E Learning industry
Author Kelle Campbell

Summary:

Employees often enter the workplace without the soft skills needed to retain customers or work well with others. Virtual Reality provides an effective way for companies to address the soft skills gap.

VR Can Help Optimize Training Time And Efficacy

According to a January 2021 article in Harvard Business Review, 59% of surveyed hiring managers and 89% of executives reported having trouble finding hires with soft skills “such as communication, teamwork, and leadership.” An added challenge, especially when working remotely, is that people master soft skills through practice. So, after reading, listening to, or viewing instruction on how to improve their skills, learners will need opportunities to engage in deliberate practice.

Just bringing learners together for training involves a lot of planning and coordination, from scheduling the time, booking an appropriate location (at least pre-COVID), and arranging any needed travel. Virtual Reality (VR) training, like other forms of online training, eliminates several of the challenges related to putting together an in-person workshop.

Many companies are now considering making remote work an option even after the pandemic. Lack of physical proximity will make the skills required to build interpersonal connections even more vital for retaining clients and employees. Providing an immersive online training environment for remote workers is an excellent way to ensure that they have or can learn the skills mentioned above (plus others like conflict resolution and customer service).