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In the simplest terms, VR soft skills training is the use of immersive virtual reality content to develop human-centred skills such as communication, empathy, and leadership. Many of you reading this article would have learned soft skills the old fashioned way, through in-person classroom or workplace practice, through e-learning modules, or through theoretical written learning.
And while that may work for some, the crises of the digital age are calling for a more personalised, engaging way to teach soft skills. In this blog we’ll go over just why soft skills can be so difficult to train, and why that’s causing issues for a workforce in which the demand for soft skills is growing so intensely.
Why are soft skills hard to train?
Traditional methods of teaching soft skills often face many hurdles that affect retention, confidence, and engagement with the material. In-person roleplay practice, for example, requires that the learner practises with at least one other human being (potentially more, if they’re in a classroom or workplace training) and this can lead to feelings of anxiety overtaking any possibilities of learning.
Not to mention that in-person teaching of soft skills can often also be time-intensive and difficult for educators who are already stretched thin to meet the needs of their students. And even economic costs can affect in-person roleplay training in sectors like healthcare, where actors are hired to play patients in order to offer a standardised roleplay experience for students.
E-learning, while often a cheaper and less time-consuming option, is much more removed from the actual experience of using soft skills in the real world. It’s also easy to disengage from traditional e-learning, which usually relies on pre-recorded videos or written sections to instruct. When was the last time you truly absorbed that assigned e-learning material?
Both the World Economic Forum Core Skills and LinkedIn’s Skills on the Rise reports highlight the importance of soft skills in the workforce. Amongst the WEF’s core skills are: Analytical thinking; Resilience flexibility and agility; Leadership and social influence; Creative thinking; Motivation and self-awareness; and Empathy and active listening. And LinkedIn picks up similar themes, identifying Conflict mitigation; adaptability; innovative thinking; public speaking; and customer engagement and support as skills with growing demand.
In an increasingly digital workplace, the demand for human-centred skills will only continue to grow.
How does VR soft skills training work?
VR soft skills training enables both synchronous and asynchronous learning: classroom/workplace learning supported by individual VR experiences or home-based learning where learners take VR experiences in their own time.
Learners will enter simulated, immersive environments which replicate real world social or professional experiences, such as rapport-building conversations, teamwork projects, or interviews. These scenarios may include videos of real people or it may contain video game-like avatars.
In synchronous training scenarios, these VR experiences may then be blended with discussion and self-reflection. Asynchronous training, on the other hand, offers the opportunity for individualised self-reflection.
VR soft skills training works through a combination of heightened interactivity, personalised feedback, and immersion through emotional realism.
The successes of apps like Kahoot in the classroom is perhaps the most common example of the desire for gamified learning. And the same logic applies to VR training. Interactions with virtual humans combined with the potential for evaluating and even scoring performances encourage learners to repeat practice and improve.
This is enhanced by the potential for personalised feedback within VR training. For example, the growth in capabilities of AI allows Bodyswaps to offer personalised feedback across our content, showing areas to improve as well as offering model answers in scenarios like our Job Interview AI Roleplay. VR also allows for physical elements to also be analysed, such as body language and eye contact, giving a more holistic overview of performance.
And the emotional realism of interacting with virtual humans helps learners feel more connected to the experience than they would in other cases. PwC found that learners in VR felt 3.75x more emotionally connected to the content than classroom learners and 2.3x more connected than e-learners.
VR soft skills training can apply to any and all sectors and levels of learners, from the essentials of communication for teenage learners in college through to complex negotiation or management scenarios for experienced individuals later in their careers.
From nursing to sales to policing, VR soft skills training can work for you.
Benefits of VR in soft skills development
Realistic and safe roleplay
Immersive VR simulations create a private, immersive place in which it’s safe to fail: there will be no real emotional repercussions for the avatar they’re communicating with, their mistakes are not broadcast to peers who are observing the interactions like in in-person roleplay, and they can repeat the simulation immediately to put into practice any learnings without worries of time constraints.
And this realism and feelings of safety contribute to high engagements from learners: 88% of students think VR helps their focus and creates more realistic learning scenarios, and 91% of educators believe VR increases student engagement with communication skills practice.
Accelerated learning
Across multiple studies, VR training has shown to speed up learning, without sacrificing on engagement or retention. PwC found that VR training was 4x faster than in a classroom or in e-learning, without sacrificing on efficacy; learners were 275% more confident to apply skills learned after training.
Additionally, training time reductions of up to 75% have been observed across a variety of industries. And VR contexts have been proven to improve memory retention, with employees retaining up to 80% of knowledge even after 12 months have passed.
Inclusive learning design
VR training is also applicable for more than basic communication skills, it’s also a great tool for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training. From unconscious bias training to navigating microaggressions to recognising privilege, VR soft skills training can assist with DEI training and help to make workplaces more inclusive.
Unity Health Toronto utilised Bodyswaps’ Let’s Talk About Race modules in a pilot for leaders and frontline workers, finding that there was promising potential for VR training as educational interventions in supporting individuals in learning how to take action to address racism.
So, is VR soft skills training more effective than e-learning?
Thanks to the immersive nature of VR soft skills training, we’ve seen above how learners were observed as being 2.3x more emotionally connected to the content. Along with being more emotionally connected, PwC also discovered that VR learners were 4x more focused than those who engaged with e-learning and they were 35% more confident.
The combination of connection, confidence and engagement speaks for itself - VR soft skills training is, in most cases, more effective than e-learning.
Common use cases for VR soft skills training
Leadership and decision-making
There are many platforms like Strivr offering VR training for executive-level employees, covering skills such as coaching and mentoring or addressing performance issues.
Conflict resolution and feedback
SkillsVR offers modules surrounding conflict management specifically for frontline staff, teaching them how to de-escalate conflicts whilst ensuring their own safety.
And Bodyswaps helps learners apply conflict resolution skills to management scenarios, through our Inclusive Leadership series.
Public speaking and communication
Bodyswaps offers public speaking and communication training across multiple modules and AI roleplays, such as Public Speaking and Presentation Skills module and Active Listening in the Workplace AI roleplay.
Customer service roleplay
Talespin specialises in a variety of workplace training, including for customer service, covering key skills such as call centre experience, de-escalation training, product training, and more.
Who is using VR for soft skills training?
Everyone.
Well - maybe one day!
But in all seriousness, VR soft skills training is growing across sectors and is used by a wide variety of people for different use cases. Colleges and universities are using it to equip their students with essential skills before they jump into the world of work. Healthcare institutions and healthcare education programmes are using it to help teach current and future clinical and non-clinical staff key human-centred skills to protect their patients and themselves. And workplaces are using it to enhance the capabilities and efficiencies of their existing and incoming employees.
It’s key to note that VR soft skills training doesn’t have to stand alone. There’s been a definite shift toward blended learning models across use cases. The rising popularity of VR labs in educational institutions indicates how the integration of VR into curriculums doesn’t get rid of collaborative, in-person discussions which are enabled by these group learning spaces.
The future of VR in learning and development
From preparing students about to take the first step into the workplace, through to experienced employees, VR training can cover a range of skills, empowering any and all with what they need to succeed.
The advent of generative AI and LLMs only empowered VR training, enhancing the personalised experience through features like virtual coaches and tailored feedback. And for large scale deployments, the ability to track learner progress is vital, especially in education.
VR for soft skills isn’t exactly new like it was only a few years ago, but that just means as a tool it’s beginning to solidify, and vendors are focusing on offering reliable, solid training which is backed by experience, real educational intent, and secure systems (at least the good ones are!). So put aside any hesitancy, and give VR soft skills training a try.
