VR Sexual Harassment Training Benefits Over Traditional Training

A new VR company called Vantage Point is taking sexual harassment training into their own hands, or headsets, so to speak. Tired of traditional training methods that haven’t changed much in decades, this VR company is creating a new way to train employees.

Founder, Morgan Mercer, said she was sick of people not taking sexual harassment training seriously, viewing it as a legal obligation rather than a part of workplace safety.

Her virtual reality training method creates an immersive experience for the user. The user becomes a bystander (not a victim or perpetrator) in the various scenarios and is given various options to choose from in the different scenes. They then get to see how their decisions impact the various scenarios.

Mercer describes the program, “It’s like a choose-your-own-adventure book,” she said. “You start out with a scene and see things start off gradually–it could be quid-pro-quo harassment, it could be pervasive behavior, it could be a micro aggression or a series of micro aggressions towards a female manager–and you’re presented with the opportunity to intervene.”

Although it does lacks the real world feel that you get when you speak or see someone in real life, it does a create realistic conditions and it does engage users more than online training manuals. Having a combination of both methods would be ideal for practice training purposes.

The VR program is a strong tool for showing users how their various decisions and reactions can play out in a safe environment. They can also see what the correct responses to various scenarios should be. But, one drawback is that no matter how much training some employees receive, they will still sexually harass others, and they will do it purposely.

The VR is an excellent upgrade to the current sexual harassment online training, but it does not replace the change in workplace culture that needs to happen. As long as employees believe that they can get away with sexually harassing others, they may continue to do so. Victims need outlets to be able to safely report any sexual harassment or retaliation they may face. The #MeToo and #TimesUp movements have played a huge role in helping eliminate the tolerance people once felt in the workplace when misconduct occurred, but there’s still a long way to go.

For more information, send us a message.