How the professional services sector is driving transformation with VR

How is the professional services sector benefitting from VR?

The professional services sector is using virtual reality (VR) to simulate realistic learning environments, develop employees' soft skills and deepen workplace culture.

Through VR, leaders of tomorrow are able to practise their presentation and people skills today – as often as they need, at any time and wherever they want. With virtual reality meetings, employees anywhere in the world can meet up in virtual town halls – making people feel like they're truly there, together, in the same space. New joiners can quickly get up to speed through virtual reality onboarding programmes, meaning that they start day one on the job ready to go.

VR in business is being used around the world to build a deeper sense of belonging, forming the foundation of everything they do. Below, we explore three core areas where these benefits come to life.

Deepening workplace culture in VR

In today's work environment, teams are now more distributed, meaning that cohesion is more important than ever. With hybrid and remote working commonplace, professional services are leveraging VR to create a deeper sense of belonging.

For example, consulting firm Accenture wanted to use VR to build culture and community at scale for teams working from home. So, it created a virtual campus environment: the Nth Floor. With "always open" spaces and interactive exhibits, the space enabled employees to attend company-wide events, connect with the culture and build professional relationships – with over 65,000 Meta Quest headsets provided to employees.

Accenture used VR in the workplace and hosted more than 5,000 virtual reality events and workshops at the Nth Floor, with 50,000 active users across six countries. It led to a 33% boost in learning retention, compared to video, and a 4.7/5 rating for its virtual reality onboarding experience.

VR is also supercharging professional services' onboarding. Instead of telling new joiners about a company's culture, or even showing them, some organisations are building VR environments so that they can experience it themselves.

With the traditional onboarding process, new joiners are usually overloaded with information on paper in the first few days. Boston Consulting Group Central Europe launched a metaverse experience for new joiners to immerse themselves in BCG workplace culture. Since launching in June 2024, new joiners now hit the ground running on their first day. On-site onboarding is significantly streamlined, reducing time and costs. And it's received acclaim, including 100% new-joiner satisfaction rate and 100% reporting the experience as beneficial.

"We find that it's a way of showcasing life at BCG", says Minh Ngo, Learning Design Manager, Boston Consulting Group Central Europe. "New joiners get to explore our values and culture in a fun environment, whenever they want. Rather than a top-down experience like with traditional onboarding, it becomes a two-way relationship".

How VR is enhancing training for professional services

VR enables professionals to learn complex skills in safe, controlled environments. Through virtual twins – digital replicas of real-world environments – employees can learn complex skills in safe, controlled environments. This enables them to develop technical skills before working on real projects.

The professional services sector is also leveraging VR to boost employees' soft skills. The technology means that they can walk in the footsteps of colleagues, experience workplace culture and learn how they can better support them.

Through virtual learning platforms like Bodyswaps and Cornerstone, companies can build immersive training programmes, such as VR soft skills training, which hone vital skills like how to communicate, collaborate and lead.

"We see VR as a key enabler across the sector", says Minh. "We see learning and development opportunities in soft skills, such as leadership and presentations. Through VR, people can practise as often as they like in a psychological safe environment".

VR can also drive behavioural change, says Minh. "You can train across cultures and create immersive environments that reach people at an emotional level. Employees can really relate to what they're doing and experiencing through the headset".

Boosting remote collaboration and productivity for professional services in VR

Professional services are using VR to launch immersive meetings and collaborate on projects in shared virtual environments. This recreates the presence and engagement of physical offices without geographical barriers – teams can connect and collaborate as if they're really together.

For example, apps such as Zoom and Microsoft Mesh allow teams to appear as fully embodied HorizonOS avatars, enabling colleagues to brainstorm and interact in real time during virtual reality meetings.

VR also allows professionals to work distraction-free in virtual workspaces. Whether working from home or the office, teams' headsets can become a natural extension of their PCs, streaming their computer screens into their virtual space.

The technology can improve employees' productivity in new ways. In fact, a 2022 study of Meta Horizon Workrooms found that "VR has the potential to achieve enhanced productivity through greater individual expressivity and commitment, and active participation in decision-making." This can be partly achieved through environments that offer avatars for an enhanced feeling of social presence, according to the study's authors.

Professional services are now leveraging VR to improve learning, collaboration and productivity, bringing distributed teams closer than ever before through breathtaking technology. And for individual workers, VR unlocks immersive training, virtual reality onboarding and VR meetings – driving greater efficiency, engagement and employee satisfaction.

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