Virtual Reality: The Future of Training Starts Here
Imagine walking into your new workplace before your first day on the job; not through the front doors, but through a headset. Instead of navigating a maze of HR paperwork and mandatory
e-learning modules, you’re greeted by a 3D replica of the office, an avatar coach, and interactive role-based scenarios. This isn’t a science fiction novel. It’s happening now, and it’s reshaping how organizations onboard, train, and develop leaders.
We recently met with Celina Mattocks, an organizational change management (OCM) professional pioneering the intersection of learning and virtual reality (VR). Her work demonstrates how immersive learning experiences aren’t just a “nice to have”—they’re quickly becoming a strategic advantage for companies navigating change and high turnover.
Welcome to the Metaverse!
VR entered Mattocks’ world through onboarding. At a large professional services firm with hundreds of thousands of employees and a 20% attrition rate, the company needed to rethink how it welcomed and prepared new hires. By offering a metaverse-based onboarding experience, employees could explore office spaces virtually, complete early HR tasks, and even preview their roles before setting foot on-site.
The Metaverse is a shared digital world where people can interact, work, play, and create through virtual or augmented reality. Virtual reality enables the simple recreation of real-world spaces in 3D for users to explore or more complex, custom-built modules that mix avatars, knowledge checks, and interactive scenarios. But the payoff either way is faster productivity, higher retention, and a smoother employee experience.
Why VR Works
Traditional e-learning has a reputation: hours of clicking through slides, fighting screen fatigue, and rushing to the “Finish” button. VR flips that model. Research that Mattocks cites shows a 30% boost in engagement and knowledge retention compared to web-based training.
“Adult learners are visually inclined,” Mattocks notes. “To be in a simulated environment before experiencing it in real life is like entering it for the second time. You’re more confident and more prepared.” From a change management lens, you can think of it like providing user acceptance testing (UAT) in a beta, dev, or training environment for new software.
VR also appeals to the upcoming generation of leaders, many of whom are VR natives. Gen Z is already spending hours daily in immersive environments. For organizations looking to bridge generational divides, meeting employees where they are is crucial.
Beyond Gaming: Leadership Skills in the Metaverse
When people think of VR, they often imagine gaming. But Mattocks is focused on something more nuanced: leadership training and skills development.
Her workshops bring VR headsets directly to leadership teams, who spend 15 to 30 minutes in her immersive scenarios that test and build critical leadership skills like vulnerability, communication, empowerment, and appreciation. Afterward, leaders debrief together, discussing skill gaps, emerging talent needs and designing roadmaps for organizational growth.
This approach isn’t hypothetical. Healthcare professionals already use VR to rehearse surgeries. High-risk industries apply it for OSHA compliance training. And now, leadership teams are using it to practice human-centered leadership behaviors in safe, repeatable environments.
The Challenges Ahead
Like any innovation, VR training has hurdles. Mattocks points out that most corporate learning systems don’t have the playbook to integrate VR modules. Traditional e-learning relies on SCORM files, while VR uses APK files, requiring different and more sophisticated testing and deployment processes with accessories.
There’s also the matter of attention span. In surveys Mattocks conducted, most learners said they prefer VR sessions of only 15 to 30 minutes, with a hard limit of 45. For learning and development (L&D) professionals, that means designing crisp, micro-learning experiences that can be paused and resumed seamlessly.
Training 3.0: What OCM Practitioners Need to Know
For OCM and L&D professionals, VR is not a replacement but an evolution. Mattocks frames it as “Training 3.0”:
1.0: Instructor-led training (live, in-person or virtual).
2.0: Web-based training (self-paced, software-driven).
3.0: Immersive VR training.
Each layer builds on, not replaces, the others. VR adds another tool to the organizational change manager’s toolbox, offering a way to drive adoption, engagement, and readiness in innovative ways.
And while clients may initially see VR as “just training,” Mattocks argues that the real differentiator is change management itself. Training is the visible product, but OCM ensures adoption sticks, behaviors shift, and organizations realize the full value of their investment.
Meeting the Future
Whether it’s onboarding thousands of employees, preparing leaders with the skills for tomorrow, or engaging a new generation of workers, VR is pushing organizations to rethink how they approach learning and change.
“It doesn’t have to be scary,” Mattocks emphasizes. Instructional design principles including outlines, course builds, assessments, and deployment still apply. The technology is different, but the fundamentals of effective learning remain.
For those ready to explore this space, Mattocks recommends starting small. Pilot immersive onboarding. Tryone of her leadership modules on the Meta Horizon Store. Gauge employee response. The future of learning is already here—the question is whether organizations will embrace it.
Contact ChangeStaffing to learn how your organization or client can benefit from virtual reality training.
Thank you to Celina Mattocks for her thought leadership and for collaborating with us on this blog. To learn more from Mattocks, visit her YouTube channel: Lead, Live, Learn or her website where you can find relevant Training 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 offerings.
Written by Kylette Harrison