Metaverse Upskilling: Employee Training Trends and Predictions

In response to the changing work environments created by the digital revolution, businesses across all sectors are seeking ways to teach their staff members valuable new skills. 

Known as “upskilling," this practice of proactively training employees in the use of emerging technologies is vital if businesses hope to remain competitive in the digital age.

Traditionally, businesses upskilled their employees by organizing in-person training sessions, investing in physical educational materials, and sending key team members to seminars. 

However, recent advances in extended reality technologies have paved the way for “metaverse upskilling.” As the name suggests, this unique upskilling technique leverages metaverse training resources to enhance employees’ capabilities and talents.

Below, we examine why virtual training is so valuable to modern businesses and outline previous barriers that limited the usefulness of these technologies. In addition, we explore how the augmented reality environment known as the “metaverse” makes the use of virtual training a viable upskilling solution.

Why Virtual Training Is So Valuable

According to Statista, over half of U.S. companies provide one week or less of annual training to their employees. However, upskilling and reskilling workforces are essential to increasing organizational agility, preserving business continuity, and optimizing the consumer experience.

Despite regular training providing clear benefits to companies and employees, many businesses fail to invest in training due to concerns about cost, lost production time, and staff safety. Fortunately, metaverse employee training eliminates many of the pain points of traditional staff upskilling efforts.

Specifically, virtual training:  

Eliminates the Need for Physical Materials

One of the most apparent costs associated with in-person training is the cost of materials. Workbooks, test sheets, and similar physical materials are expensive and wasteful.

By transitioning to extended reality training, businesses can eliminate the need to purchase these materials. Instead, they can distribute or display all information to attendees digitally. 

If they need to provide employees with a copy of training resources, they can transfer this information via email or place it on a shared-access platform such as Google Docs.

Offers Better Safety than In-Person Training

Extended reality training is a far safer option than in-person training. Employees will no longer need to commute to centralized training locations or gather with hundreds of other staff members. 

Instead, they can log into training sessions remotely from their home or workstation. This benefit is especially noteworthy as virtually all businesses have become increasingly aware of employee health and wellness in recent years.

Optimizes Inclusion and Accessibility

A major downside to traditional live training is that it is not accessible for all employees. For instance, employees with small children may be hesitant or unable to attend out-of-town training seminars because they have no one to care for their families.

Conversely, these individuals could easily participate in metaverse upskilling, as they simply need access to a stable internet connection and the appropriate technology. This approach would allow them to further their careers, acquire new skills, and fulfill their family obligations.

Prevents Loss of Production Time

Sending staff members to live training or booking all-day upskilling sessions creates a logistical issue for employees and causes a loss of production time for the business. Virtual training is a more appealing solution for businesses, as they can maintain peak productivity while also upskilling their staff.

Provides a Critical Time to Build Workplace Culture

Lastly, extended reality training presents companies with a prime opportunity to lay the foundations of a strong company culture. 

These training sessions will also nurture a sense of belonging between staff members. According to the Harvard Business Review, “high belonging” boosts job performance by 56%, reduces turnover risk by half, and leads to a 75% decrease in the use of sick days.

Previous Limitations of Virtual Training

Virtual training technologies have existed for decades. However, past iterations of digital upskilling solutions had a few limitations that discouraged businesses from implementing them on a large scale. Previous major limitations include:

Virtual Reality Was a Foreign Environment

In the past, technologies were not as ingrained into our daily lives as they are today. As a result, the concept of training in a virtual environment was foreign and intimidating to a large percentage of the workforce. However, that is no longer the case.

The latest generation of workers is accustomed to operating in a digital environment and craves it. This shift in employee expectations has made adopting metaverse training practical and necessary.

The Virtual Space Was Underdeveloped

Another barrier that minimized the usefulness of virtual training is that there were limited resources available. Businesses were primarily restricted to slide shows, computer-based skills testing, and the like. 

However, modern metaverse solutions allow companies to create truly immersive environments that drive engagement and increase training efficacy.

How the Metaverse Bridges the Gap

Metaverse employee training remedies all the pain points associated with less robust virtual upskilling solutions. The advantages of metaverse upskilling are outlined below:

Virtual Reality/Extended Reality Creates Immersive Environments

Traditional training strategies are often bland, boring, and outright ineffective. As a result, employees retain very little of the information presented to them.

On the other hand, metaverse training is interesting, exciting, and interactive. These attributes of metaverse upskilling solutions allow employers to create immersive environments that make a real impact on staff members. 

The metaverse can be used to teach new skills, reinforce business values, develop trust between staff and leadership, and more.

Extended Reality Facilitates Both Virtual and Hybrid Training

The real beauty of metaverse training is how versatile it is. When used strategically, the metaverse can provide completely virtual training or augment live, in-person upskilling sessions. This flexibility means that businesses can use it for department-centric training, large-scale events, and everything in between.

The Metaverse Optimizes Employee Engagement

Based on information gathered by a recent study, up to 54% of employees feel unengaged at work. To make matters worse, 17% of employees are considered “actively disengaged.” In short, they are tuned out of what’s happening in the workplace and are simply going through the motions.

Fortunately, extended reality training can boost employee engagement by creating an immersive, captivating learning environment. This environment will keep employees focused on the materials presented to them, enabling them to effectively learn new skills and become more productive.

As you can see, metaverse upskilling offers innumerable advantages over antiquated employee training solutions. If your organization is looking for a way to enhance the skills of your staff and regain its competitive edge, metaverse employee training is a worthy investment.