Imagine a training program where 97 percent of participants reported they felt more comfortable performing their tasks after the training. Fortunately for my team at Bank of America, we don’t have to imagine it.
Started in 2016, The Academy, Bank of America’s global learning and professional development organization, set out on an ambitious journey to deliver training in innovative ways to help employees grow their careers and better serve our clients. At the time, Bank of America had become well known for delivering valuable digital offerings to clients, and our next challenge was to apply this ethos to employee training.
We experimented with virtual reality (VR) training to empower managers and employees with the skills they need to have complex and nuanced conversations with their clients and each other. This cutting-edge strategy has proven to be an immense success, with employees citing greater confidence and effectiveness in their jobs and more excellent retention of training material.
How It Works
Following a successful pilot with 400 employees, our nationwide VR training program launched in October 2021 as a first for the financial services industry. We’ve distributed VR headsets and associated training software to every one of our nearly 4,300 financial centers.
Teammates have the opportunity to use 20 different VR simulations and practice a wide range of skills, including strengthening and deepening relationships with clients, navigating difficult conversations, and listening and responding with empathy. The VR training puts the employee in a simulated financial center, where they have the opportunity to interact with coworkers and clients virtually. The module prompts different scenarios and conversations in a life-like virtual environment and provides guidance based on an employee’s answers to each question.
Historically, we’ve taught these skills through instructor-led discussions and web-based training. Now with VR, we can help teammates practice their day-to-day job functions in a realistic and interactive setting, and they are highly effective at helping employees build and retain new skills and better connect with clients in the real world. In addition, the simulator can gauge employee performance and help us diagnose where the employee may need follow-up coaching or more practice. The result is a well-trained employee who is confident and effective.
Many Benefits
Our innovative VR training technology will allow nearly 50,000 employees nationwide to practice complex tasks they are likely to experience in their day-to-day jobs through a virtual environment. As we rolled out the program, we discovered several exciting benefits. VR training:
- It makes learning more fun, rewarding and memorable. We found that 90% of employees who participated in testing our VR capabilities found the experience enjoyable. During our pilot, 97 percent said they felt more comfortable performing their tasks after the simulations. Employees also report feeling more confident after the training, leading to a better experience for the employees, their teammates, and our clients.
- Creates more personalized learning opportunities. Simulators that gauge employees’ learning progress across many modules can also highlight the precise areas where employees need more training and practice. Instead of re-taking entire training programs, employees can focus on specific modules that can best help them serve clients and advance their careers.
- Pinpoints where to apply coaches’ time for the most significant impact. Our Academy has 230 Academy managers who deliver seven million hours of training, personal coaching, and support to our employees annually. Simulator technology analyzes employee training data to help our coaches quickly pinpoint where to coach and train employees for the best outcomes.
- It makes our business more agile. Simulators support business agility because they can help us train and re-train employees according to the shifting needs of the business and our clients. During the pandemic, we trained, upskilled, or redeployed more than 40,000 teammates across the company to support government programs like the Paycheck Protection Program. In some cases, changes take place overnight, and simulator technology can play a crucial role in helping people get up to speed in new roles.
The Success of Our People
The VR program is the latest in Bank of America’s long-standing investment in the success of our people and our dedication to providing a full range of professional development tools powered by industry-leading innovation. Every time we innovate in our training and development program, we increase the value of everything we do, whether providing career advancement to employees or enhancing customer service. With VR, we’ve deepened our training impact and will continue to explore how we can leverage this technology to help our teammates succeed.
