Brink’s Hellas S.A. HR Director, Iosif E., talks about how Further Up-HR‘s Virtual Onboarding is shaping the future of HR.
Further Up: How has VR technology in HR processes benefited the company so far?
I. E: Through VR, #onboarding and #traininganddevelopment stop being “location specific”. By wearing the #vrheadset to many different people during the day, we can apply the same procedures regardless of the physical presence of each employee in the area we want to train them. We “transport” him to this space. Also, we can apply it to people who we have already hired and want them to repeat the induction process, in different parts of the country, without the need for them to come to the facility or for someone else to go there.
This technology literally “frees us up” and allows us to invest in quality. It makes the combination of #learning and #gamification within a Virtual environment extremely attractive and above all ensures that the process works deeply educationally. Employees don’t just see a presentation anymore.
They experience the educational process. This saves us an incredible amount of time and money. If we were to translate the time it would take to train these people into costs, we would see that we are talking about an unparalleled cost reduction, while at the same time we gain a lot in quality in terms of quality and the final service our customers receive through the standardization of the onboarding process.
“With only 4 VR HeadSets we can proceed to approximately 500 recruits per year without additional costs, effort or other resources.”
What was the #induction process like before VR, and how is it now, with the use of VR?
Before covid we gathered the fellow trainees and new joiners in a room and did onboarding and trainings.This required a lot of resources from different departments, a lot of planning and, of course, an incredibly long time. Covid made us look for new ways to do our job as HR. #virtualreality in #HR, powered by Further Up-HR and the know-how of Mativision, has opened up a new world for us that we are currently examining, not only locally but also globally, as BRINKS already uses #VRtechnologies in the educational processes.
Without VR, we would not be able to demonstrate to the worker the procedures in the same experiential way that we do now: We proceed in real simulations of how you put out a fire or how you do patrols, for example. Essentially, we ask him to experience the process. In a standard classroom education, we would not have the efficiency we are looking for in our learning process. Now we see that, through the VR experience, employees learn quickly, effectively, not just watching a presentation.
We also needed space, a supervisor, bureaucratic and other procedures. Now, in addition to the fact that Further Up and mativision have trained us in the use of the software to operate automatically and finally free from all admin tasks, there is also one particular specialist, in charge of the L&D departement who has been trained more specifically, monitors and resolves any questions and problems, while at the same time adapting each simulation to the needs of the employees. Before using VR we didn’t test knowledge and skills on a new fellow employee. Now we do it through gamification and this gives us much faster, measurable results of certain skills.
Was there any difficulty for employees to manage the VR training procedure?
Even if there are personal difficulties of the workers, e.g. if they feel dizzy, or if they are tired, the role of the specialist is to help them feel safe with the equipment and to adapt the process to each worker. So if someone is dizzy, they can easily not wear the glasses but see the presentation on a screen, with the same results.
How has VR technology in Onboarding helped Brink’s employees feel more engaged with the company values?
What sets us apart as Brinks is the geographical dispersion of our employees, as they each work in different facilities. The onboarding and training process through VR came and matched perfectly with this feature of ours, since each new fellow employee can now get to know the company regardless of their physical presence, fully understand what will be required of their role once they takes up work, and also be trained effectively without being located in a room, but in real life conditions.
What is the feedback you have from employees?
In the next two months we will begin to have a more measurable picture, as it will be reflected in our new joiners survey. After the implementation, however, we already receive feedback from each employee.
On an overall level, the trainees say that this technology “provides great interactivity and is very enjoyable”.
Our staff now has the knowledge to help them understand the company’s identity and values and at the same time we can properly train them in key areas of their work so that when they go to the customer they are more ready than ever and that of course also makes them feel more confident about their job.
How have Brinks’ values been reinforced through VR in HR?
Two of our most important values at Brinks are our continuous improvement and our customer focus. By using VR in Onboarding, we also spread the message as HR to the rest of the functions that we move forward and live according to what we promised. We also have our own e-learning platform where the employee enters when hired, that acts as a complement to the VR practices. These two together create an asynchronous training environment which is also an internal best practice.
By combining the latest technologies in the Onboarding process, we strive to optimize the experience our customers receive through better knowledge and faster integration of security personnel into each customer’s requirements.
*These photos were taken as part of mativision’s VR shooting, at Brinks’ Hellas Facilities in Athens. All rights reserved*