AR is revolutionising the way companies train new recruits, delivering significant benefits. Let’s find out more about it.
Onboarding is the process of equipping new employees with the training, resources and support they need to be successful in your organisation. The faster you can get new hires working at full capacity, the more productive your company becomes. That’s where onboarding comes in.
Onboarding can be challenging, as new employees will start with different levels of knowledge and learn in different ways. In industrial companies, you must also consider workplace safety, where simple mistakes could lead to potentially disastrous consequences.
Augmented reality (AR) has emerged as a crucial tool for onboarding. In this article, we’ll look at how this cutting-edge technology helps industrial organisations overcome the traditional challenges of onboarding and sets your employees up to thrive from day one. Let’s get started.
Real-world examples
Here are some ways you can use AR to make your onboarding more effective:
- Equipment - Use AR to replace thick paper manuals full of 2D diagrams. With AR, you can create exercises with visual context and 3D support. AR allows you to overlay your machines with instructions, safety notifications, and even real-time data
- Processes - AR helps you visualise tasks, demonstrating the unique way you work in your company and the way you want things done. You can record company experts to help bring it to life. It beats sitting in a classroom any day
- Safety - When training using AR, you can provide visual guidance and immediate warnings to help your new employees stay safe. They’re much more likely to remember what they learn using AR rather than from a teacher or a book
Logistical benefits
Compared to traditional onboarding methods such as face-to-face training or handing out manuals, AR is significantly easier. Once you’ve created the digital materials, you can use and reuse them, sharing them throughout your company. It’s infinitely scalable.
Augmented reality allows you to be less reliant on company experts, such as company veterans, freeing up their time to do other things. It acts as a ‘digital mentor’, delivering real-time instructions and support as they go.
Finally, using AR in your onboarding processes enables you to achieve a level of consistency you can’t get with other methods. You give everybody the same information, regardless of their prior knowledge. That way, they will get the same onboarding experience and be ready to start producing for your company.
Boosting effectiveness
Using AR in onboarding is shown to help new starters ramp up to full capacity faster. This is because AR helps them learn on the job rather than sitting in classrooms or studying manuals before they can get started. When you learn by doing, you’re more productive. You’re also more likely to retain the information delivered to you.
In environments where safety is paramount, AR is supremely effective at helping new hires become aware of potential flashpoints with real-time instructions and visual alerts. Companies that use AR in onboarding experience fewer on-the-job safety issues, which improves the employee experience and lowers costs.
While there are challenges associated with AR onboarding, such as potential resistance to technology or being overwhelmed, with a thoroughly planned-out onboarding strategy, you can make it work.
Ready to get started?
Onboarding is essential for getting your new employees acquainted with machinery, processes and safety procedures in your organisation. When you bring augmented reality into your onboarding, it immediately becomes more efficient, memorable and effective.
If you’re not using AR in your onboarding processes, now is the time to start.
