How Might Virtual Reality Help With Soft Skills Training?

Virtual reality can help companies train their employees in many ways, but it could be especially useful for helping workers learn “soft skills.”

VR can recreate situations that workers often face at work. It lets people practice their soft skills in a low-stakes environment, so they can try out scenarios more than once if they need to. Because of this, it has many benefits, such as speeding up learning and building confidence.

Here are some of the most important things that virtual reality can do for programs that teach soft skills.

Benefits Of VR

• VR Can Help to Accelerate Learning

Using virtual reality technology for training can lead to faster class completion rates. PwC’s 2020 study, “The Effectiveness of Virtual Reality Soft Skills Training in the Enterprise,” found that VR training can be completed up to four times faster than classroom sessions and up to 1.5 times faster than e-learning.

Participants may complete a virtual reality-based learning course more rapidly since the learning experience is entirely immersive, according to Scott Likens, innovation hub and trust technology leader at PwC, London-based research, and consultancy business.

While class is in progress, participants are not permitted to glance at their cell phones or be distracted by interruptions. Companies save money by completing training more quickly.

• VR Lets HR Know How the Learning Process is Going

Virtual reality simulations can also help people learn from their mistakes so they don’t make the same ones again. Krombolz said that some platforms let learners see how they did after the session. This could help them learn better because they can see where they went wrong.

Depending on the platform, learners may be able to see their facial expressions, hand movements, and other signs of behavior that they don’t usually see in an immersive way.

• VR Helps Students Gain Confidence

The use of virtual reality in soft skills training offers the added benefit of fostering safe confidence. According to the PwC report, participants were up to 275% more confident in the skills they learned through VR-based soft skills training.

According to Likens, this learner confidence occurs because VR allows employees to frequently practice soft skills in a safe, comfortable environment. In a classroom, role-playing is less effective because students may feel uneasy or humiliated, and they often only run through a scenario once or twice.

Repetition is essential for learning. The ability to practice strengthens soft skills since repetition allows people to make mistakes, according to Stephen Fromkin, a chief content officer at Talespin Reality Labs, a VR platform developer based in Culver City, California. “The capacity to practice in a safe environment, to fail and learn, is critical,” he said.