For anyone who has worked a job in retail or fast food, the on-the-job or online training modules can be slow at best. Employers, through team leaders and company websites, do their best to teach new trainees the importance of customer service, company policy, and emergency protocol. Despite their best efforts, however, few new employees feel sufficiently prepared to complete their job to their best ability after a couple of hours of video modules.
According to NPR Technology, large employers around the country have began instating virtual reality (VR) technology to help train new employees. Walmart, for example, trained 1 million employees on VR in 2019 alone. Although at first, the replacement of VR over human training seems like it would reduce the effectiveness of the interpersonal training, studies have found that the VR training improves customer care, technical effectiveness, and emergency response. Researchers have found that the immersive aspect of the technology allows the employee to experience the situation (armed robbery, rude customer, faulty system, etc) as if they are there, but without any of the potential danger.
This immersive quality tricks the brain’s sensory receptors and produces physical responses similar to those which would occur in the actual situation. For example, Stanford’s football team has given VR headsets to quarterbacks and defensive linemen to visualize different plays in the game and have found that after a short amount of time, the players begin to sweat as if they were actually on the field. This physical response has implications far beyond the football field.
According to NPR researchers, employers could use this technology to track subtle unconscious biases against women and minorities during workplace training. Although the software is not developed enough yet, it is only a matter of time before schools, employers, and more institutions employ VR as a way to asses cultural standards and monitor biases and harassment. According to a Harvard professor, “The goal isn’t somehow to make people unbiased, which I don’t think is possible; the goal is to make you aware of your biases.” Social awareness and human interaction is not often thought of as a bi-product of technology use, but I guess there’s an app for that, too (or in this case, a VR headset).
Article: https://www.npr.org/2019/10/08/767116408/virtual-reality-goes-to-work-helping-train-employees