Here's How A.I. and Virtual Reality Can Help Companies Boost Employee Engagement and Productivity

AI and VR is increasingly used to train employees.

VR can revolutionize workplace training and increase employee engagement by simulating the exact topic.

Meta VR headsets have been used by Accenture to onboard more than 150,000 employees.

Artificial intelligence and virtual realities will be key in solving people problems like employee disengagement or lowered productivity.

Employee training is one area where it is most likely to be felt. AI and VR's immersive and easy-to-use nature are bringing employee training to a new level. This is according to Tacy Byham. She is the chief executive officer at DDI.

Virtual reality simulations are not a new way to train employees. Since years, companies in various industries have used VR to train emergency room staff and factory workers.

Byham explained that with the advancements in AI, virtual reality training can also be used to train soft skills. This "creates a chance for employees practice conversations," Byham added. It also creates a safe immersive experience, which allows you to practice and jumpstarts you into deep and relevant conversation.

Byham has been working with VR training sessions since the early days of the pandemic. She believes that AI and VR technology can be used by all businesses to benefit from a variety of ways. Employers should begin incorporating these tools.

Increase engagement, learning and retention

The HR team faces a number of challenges.

lower employee engagement

The scramble to keep employees, despite

Massive layoffs in the tech industry

.

Frankie Cavanagh is the chief technology officer of Gemba, an immersive virtual reality platform for workforce learning. He is committed to finding new ways to engage with people. He believes VR can revolutionize workplace learning and increase employee engagement.

Cavanagh: "You've likely seen memes about workplace learning where employees click and click and click things to get through online trainings quickly," Cavanagh said. These trainings aren't engaging and they don't make you want to learn. You forget everything instantly. VR is different because it immerses the employee into an experience.

Cavanagh said that VR was the perfect tool to teach anything.

Traditional learning methods cannot provide the same impact as VR. Cavanagh explained that current tools such as PowerPoint slides, online videos, and how-to modules don't completely block out the world, like VR.

VR immerses employees in a simulation of a specific topic. The mere exposure and immersion in the topic helps workers to remember what they learn more than traditional methods.

Cavanagh stated that VR has a long-lasting effect on the retention of information. "It was something you experienced. It wasn't just the day you sat down in front of your computer, clicked through and watched that terrible online video."

Safe space for difficult conversations

Every employee in a company will have to face difficult workplace conversations.

Byham explained that VR and AI could help employees practice their responses and address stumbling blocks, roadblocks and mistakes, before they meet colleagues in real life.

Employees can prepare themselves for possible responses. Virtual humans can respond positively, negatively, or neutrally to the words of an employee in these VR settings. This allows them to better prepare themselves to react to similar emotions in a real conversation.

Byham explained, "Let's imagine you are in a situation where you have to speak to an employee regarding the deadlines they have missed." "The VR employee responds, 'What are you saying? You've given me six different tasks. You've given me six different assignments.

She added that in this virtual scenario where emotions are high, the manager can think about what to do when something similar happens or occurs in reality.

Byham stated that it is the responsibility of the leader to lower the emotions in the room. The leaders are supposed to be able to connect with the employees, listen and make them feel heard. These VR simulations can help leaders have more in-depth conversations about performance.