Virtual reality in the workplace

Virtual reality in HR can improve a variety of processes in recruitment, hiring, onboarding and employee training. [iStockphoto]

The use of augmented and virtual reality in HR has great potential in recruiting, onboarding, training and virtual workspaces.

Virtual reality in HR can improve a variety of processes in recruitment, hiring, onboarding and employee training.

Use cases for AR and VR in recruitment

The recruitment industry always faces cutthroat competition as businesses struggle to identify their best talents to gain a competitive edge.

Every organization works really hard to get the best pool of talent from the job market to the board.

This is where virtual and augmented realities dive in, offering enhanced support in the process of modern recruitment.

Employee training

AR leverages the employee training process by providing digital information on top of what users see.

VR offers users a completely multi-dimensional virtual environment to test performance in real environments, which enables learners to practice the required skills and check the outcomes of their actions in a simulated environment.

These technologies are being explored by enterprises as new tools for training employees - for testing candidates in virtual environments at the corporate level. Both AR and VR are being used for quite a few years in HR practices.

Still, it has always been limited to training simulations for hands-on technological roles in areas of logistics, manufacturing, and transportation.

However, the application of AR and VR is evolving continuously with its implementation for soft skills training purposes as well.

Workplace transformation

AR delivers digital details and experiences to augment the world around users, adding additional layers to data, for deeper and better understanding of resources and clients, across various processes in a company.

It provides profile information along with other affluent data on clients or prospects during the sales calls, to share real-time insights for workflow optimization. It also helps in providing real-time performance feedback delivered directly to the employees.

As per the reports, a majority of Generation X and millennial professionals would prefer to work with tools that enable a higher technological comfort- such as with VR and AR applications in the workplace.

Enhancing learning experiences

Businesses are turning into immersive, experiential nature of leveraging AR and VR technologies into many companies to create better e-learning content showcasing real-life experiences based on the premise.

In research by Human Resource online, 49 per cent of Gen Z employees in Singapore believed that VR would revolutionize their work in the coming years, while 45 per cent of Gen Z in the US and 56 per cent of Gen Z in India confirmed the same.

AR and VR have the potential to elevate team collaboration to the next level of advancement and success.