DEC 2019 - JAN 2020HR TECH OUTLOOK9With AR, we can roll out digital compressors to customers and support teams all over the world. We can guide them through how it works, including setup, decommissioning and so on. This allows us to provide valuable learning experiences both to customers and employees who are new to the technology ­ with minimal investment of cost or time. If you have a large or dispersed team, you can imagine how a similar approach enables you to scale up training and support. Instead of building a new learning center with dedicated equipment in every location, you can simply widen access to your existing apps. This direct access means employees can keep learning at their own pace, outside any designated training space or period. They keep on learning by doing. And that learning support extends right into the field Which brings us to the exciting next phase of AR training: the reuse of operational investments in training (and vice versa). I mentioned that AR apps can be used to gain an on-the-spot understanding of how a particular machine or component works, or to pull up information relevant to the task at hand. There's no reason to limit this to introductory training activities; it's incredibly valuable when delivering operational support and sharing knowledge within your extended team, too. Member of your tech support team stumped by an unfamiliar problem? Maintenance crew dealing with the failure of a component they haven't seen before? With the right AR app, they can pull up a guide that perfectly replicates or works in tandem with what they're looking at. They get the instant support they need to fix the problem on the first attempt, without panic, delay or the need to escalate the issue. In this way, you can repurpose the same technology for learning and operational use, squeezing even more value out of your investment while creating a more supportive and better-connected environment for your team.But what do employees make of it? Internally, our team has been very positive about the AR technology we've deployed. Engagement is particularly strong with younger employees and ambitious team members keen to close skills gaps, increase competencies and progress their careers without waiting around for the next scheduled classroom training opportunity. In the long run, we expect this to impact on employee retention, too. As more and more people come to expect this kind of technology from their workplace, the companies who are slow to catch up risk being perceived as digital dinosaurs. When the benefits are so great and the downsides so few, it's hard to imagine why you wouldn't want to augment your learning and support. AR programs don't require heavy investment in new hardware or digital infrastructure. They can be delivered as apps for any smartphone, tablet or desktop computer, downloadable from your existing company storeWalter Davis
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