Praxis Labs’ head of client impact, Sabrina Ronningen, explains how new immersive learning technology can help employees build human skills to increase equity and inclusion in the workplace.Â
The work to empower and support black employees is far from finished. During this time of market uncertainty, leaders are underestimating the impact of divesting DEI programs, and race-based issues still plague the daily world of work. As employee engagement and a sense of belonging steadily decline, DEI issues still urgently need to be addressed.Â
In particular, market uncertainty has caused several companies to slash DEI, learning and development, and wellness programs. While this saves businesses money in the short term, it could come at a higher cost as alienated employees flock to organizations that still prioritize the employee experience. These trends are felt most deeply by underrepresented groups. Fortunately, advancements in learning technology are creating a clear path for leaders to follow.
Employee feedback provides a deeper dive into typical organizational talent measures to help companies further diagnose, take action, and invest in their business more meaningfully. This data provides insights on skills growth and DEI hotspots – top issue areas employees say pose barriers to equity, inclusion, and belonging in their workplace.Â
From analyzing over 12,000 AmericansOpens a new window , we found that black employees were twice as likely as any other demographic group to select race-based microaggressions as a top concern at their company, with career advancement (31%), inclusivity and transparency in the hiring process (23%), and pay equity (15%) listed as other top issue areas. Notably, those black employees further along in their careers felt more strongly about equitable career advancement opportunities, showing how real-world experiences have let them down.
Now is the time for business leaders to identify ways to support black employees year-round.Â
Taking Sustainable Action
While calendar moments such as black history month offer an opportunity to engage in critical conversations on this sensitive topic, leaders must go much further and think about the experience of their black employees all year round. You can start by using pulse surveys and feedback channels to identify unique barriers to success, investigating the root causes of these inequities, and exploring new, emerging opportunities to embed equity and inclusion in all policies, practices, products, and services.
The challenge is that many businesses don’t always have the soft skills to understand and address bias. It’s been widely acknowledged that the existing approaches to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training have rarely moved the needle significantly. When paired with our findings that microaggressions are still prevalent for black employees, organizations have a call to action to find a new way to help create more empathetic and equitable workplaces.
See More: 6 HR Tips To Make Black History Month a Success
Immersive Learning: From Oculus to Occupation
Technological advancements have brought immersive technologies to the mainstream, with wearable devices and expansive virtual environments redefining the boundaries of human connection and experience. There’s a growing, research-backed market realization of the incredible potential of this technology to revolutionize education and skills development for corporate knowledge workers.
In practice, the concept of immersive learning spans virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR), augmented reality (AR), and 360-degree video. Learners access content through a VR headset, mobile device, or web browser and navigate real-world experiences in a safe, simulated scenario where they can practice and learn without the risk of causing harm. It’s an opportunity to develop new behaviors that can be applied within actual workplaces, whether collaborating with others in person or remotely.
Far more effective than simply listening to someone describe a microaggression without context, immersion puts the learner directly into the position of individuals on both sides of the incident. They can then practice navigating these tough situations through roleplay, going through the exercise — and some tough conversations — as many times as necessary to feel comfortable without fearing shame or embarrassment.Â
For example, you could take the place of a black woman at a work social event, experiencing being cut off when trying to network with senior leaders. These experiences encourage reflection on what the ramifications might be for that person as well as the wider company. Or, you might take the role of someone perpetrating bias or even as a passive bystander. In all these scenarios, the outcome is practicing inclusive leadership, de-escalating difficult situations, communication, and speaking up – all of which can help build employee confidence to identify and take action to help create a sense of belonging within the workplace.Â
See More: 3 Ways Immersive Learning Drives Diversity in the Workplace
The Power of Immersive Learning in Driving Empathy and Behavior Change
Immersive learning has been shown to increase knowledge retention by up to 75%Opens a new window , which has the C-Suite, DEI, and L&D leaders extremely excited about how this could help drive sustained, real-world behavior change. Furthermore, a growing body of evidence supports the idea that it could finally move the needle.
The core idea behind immersive learning is seeing the world through different perspectives to encourage empathy, and there is a scientifically-backed link between empathy and VR/MR technology. An experiment from Stanford University created a VR experience in which participants experienced homelessness, exploring what it would be like to lose their jobs and homes. They found evidence of longer-lasting compassion for the homeless, including becoming more likely to support affordable housing. Looking specifically at workplaces, ResearchOpens a new window by PwC has shown that learners engaged in VR-based DEI training reported feeling 3.75 times more emotionally connected to the content when compared to other learning modalities.
However, real-world success will depend on properly implementing the technology and following the correct steps to make long-term behavior changes.
See More: 4 Ways Immersive Technology Is Boosting Customer Journey
What Does Best-practice Immersive Learning Look Like?
The most important decision and step DEI and L&D leaders can take is ensuring the learning is embedded in key talent milestones and curriculum and tied to organizational outcomes within the flow of employees’ work. You may have a strong emotional reaction learning about the issue of stereotype threat through a Latinx candidate applying for a software engineer job, but the reaction isn’t enough; it needs to translate to an impact on your behavior within an organization and in real life.
The answer here is collaborating with immersive tech partners who prioritize evidence-based approaches and offer opportunities for reinforced skill-building. This can provide learners with actions between learning experiences, such as reflecting and committing to implementing their learnings into the real world – like providing a pre-read meeting aligned with newly learned equitable meeting norms.Â
Clear guidance on applying learned skills is critical to an end-to-end learning program that supports and reinforces new behaviors. Resources such as formal discussion guides and peer-to-peer learning are two other ways to help translate learning into informed action and build connections across your team.Â
Fostering Equitable and Inclusive Cultures
We all win when our team members feel they belong and are motivated to do their best. It’s the DEI and L&D teams’ time to meet the moment and take advantage of new ways to build critical skills in their workforces that foster more equitable and inclusive cultures.Â
Our experience is what defines our reality; shapes our behaviors; and, in turn, forms the building blocks of culture. By exploring novel approaches to practicing empathy, all employees can be leaders for equity and inclusion and be empowered with the skills needed to tackle race-based microaggressions at work.Â
What steps have you taken to prioritize the empowerment and support of black employees? Lets us know on FacebookOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , and LinkedInOpens a new window . We’d love to hear from you!
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