Virtual Reality (VR) is quickly becoming a transformative tool in the enterprise L&D space, helping organizations scale their training efforts in ways that were previously impossible.
The latest technological developments have meant that VR training results in team members feeling more confident and better trained, faster.
But to implement VR training successfully at the enterprise level, and reap these benefits, there are some critical steps that you need to take first.
Why Implement VR Training?
Before we dive into the how, let’s take a closer look at the numbers that highlight why VR training is so worthwhile for enterprise organizations:
Benefits For Learners:
- VR training has a tremendous retention rate of 75%, beating out more traditional methods such as lectures (5%), reading (10%), and audio-visual learning (20%). (FinancesOnline)
- 95% of participants who practiced in VR said it helped them prepare better for real-world situations in the workplace, such as sales pitches and negotiations, VirtualSpeech data shows. (VirtualSpeech)
- VR learners are up to 275% more confident to act on what they learned after training, a 40% improvement over classroom training. (PwC)
Benefits For Organizations
- VR training is cost-effective at scale, reaching cost parity with classroom learning at 375 learners. With 3,000 learners, VR training becomes 52% more cost-effective than classroom training. (PwC)
- Employees can be trained four times faster in VR courses than in classrooms, and are four times more focused during VR training sessions. At Boeing, the use of VR cut training times by 75%. (PwC, FinancesOnline)
- In one Accenture study, employees trained with VR reported 30% higher satisfaction. In another study involving Intel, 94% of employees asked for more VR courses to be made available – with the ROI of just one course potentially reaching 300%. (Accenture, Intel)
The evidence is clear – enterprise organizations and their employees both benefit massively from implementing virtual reality into training and L&D initiatives.
How To Implement VR Training At Scale
The best frameworks are tried-and-tested, and former Walmart Chief Learning Officer Andy Trainor’s VR implementation framework led to more than 1.5 million Walmart employees benefiting from VR training.
Sharing what he learned during his time as in that role at Walmart, Andy explained to us how he helped scale immersive training for that huge number of people and what made the VR rollout successful, as well as some common challenges companies face when implementing VR and how to address them.
(You can watch the full session here)
But maybe the most important lesson to take away from Andy’s session is how to action the 10 key steps to ensure that your implementation is as successful as Walmart’s.
When you’re dealing with the sheer scale of enterprise organizations, everything gets more complicated, which makes having a proven blueprint that much more important.
Our guide ensures you have the targeted strategy, stakeholder buy-in, and detailed logistical plans you need to achieve long-term success.
The 10 Steps To Successfully Implementing Enterprise VR Training (At Scale)
These steps have been designed based on Andy Trainor and VirtualSpeech’s real-world experience in launching, scaling, and sustaining immersive learning programs.
Whether you’re just piloting VR at the enterprise level, or expanding the reach of an existing program, following these steps will ensure you achieve long-term success.
(Prefer a physical checklist, or want to download the steps? Get the printable PDF version here)
Identify The Core Business Challenge
Any training initiative, immersive or not, needs to be targeted in order to be effective. That means that before launching a new training program, you need to pinpoint what you need, and why the current offering isn’t working.
What are the blockers keeping your existing training from being as effective as it could be? Will those same factors hinder any future immersive training rollout?
Once you’re aware of those blockers (and have figured out how to remove them), you need to ensure the immersive training you’re implementing will align with the wider, high-level operational needs of your organization – and define clear outcomes and goals that align with those needs.
This will allow you to demonstrate the potential ROI of immersive training, framed in the context of your organization’s overall goals.
Immersive VR training has the potential to both improve training outcomes and save costs when training at scale, so try to find the right angle to approach your organization’s training needs.
Gain Executive Support From The Start
After identifying the core business challenge you’re trying to address, and deciding that immersive training is right for your business, it’s time to get key executives on board with your plan.
Executives, especially in enterprise organizations, can sometimes be a bit risk-averse (doubly so if it involves new technology). To overcome this hesitation, you need to create a compelling narrative – base this on real-world VR success stories which highlight the tried-and-true qualities of immersive training.
(The VirtualSpeech case study archive is a great place to start!)
These examples of other enterprise organizations using VR training to achieve great results are only one part of the puzzle. Case studies can be convincing, but when it comes to immersive VR nothing quite beats the real thing.
Give sceptical decision-makers the opportunity to try virtual reality for themselves and experience just how immersive and realistic it can be. Something like the classic “Walk the Plank” simulation, which places users up amongst the skyscrapers in New York City, can help convince any sceptics of VR’s ability to immerse learners.
The key thread throughout your narrative should focus on the experiential nature of VR training. Most people, even anecdotally, feel like the best way to practice something is to do it, and VR allows learners to practice as many times as you need, in a safe environment.
Statistics like the ones we shared earlier in the article (more here) can help emphasize the increased effectiveness of immersive VR training over other, traditional methods.
Start Small, Demonstrate Impact
Once executives are sold on the benefits of immersive training, the hard work starts! Executive buy-in is a fickle thing, so it’s important to start demonstrating the impact of VR training as early as possible.
How? By running smaller scale pilot programs designed to show measurable improvements over a short period of time. For example, employees at German telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom reported a 20% boost in their skills after just 30 minutes of training in VirtualSpeech.
These pilots should focus on repeatable, high-impact scenarios that have broad internal applications. That way, decision-makers can easily envision how a wider rollout might look, and the impact it could have at scale.
First-hand data becomes critical here. In addition to data collected by your VR training tool (VirtualSpeech, for example, tracks learner improvement at scale in our analytics dashboard), make sure to track any job performance metrics you have available, and compare the pre- and post-training numbers.
Design For Scale, From The Beginning
Just because you’re starting with smaller pilots, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t design for scale from the beginning. Keeping scalability at the forefront of your mind means fewer headaches down the line.
Designing for scale involves predicting potential roadblocks and solving them before you’ve even finished planning. For example, try to choose hardware that’s easy to deploy at scale – such as wireless headsets that don’t require a computer to use (The Meta Quest 3 is a popular choice).
Beyond hardware, other scalability concerns might involve the training modules itself. Try to develop consistent, repeatable modules that don’t rely on specific locations – that way, the training can be deployed anywhere across your organization.
Lastly, have a plan for dealing with software, hardware, and content management updates. The last thing you want is to find out a headset needs a critical update right as a training session starts.
ManageXR, ArborXR, and Meta’s own Horizon Managed Services are Mobile Device Management (MDM) systems that can all help organizations manage their fleet of devices at scale.
Involve Your Stakeholders Early
Executives aren’t the only group you need to work with early on. Ensure that key stakeholders, such as department leaders, are involved in pilot programs and content design.
Letting these stakeholders have their say right from the start will ensure your training program hits the right notes, while also fostering a culture of cross-collaboration.
Incorporate feedback loops too, so that any feedback or suggestions from their teams make it to you quickly. This will allow you to incrementally improve the training offering and address comments visibly – increasing trust and transparency.
Should any stakeholders have hesitations, be sure to communicate that VR and AI are tools to support their teams and enhance their human abilities, rather than replace them.
Consider Operational Integration Logistics
Operational logistics are an important part of encouraging adoption. Your new training initiative should be as frictionless as possible for learners and their managers. This means:
- Integrating VR into existing workflows and LMS systems
- Training facilitators and managers on how and when to use VR for maximum effectiveness
- Simplifying device setup, access, and storage
- Assigning a dedicated owner to manage device upkeep and usage
- Using an MDM to update and manage devices
These factors will ensure that from a learner perspective, the VR learning experience is simple and effective – no troubleshooting needed.
Set Targets, and Measure What Matters
Getting VR training implemented is only half the battle – you also need to prove its effectiveness. External data can only do so much, and the best evidence comes from within your own organization.
Define what success for the program looks like early, and pin down the key metrics you’ll track to measure that success.
We touched on this earlier on, but metrics to consider include in-platform assessment results (like those found in VirtualSpeech’s analytics dashboard), participant NPS score, or changes in performance KPIs.
Make sure to track platform usage too. Consistently high usage can be an indication that employees are finding the VR training helpful and keep coming back for more.
Ultimately, the most important piece of the puzzle is reporting the outcomes you’re tracking to the appropriate people regularly. This doesn’t just document your progress, but makes it visible to the people that matter.
Communicate and Evangelize Internally
It’s important to generate excitement internally about the shift to virtual reality. VR training is unique because it’s fun, especially compared to ‘boring’ traditional methods.
Celebrate successes, share VR wins (internal newsletters are a good place to do this), and try to generate enthusiasm by turning VR headset deployment into a memorable event that will leave employees wanting more. Who doesn’t want to see the CEO try their hand at a virtual Shark Tank scenario, for example?
As you continue to communicate the rollout across the company, lean on the fact that VR training is a true career development tool, and stress the difference between old-school mandatory training.
Budget and Plan for Long-Term Growth
To ensure the long-term success of VR training in your organization, you need to shift your mindset from training as a one-off cost, to training as a strategic investment into your employees’ performance.
From a hardware perspective, a lease-to-own model can help to spread costs and simplify budgeting plans. Similarly, work with finance teams to forecast hardware, software, and support needs and costs for future phases of the rollout – this will help you avoid any surprises when you make your move to scale the program.
Lastly, as much as we love VR training, it’s important to balance the innovation it brings with practicality. Not all your training content needs to be in VR, and if your budget is limited, you’re better off focusing on strategic areas where virtual reality will make the biggest impact.
Maintain Momentum
If you’ve followed all the steps thus far, you’ve probably had a successful VR training rollout with robust plans to scale it. The next step? Keep the momentum building!
Ensure the content remains up-to-date and relevant to users as time goes on, and as you scale start exploring other use cases such as onboarding, DEI training, and other soft skills.
Outside of your organization, monitor VR and AI industry trends and technological advancements so that you can always provide employees with the latest and greatest in VR training.
The VirtualSpeech blog is a great place to start – we’ll share the most relevant industry news so that your finger stays on the pulse.
Next steps
If you’re ready to start your VR training rollout, download this tried-and-tested checklist in printable PDF format and track your VR implementation process.
And if you’re curious about what VR training might look like in your organization and want to learn more, request a VirtualSpeech demo, and a member of our team will be delighted to help you.
