Using immersive technology to upskill and empower our staff
At GWF, we strongly believe in lifelong learning, upskilling and continuing professional development. In fact, we have exciting plans in place to use immersive technologies – such as role-playing certain scenarios with AI – to prepare our staff for increased responsibilities.
This initiative was born out of our research partnership with the University of Johannesburg, which identified the skills that our staff need to move up the ranks, for example, from facilitator to coordinator.
Here’s a Q&A with our Bridging Year Academy (BYA) programme manager, Kathy Knott, unpacking how we are piloting this new way of staff training:
Q: How did you identify the need for further training to enhance GWF employees’ professional advancement?
A: As the first project of our new partnership with the University of Johannesburg, we were excited to welcome their 12 Industrial Psychology master's students to work on a consulting project to advise how we can best support GWF’s newly appointed BYA coordinators in gaining the confidence and skills to excel in their new roles.
Q: How was the research conducted, and what size sample was used?
A: The group of 12 master's students were split into four teams of three students each, and each team was assigned one of our satellite digital learning centres in the greater Bushbuckridge area in Mpumalanga. The beauty of the design is that each GWF campus has the same structure (campus manager, BYA coordinator and BYA facilitators). This allowed the university to set this particular task for their students, with each team having an almost identical BYA team to consult, making the assessment of the final submissions and presentations very easy and fair. It was also interesting to compare the findings between the four groups.
Q: What type of skills did the students identify as being needed for GWF staff?
A: From a high level, the research suggested a need to upskill across four domains:
1. People management (the shift from facilitator to coordinator)
2. Communication skills (more professional English)
3. Administrative and operational skills
4. Personal effectiveness and emotional intelligence
Q: How are these recommendations being formalised as part of the GWF staff training programme?
A: We are busy developing the upskilling programme, which is a learning in itself as we are using EON-XR to create virtual scenarios where new coordinators can roleplay using immersive technology.
Q: How will the staff upskilling take place using these new technologies?
A: The upskilling programme is going to be a hybrid of:
- Online training with simulations, scenario-based lectures, AI roleplay and recorded content on communication, conflict management, reporting and leadership
- Job shadowing
- Quick-reference “cheat sheet” for tasks, contacts and procedures
- Mentorship system with biweekly check-ins plus 360° feedback in the first 90 days
The intended impact is stronger role clarity, reduced anxiety, improved communication, people management capacity, and a smoother transition pipeline across GWF campuses.
We can’t wait to get started, leveraging technology to empower and upskill our amazing staff.
