Workplace training is becoming ineffective and costing organisations large amounts of time and money. In 2016, organisations spent $359 billion globally on workplace training, but was it all worth it?

  • 75% of 1,500 managers surveyed from across 50 organizations were dissatisfied with their company’s Learning & Development (L&D)
  • 70% of employees state they do not acquire skills needed to successfully do their jobs
  • Only 12% of employees apply new skills learned in L&D programs to their jobs

Harvard Business Review, 2019

But have you ever wondered why employees are not getting the most out of these Learning and Development programs?

1. Learning for the Wrong Reasons
Today employees are often required to learn unchanging topics, on a schedule and at a time when it tolerates little relevance to the role, resulting in poor learning results. These poor learning results and lack of knowledge are having a significant impact on injury and fatality rates in the workplace, particularly within the construction industry. However, new emerging technologies such as Virtual Reality learning are allowing organisations to see a substantial improvement in learning outcomes, decreasing injuries and fatalities in the workplace. 

Virtual Reality learning allows employees to learn when it best suits them, strengthening one’s focus and motivation to learn while being applied to real-world scenarios. Virtual Reality Learning also aligns better with training objectives, teaching employees’ specific skills and knowledge relevant to their job duties and responsibilities.

2. We forget what we’ve learned 
German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus established studies of memory in the late 19th Century, concluding with his discovery of “The Forgetting Curve.” He found that if new information isn’t applied, we’ll forget about 75% of it after just six days. However, Virtual Reality Learning is proven to increase employee engagement by up to 85% and improve knowledge acquisition through gamification of learning, achieving higher assessment scores of 93% compared to 73% with e-learning.

In addition, Virtual Reality Learning is proven to result in better retention rates – up to 80% one year after training, compared to 20% just one week after traditional training. This data demolishes the low statistics of workplace training and results in a better training outcome. Are your training methods allowing your employees to retain a high amount of information? 

3. Use it or lose it
In alignment with Ebbinghaus’ study our brains quickly forget what we don’t use. Incorporating new learnings into your workplace training is one way to retain knowledge with another being spaced repetition (material being reviewed in gradual increasing intervals of roughly one day, two days, four days, eight days etc..), which demonstrates a solid link between the exposure of information and knowledge retention. Studies show that by using spaced repetition, we can remember approximately 80% of what we learn after 60 days. Using this methodology alongside Virtual Reality Learning will significantly help review material as well as reducing costs for organisations.

4. The Changing World – Virtual Reality Learning                                                           
With today’s fast moving work landscape and emerging technologies, people must adapt rapidly to changing circumstances. Lean Learning is a method which includes the Learning & Development (L&D) process of getting the right learning, to the right audience, at the right time, in the right quantity to achieve a faultless work flow.

 Applying Lean Learning through Virtual Reality
Virtual Reality can massively assist with the Lean Leaning process through learning the core of what employees need, successfully applying it to real world situations and receiving immediate feedback to refresh and refine employees’ understanding.

Apply to real world situations
Virtual Reality applies a methodology internally, bringing real world situations to life and apply what’s learned in real-time to deliver successful business outcomes.For example, our Working at Heights Virtual Reality training package can safely induct and train employees to gain confidence to work at heights in a stress-free environment, with the freedom to make decisions without life-threatening consequences.

Personalize content
Next World’s Virtual Reality learning provides organisations the opportunity to personalise specific content. Our ‘Bespoke Experiences’ tailors’ content to every business need, learning style and delivery method to ensure training outcomes are improved.

Offer micro courses
Virtual Reality Learning Experiences are short bite-sized learning opportunities, providing refresher training on topics relevant to an employee’s immediate job duties and responsibilities.  Our VR Learning Experiences are made to deliver safe, accessible experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, giving employers peace of mind knowing their staff are getting refresher training done effectively with VR.