We are pleased to present to you the work of the winner of the SignalHire Scholarship Program 2021-2022. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
In the field of human resources, new trends rise and fall with undeniable speed. Whereas the hottest magazines and webinars might champion a well-known recruitment platform one day, the same product may go out of popularity the next day. However, with a step back, so to speak, it’s a simple enough task to spot patterns in these shifting trends to connect the dots of a thousand separate ideas. Noticing them, any human resource manager will likely find themselves uncertain as to which trends will profit or harm them and their team.
However, in 2022, there are at least three technological trends, of whose integrity a human resource manager can be sure, that are presently transforming the field of Learning and Development. By carefully appraising and implementing them, they can be used to improve the field of HR as a whole. These trends are gamification, virtual reality, and mobile learning, and they can be so trusted because they cater to the modern tendency, thus tracing their roots in timeless psychology.
The first of these trends is that of gamification, that is, the implementation of games so as to accelerate the learning process. Often, employees grow increasingly wary of the same, hackneyed webinars and lectures in the modern day. Especially with 2021’s shutdown and the necessary hybrid learning caused in this way, the methods of Learning and Development are already obsolete. A series of instructions issued over the course of a Zoom meeting or an array of tutorial videos can be endured only for a short time before the words begin to merge together into something illegible and outdated. For this reason, it becomes necessary to introduce some new ways of motivation and challenge, such that the employee truly enjoys the learning process and besides this knowledge is perfectly acquired. Therefore, gamification, which provides just this motivation, has increased in recent times. It assumes a variety of forms, but nevertheless retains the following bottom line: that the atmosphere through which one assimilates information bears a semblance to, if not shares identity with, a game. Succinctly, the learning process is made to be “fun.” This may be something as elaborate as a company app that induces the workforce to absorb the latest Learning and Development tutorial set, or instead may simply be a lively game of trivia over a team call.
An example of gamification from PHOENIX. Applicants are locked in an escape room for one hour with company workers to get to know them and select the best candidates for the job. Image source: escaperumors.com
Of course, there are a slew of objections that may be posed against this so-called gamification. Tami Whalen, Senior Manager in L&D at Essex Property Trust, points out one of the main arguments made by dissenters: that games, whether actual or virtual, belong to the realm of the youth, and accordingly ought to be excluded from the world of adults. Those who argue in this manner seem to view games as an obstacle to their dignity. However, this is groundless, since, as rational beings, it is thoroughly instilled in our nature to want to be engaged.
Games excite curiosity. They allow for adventures that one cannot otherwise have. An employee is naturally engaged in the various aspects of the adventure and therefore does it induce him to pay greater attention, retain the knowledge, and eventually come back for more.
The second trend is a concept commonly known as “going mobile”. As simple as it sounds, it is the process of making any given resource available on a handheld device, such as a smartphone. As the capacities of smartphone technologies advance, people are more inclined to rely on their devices in all affairs. This tendency has naturally been aggravated by the homebound work life.
The Covid pandemic has also contributed to the trend. Previously, many companies did not support remote work due to fear of loss of efficiency, reconsideration of ways to control the work of employees, and unwillingness to provide adequate data protection. But they were forced to use a remote work format, and now they are convinced that employees can make progress not only from the office.
The remote work format has become available for most office professions: tools for work have moved to cloud storage, for example.
Therefore, it is obvious that the use of “mobility” in the workplace makes work as efficient as in the office, in some moments even more. Far-sighted company managers understand that the mobile format of work will not go anywhere even after the epidemic. Employees have appreciated the opportunities to maintain the work-life balance this format provides and are increasingly choosing companies that are ready to provide such conditions for work.
Accordingly, it is of utmost importance, in a society oriented to these predominant instruments, to expedite their use in the workplace. The movement towards mobile continues to rise, with relatively few objections, as it motivates employees in ways more distinguished than any L&D manager would first be inclined to imagine.
The third of these major trends in the modern day is that of virtual reality, which nearly resembles gamification. Whereas the latter aims to teach through games, the former aims to teach through the direct simulation of reality. Even despite the above-mentioned rise of hybrid learning in the past two years, there is though so much content that actually cannot be learned from home. There are many areas that require practice in the learning process. Obviously, it is impossible to get all the necessary tools or objects of study from home. Thus, companies now trying to restore normalcy and turn in-person occupation once more. That’s why innovation of some kind is needed to attract employees once more to the capacities of in-person learning. For this purpose, virtual reality is perfectly suited.
VR is close to gamification, as already mentioned, but it gives more emotions through the experience of interacting with new gadgets. The information that a person receives through various VR tools like 3D glasses or joysticks, etc. is remembered much better.
In addition, VR is actively used in the field of recruiting. At the very least, this is a less expensive way to keep many candidates entertained throughout the process. It also provides a great candidate experience and gives them an insight into the role. Today, many companies use this method. For example, Hyatt hotels use VR technologies to offer potential employees to learn about working in the company. New employees can visit any place in the hotel, see how the work is arranged, how people communicate with each other, in order to debunk any misconceptions about what life is like inside a hotel.
Hyatt hotel in virtual reality. Image source: youvisit.com
VR offers an undoubted, experiential intrigue that neither the homebound nor office-bound education can replicate. It contains all of the advantages inherent to gamification, but also adds the new benefit of complete immersion. Due to this, any information is immediately rendered more interesting, simply by virtue of the vehicle through which it was received, namely virtual reality. Under the technology’s spell, knowledge is neither read nor heard, but rather experienced, and is therefore much more easily retained.
Of course, the leading objection to VR is the cost. The equipment can be astronomically expensive, which, as Tami Whalen notes, often renders it impractical. However, as the technologies by which to produce it develop further, the price of its implementation in everyday training gradually decreases, and its viability inversely increases. Granted, there are many organizations for whom VR will likely never be viable, but on the whole, it remains an invaluable instrument in educating employees. Thus, it is an investment that is, in many circumstances, bound to pay off.
In sum, the trends that circulate throughout human resources as a whole are innumerable. To satisfy the call of duty, human resource managers must be on the lookout for such trends, and must accordingly distinguish between reliable investments, and destructive solutions. In particular, there are three trends that markedly belong to the former category, i.e. lusty investments, and these are gamification, “going mobile”, and virtual reality, respectively. Since they follow from psychological precepts, these stand out as trustworthy and therefore present some marked utility in the psychologically-based field of Learning and Development. Ultimately, one ought to focus on these three trends, since their successful implementation may well prove crucial to the reinforcement of any team’s efficiency and any company’s overall vitality.
Author: Raphael Whalen
