The growth of virtual reality (VR) for consumer applications is undeniable. Video games are now largely immersive experiences and sports broadcasts provide a 3D feel to bring you closer to the action.

In the corporate world, VR training eliminates the costs of in-person training. Training time is significantly reduced, allowing employees to spend more time working productively.

However, it’s your employees who will enter the virtual world, so gaining their buy-in for VR training is imperative. In this article, we explore nine strategies to help you achieve employee buy-in as you introduce VR into your training programs.

You Will Face Resistance

Before diving into the strategies for gaining buy-in, you should understand why employees might be reluctant to embrace VR. Some of these reasons may include:

• Fear of new technology: According to a 2023 Gallup study, 22% of U.S. workers fear that technology will make their jobs obsolete.
• Resistance to change: Some employees may resist adopting new technology due to their reliance on established methods.
• Negative VR experiences: Reports of motion sickness and other physical issues can lead to anxiety.

9 Strategies to Gain Employee Buy-In for VR Training

Now that you see why employee buy-in is so crucial, let’s go over nine strategies you can implement at your company.

1. Involve employees in decision-making.

Today’s employees are looking for a level of control over their career and professional growth. Allow employees some control over their learning paths within training to help meet this need.

One option is to design training where lessons are taken out of order. Another way is for employees to create “learning stacks” where they complete eLearning first and follow it up with their VR training.

2. Develop education and awareness campaigns.

Use education and awareness campaigns to incentivize employees to pursue VR training. Rather than immediately inserting VR into your training, offer a few headsets as preset loaners for employees to try.

These loaner headsets should be pre-loaded with introductory content, 360-degree videos and simple games to familiarize employees with the technology. When you implement the program, you’ll have a number of employees with some level of VR experience.

3. Build a positive training culture.

We mentioned not allowing training to feel like a required task but rather a growth opportunity. The best way to do this is to build it directly into your company’s core values to foster a growth or training culture.

Begin the process at the point of hiring. Your learning and development (L&D) programs should be discussed alongside your benefits package of parental leave, advancement opportunities and health coverage.

4. Customize your program

You’ll find adaptive learning practices present as early as childhood education all the way up to higher-education and corporate training. Implementing VR gives you even more flexibility to adjust to the needs and wants of individual employees.

We’ve already discussed switching up the order of your courses, but how about creating some simulations in your VR training portfolio that serve to assess the abilities of your employees? Start with a skills assessment in VR to determine if the introductory lessons are needed or can be skipped.

5. Demonstrate employee ROI.

Much is made about demonstrating the return on investment (ROI) of VR training to your company’s stakeholders and executives. But remember your employees are also investing in VR training, just from a different angle.

A 2022 PwC study best illustrates how VR training directly helps your learners. The study found that VR learners train up to four times faster than classroom learners and are dramatically more confident in applying learned skills in real situations.

6. Address tech concerns.

Remember: You’re introducing new technology, and you should do this in short bursts rather than lengthy sessions. It’s also important for your information technology (IT) department to set up headsets in advance for your learners.

Even if you do everything right and try to address every concern regarding VR, you will still have some people who are unable to use it. It’s vital to offer an alternative experience so that all employees have access to development opportunities.

7. Train employees on how to use VR.

It’s important to accept that not everyone joining your company will come to you with VR experience. Include a VR training element into your onboarding process to get new employees acclimated to your use of emerging technologies in training and development.

Your employees will appreciate the early training, and you will gain support from the onset as a company focused on advancing the professional growth of its employees.

8. Share success stories.

Have you ever been unsure about a major purchase, perhaps a new car? You looked around and doubt kept creeping in until you began reading the reviews and found lots of people just like you who were incredibly satisfied with their purchase.

The same is true when it comes to purchasing VR training technology. Before implementing VR, share stories of companies and teams that have adopted VR for training along with the results of their program(s). This will give your team confidence that there are real benefits to taking this step.

9. Create a continuous feedback and learning loop.

Finally, as with any other program, don’t fall into the “set it and forget it” trap. Insist on getting open feedback from your employees as they go through the new training program. After collecting the information, act on it.

Feedback from your employees will help you create more efficient and effective programs and even provide future training topics. Best of all, your employees will know their voices are heard and going right back to our first strategy, they have control over their career path.

A Few Last Words

The advantages of integrating VR into training programs are evident, but achieving employee buy-in is vital for success. Without employee support, your training program risks becoming a mere task on a checklist.

Implement these nine strategies to transform the introduction of VR into an exciting and innovative experience and watch your VR training program take off.