Is VR the future of onboarding?

VR (or virtual reality) can be a powerful tool for onboarding new employees effectively.

How organisations are using VR for onboarding
Best practices for onboarding with VR

VR (or virtual reality) has been growing in popularity for many years. Although the most well-known and widely-discussed applications for the technology are in gaming and leisure, VR is also being used more and more at work. One area in which companies are implementing VR solutions is employee onboarding. This process traditionally poses a number of challenges, especially if the new hire is unable to visit the physical workplace and must learn from a distance. Even for organisations with largely-remote or fully-remote working models, being able to host onboarding meetings in the same virtual space can boost a sense of connection, increase engagement, and speed up the learning process for new hires.

How organisations are using VR for onboarding

VR can provide a more immersive introduction to work at an organisation, especially for remote workers. IT firm Accenture developed its own virtual ‘campus’ for new hires to explore during the onboarding process. In 2021, the company hired 120,000 people across 50 countries, so a scalable, universal onboarding process that overcame the challenges of distance and differences was needed. Traditional remote onboarding processes, such as video meetings, lacked the immersion of sharing an actual space. The company’s VR solution has so far proven to be effective at increasing engagement and fostering a greater sense of community despite physical borders.

The ability to work and learn alongside colleagues’ avatars, such as when playing team-building games, can be much more productive than more traditional methods. Swedish homeware giant IKEA is also using a similar VR onboarding process. The company’s VR training was offered in 18 different languages to employees around the world and was created using 360-degree video recording technology. In each video, one of the company’s leaders explained the company’s values in a 3D virtual recording of a real workplace. These environments were integrated with sales training, particularly on how to use a specific application key to sales workers.

VR is a rapidly-developing type of technology, and with the increasing popularity of the metaverse, it is likely to become increasingly relevant to workplaces as well. VR can increase engagement and speed up learning processes during employee onboarding, and enable managers to communicate and demonstrate more effectively. Like any technology, VR solutions should be implemented alongside effective existing procedures and healthy company cultures for the best results.

Best practices for onboarding with VR

Using VR to improve onboarding processes requires planning and careful implementation that is suited to each specific organisation’s values, cultures, and operational processes. One important aspect is that VR onboarding should be as interactive as possible. Not only does this increase the engagement of participants, but it is also a more practical way of teaching participants how to carry out specific tasks. VR can enable new employees to really try out processes beyond simply watching others carry them out. Interactivity can also be increased by using overlays and voiceovers.

Another useful tip is to start out small – being in a 360-degree VR space can be overwhelming for some, especially if they are not yet familiar with the technology. Make sure that the first few videos or exercises are relatively short and that breaks are provided. Once you have implemented VR onboarding, it can also be useful to analyse data on how it is used. As well as data on employee progression through exercises, some VR solutions also offer features such as heat maps that show where in a virtual environment users are spending the most time.