In today’s fast-paced and ever-evolving business climate, one of the biggest challenges companies face is employee retention. 2022 posted a record year for voluntary employee turnover, with a whopping 50.5 million US workers packing their bags and looking for greener pastures.
Arguably, millions of those people might have stayed in their jobs if they had been given the Apple Vision Pro, loaded up with training modules. What’s the logic behind this hypothesis?
Well, with the job market as competitive as ever, employees are demanding more from their workplaces, whether that be through improved salaries, benefits, or flexible arrangements such as remote and hybrid work. However, one essential area that many employers continually come up short is employee training and development.
Poignantly, 59% of employees say they’ve had no workplace training and have had to teach themselves most of their skills. At first, you might shrug this and chalk it down as a fairly innocuous stat, but the facts tell a different story.
If you don’t have a solid onboarding process, you’re twice as likely to see your employees handing in their resignation notice. On top of this, 70% of employees would be likely to ditch their current job for a company that’s known for investing in employee development and learning. And that’s why training has emerged as a cornerstone of many employee retention strategies that today’s HR teams are leaning on.
Now that we’ve got your attention, how can you avoid a high staff turnover amidst this retention crisis? The answer might just lie in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology.
How VR and AR Training Boosts Employee Retention
VR and AR are the rockstars of the immersive technology world. They bring users right into the heart of interactive and simulated experiences. VR plunges you into a whole new virtual universe, while AR brings virtual elements into the real world (remember Pokémon GO?).
PwC’s Seeing is Believing report predicts that VR training will pump a cool $294 billion into the global economy by 2030, thanks to its unique features and capabilities. VR can whisk you away to a simulated physical location or situation, while AR can provide real-time info and guidance right in your field of view.
For instance, the Indiana Department of Child Services was struggling with a high staff turnover rate and decided to take a different approach. They put VR technology into action and allowed job candidates to role-play different scenarios they might bump into in the field.
This gave candidates a real taste of what the job would entail, even before they officially accepted the position. The result? They managed to cut their turnover rate from a staggering 53% to a much more manageable 19% in one region.
And that’s not all. VR and AR technologies can dish up training experiences that leave employees more satisfied and engaged with their work, which are key elements for keeping them around.
Duke Energy, one of America’s leading energy holding companies, found that VR-trained technicians not only finished tasks three times faster than their traditional classroom-trained counterparts, but this efficiency translated into increased productivity and a sense of achievement. It boosted their confidence, and satisfaction with their work, and ultimately, led to higher retention rates.
Plus, VR and AR can fuel continuous learning and development opportunities. Let’s face it, everyone wants to grow and succeed in their careers. And employees are more likely to stick around if the company is invested in their professional development.
Utilizing VR/AR Employee Training
So, why are VR and AR the superheroes of employee training? Well, they offer a level of immersion that’s off the charts. For instance, let’s take UPS. They’ve jumped onto the VR bandwagon, using it to prepare their drivers for potential road hazards – all in the safety of a virtual environment.
UPS has successfully replicated real-world situations involving pedestrians, parked vehicles, and incoming traffic using the HTC Vive platform. In essence, they have established a portable educational center that provides exceptional training directly to UPS trainees across multiple locations.
Over at the Volkswagen Group, they’re using VR and AR to revolutionize training in automobile assembly. Employees can virtually dive inside car engines to better understand how they tick. They have even been experimenting with VR haptic gloves that enable employees to improve fine motor skills in a remote environment. The global workforce can collaborate, share knowledge, and level up their skills – all thanks to this interactive learning experience.
Another huge benefit of this immersive training is that it is no longer confined to a classroom or a 9 to 5 schedule. Employees can access training modules whenever, wherever, fitting learning comfortably into their busy lives. This increases training participation and allows for learning at their own pace, which suits a variety of learning styles and speeds.
Along with the employees, companies stand to benefit as well. Implementing VR and AR training can lead to significant cost savings and efficiency boosts. As mentioned in our Duke Energy example earlier, VR training drastically reduces resource spend on employee development, without compromising on learning outcomes. This led to a forecasted annual savings of more than $500,000 in operational costs, including travel and instructor expenses.
Wrapping Up
VR and AR technologies are proving to be rock stars in boosting employee retention. By dishing out immersive training experiences, ramping up job satisfaction, and fueling a culture of continuous learning, these tech wonders can help companies hold on to their most valuable asset – their people.
And the best part? As VR and AR technologies continue to improve and evolve, they’re only going to have a bigger and better impact on employee retention.