Immersive Technologies Can Transform Work

Why your workforce needs a sense of belonging and how to create it

For many, remote work will continue long after the pandemic recedes. In June, Gartner reported 82% of organizations surveyed plans to allow remote working at least some of the time when employees return to the workplace. Nearly half (47 percent) of company leaders said they plan to permit employees to work remotely full time. This will require a shift in technology, policies and culture that will have both benefits and drawbacks.

While remote working offers flexibility and access to a broad talent pool, many workers and organizations miss the opportunities to build relationships that naturally come from sharing a physical space. Building a sense of belonging in the workplace is not only vital to employee experience, it’s also important to an organization’s bottom line.

Employees who feel a strong sense of belonging at work report a 56 percent higher level of job performance and take 75 percent fewer sick days, according to a 2019 study from BetterUp. Belonging is also associated with a 50 percent reduction in turnover risk. As workers adapt to new ways of working, organizations are exploring new and better ways to use technology to build inclusivity, autonomy and trust.

Keep colleagues connected

Artificial intelligence and machine learning can close skills gaps and improve employee productivity. They can also facilitate relationship building. AI-enabled scheduling can identify people working on similar projects and across teams and create meetings for them to collaborate.

Adding gamification — where workers earn rewards or prizes for completing tasks — can drive engagement, promote learning and keep employees motivated. It can also make work more fun. Leaderboards and challenges can reinforce company culture and help employees feel more involved with the organization.

Virtual reality (VR) can promote connection and collaboration. Using virtual reality headsets or goggles, team members in different locations interact with each other in the same space. Instead of a grid of faces on a screen, individuals have the ability to move around a virtual space to interact, share 3D products or have side conversations.

Unlike video conferencing, interactions aren’t limited to what appears on a computer screen. VR enhances onboarding for new hires by introducing them to the organization’s culture and providing a virtual workplace tour. The technology mimics real-world collaborations to help build workplace relationships among employees who may feel disconnected from each other and the organization.

Accelerate learning and development

Augmented reality (AR) can help employees learn a new task by providing on-demand, remote assistance. AR enhances the real world with digital elements such as text or 3-D objects through a mobile device or headset. Industries such as healthcare and manufacturing use AR for training and delivering information to enhance and accelerate experiential learning.

Mixed reality (MR), which combines elements of both AR and VR, allow real world and digital objects to interact. In engineering, MR technologies create 3-D models in a virtual environment. The applications support collaboration by bringing teams together in virtual offices. In the education and health care industries, MR plays an important role in training and interactive learning.

Automate tasks to improve efficiency

While virtual personal assistants such as Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa are widely used by consumers to manage smart devices at home, there is growing interest in using digital assistants to support work. Gartner predicts 25 percent of workers will use digital assistants in 2021, up from less than 2 percent in 2019.

Rather than replace workers, virtual digital assistants can help employees do their jobs more efficiently. Employees can use virtual digital assistants to schedule meetings, create documents, manage to-do lists, and improve analysis.

Unlike rules-based chatbots that follow predefined workflows, AI-driven assistants use natural language processing and machine learning to provide more human-like interactions. HR virtual assistants interact with employees to provide real-time responses to questions. With onboarding, virtual digital assistants guide new hires through common tasks, recommend training and learning opportunities and provide a “virtual buddy” to answer questions.

Using these tools can boost the employee experience by providing consistent support, information and customized messages. The data captured from these activities can improve processes and help assess program effectiveness.