for the employee and the company as a whole.
Employees carry immense potential which can be unlocked through the right training materials and modules. Training that is faster and easier to focus on lead learners to have more space for growth and change. With having soft skills enhanced, a ripple effect is created which brings its positive outcomes to all aspects of a workplace. Having confident learners bring their training morals to real life scenarios and applying the lessons to the field is something VR training imparts to the learners. Emotional connection to a simulation teaching safety measures and/or dealing with difficult customers cultivates more empathy and sensitivity in an employee which is carried through with them through a longer time making an impact on the customers as well as peers increasing the ripple effect of the learning.
Written by Simran Singh
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