In the game: the virtual world offers a low-cost, low-risk learning environment for employees

Ralph Christenson is a veteran truck driver. He learned to drive his big rig the old-school way--out on the open road. "We used to put people on skids and slides in the parking lot. We simulated skidding in a real truck," says the 15-year employee of Schneider National Inc., the largest truckload carrier in North America, based in Green Bay, Wis.

Now a driving teacher, Christenson steps into a semi truck cab with one of his students, straps on his seatbelt, and prepares to guide the student through double-clutching, wide turning and other tricks of the trade that don't come from a textbook. His student will feel all the bumps and cracks in the pavement and will cope with rainy Southern back roads and snowy mountain highways. His student will try to back a trailer into a tight strip mall loading dock and must avoid a Corvette that has just come from his blind spot and cut him off. The student will go into a severe skid, lose control and be involved in a major collision.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Then Christenson will reach over and hit the reset button, and the student can try again.

Today, Christenson is adjusting to a virtual world, where driver training for Schneider National's 15,000 drivers and independent contractors can simulate the road right down to the deer in the headlights. Fellow veteran drivers/instructors Bob Schmidt (16 years experience) and Dave Younger (30 years) also train a new generation of drivers in a small room that looks like a mini IMAX theater, complete with the bumps and rolls.

More companies--from car dealer-ships to financial services firms--are beginning to turn to interactive gaming as a way to train new employees and help veterans hone their skills. Many, especially those in which the risk of real-life practice is very high, employ gaming technology. In addition to preparing employees for their jobs, simulations allow for a great deal of practice in a short time, thereby saving employers money.

Compared with other forms of employee training, experts say simulation products yield impressive outcomes. Says Clark Quinn, director of Quinnovation, a technology consultancy based in Walnut Creek, Calif., "Learners learn better when they're engaged, and they learn better when the practice is richer and closer to the actual application environment. Games give you both."

Let the (Work) Games Begin

When Schneider National turned to simulation teaching in August 2004, Younger admits that he was skeptical of the idea of sitting inside a giant video game. "My first thought was that you can't create the right conditions to do the teaching," he says.

Then Younger saw it for himself. "I felt the cracks in the road, I felt the lean of the cab, I saw the trailer in my rearview mirror," he said. "If my grandfather came along and saw this, he would pass out."

Experts say the technology has come a long way from its early days.

"Simulation technology has been around for decades and has proved its value in several industries, particularly the military and commercial aviation," says Don Osterberg, vice president of safety and driver training at Schneider National. "With each new generation of product, the R & D time has shortened, and, as such, the cost of the technology has come down. Simulation units that once sold for a few million dollars 10 years ago are now available for under $100,000."

The type of features offered by simulations depends on how the technology is designed. A number of commercial products can be redesigned to fit another environment with different visual looks or other customization to include levels of expertise. "Ideally, the adaptation is already programmed in, to ramp up the difficulty as the player gets practice, taking them from elementary challenges to the full skill," Quinn says. "If they don't have the capability to provide feedback, they're not really learning tools. It should have the capability of providing assessment and feedback."

The affordability and adaptability of simulation systems has made gaming technology appealing to a growing number of employers. Increasingly, companies that are more service-oriented are seeking high-tech instruction to teach business or software development processes. Consulting companies and organizations use games to allow employees to rapidly practice their skills in different situations and to familiarize them with processes before they are put to action in a real work setting. In terms of its training potential, there is more to this technology than mere child's play.

Quinn says some games take the form of dolled-up flash card templates, presenting information in a quiz show style. But some are more involved, he says, creating learning environments where people set goals and have to make decisions to achieve those goals. Some vendor web sites offer virtual exercises where players can manage a project over several weeks, requiring them to adjust to business cycles in a supply chain or make decisions during an unexpected business crisis.

More-complex games may involve many levels of technology, from simple HTML linked into workplace scenarios through Flash interactions, to full plat-form/console engine-based 3D games.

A Wholistic Approach

Finding the right technology to fit an organization's needs can be tricky, and slightly more costly on the front end, but the best choice should offer the user a chance to retry scenarios, experts say.

HR professionals considering simulation technology should consider how simulation works within a broader training and development strategy to improve performance and lower costs. Build simulation training around how it will specifically address current business issues and realities.

"Do the research. Read the industry press. Get educated," says Osterberg. "Don't treat simulation as a stand-alone or 'fix all' training solution."

While some businesses use simulation tools for training, others use it as a way to test employees' knowledge.

"What we find is we are taking learning and putting it in a context that we use every day," says Lydia Sani, partner with Toronto-based Redwood e-Learning Systems.

Sani says the most effective games are the ones that are more relevant to the user. "The important thing is putting it all in a context that revolves around what the message is," she says. "People want something that is specific to them."

Adam Carstens, researcher and writer for North Star Leadership Group, a Phoenix-based consulting firm, says simulation has to capture subtleties an employee will encounter on the job. "Games are very simple tasks; there are no nuances. To apply it to business settings, you are going to have to be more nuanced. You can't just translate a training manual into a video game. You have to have several levels, you have to know where the company is, what the bosses are paying attention to."

Savasailam Thiagarajan, president and founder of Thiagi Group, a game developer based in Bloomington, Ill., agrees. He believes simulation tools may not work for all companies and should be used to reinforce the environment an employee is likely to encounter.

"More corporate work is team-based, and if my folks are going to be working in teams, why not train them in teams?" says Thiagarajan. "One-size-fits-all does not work."

Osterberg also says it helps to do some preliminary groundwork with employees before introducing the technology.

"Don't underestimate the importance of user adoption. You may encounter resistance to using simulation by either trainers or students--or both. Actively communicate the value of simulation and how it will help trainers train better and help students learn faster."

In some cases, employees drive a company's decision to use simulation technology, especially younger employees raised on PlayStation, Xbox and other action-oriented games.

"The more people play, the more likely they will choose to play," says Matthew Richter, a facilitator, game designer, instructional designer and consultant for Thiagi Group.

In the future, experts envision new "off the shelf" simulation products that focus on core knowledge, such as leadership; include more interactivity; and involve more role-playing that allows players to compete or collaborate.

Technologies could even allow games to send and receive player e-mails, text messages and phone calls. Popular video games such as The Sims and various "shoot 'em up" games are making their infrastructures as game plat-forms available for business use.

Says Andre van der Hoek, associate professor in the Department of Informatics of the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of California at Irvine, "The fact that kids nowadays are intimately familiar with these kinds of games by the time they enter the workforce allows for rapid adoption."

Costs and Benefits

At Schneider National, Schmidt says simulation technology has created valuable training opportunities for its employees. "Before, there were limits to putting a person in a truck. Now we can run over ice, snow, rain, fog, engine failure, blown tires--everything we couldn't do in the real world."

The technology that Schneider National employs in training is considered to be on the high-end/high-fidelity side of simulation. Simulation units range from $50,000 to $300,000 each. But that's for a fairly limited scenario. More-complex games could cost as much as $1 million.

"That may seem steep, but when you need significant change outcomes, and it's either really important or you have lots of folks who can benefit, you have a cost-benefit argument," Quinn says.

Additional costs cover maintenance, facilities and the specialized training that instructors need to properly train students on the equipment.

Schneider National's strategy for training truck drivers is essentially an instructor-led model, says Osterberg. "Simulation technology helps offset costs of road instruction in terms of fuel, equipment and instructor time," he says. "Moreover, there are productivity gains in terms of increasing instructor-to-student ratios. For example, fewer instructors are needed to manage simulation training vs. managing students in a truck out on the road."

Savings for the company also come in the form of fewer accidents, although Schneider National has not put any formal metrics in place. "Anything we can do to improve safety," says Younger. "The more tools we can give our drivers, the better."

Osterberg says simulation often appeals to companies that believe in a "See, Think, Do" approach to employee learning. "Certain simulation-based training can be delivered at a lower cost than instructor-led and can provide the just-in-time learning needed for quick results. Schneider has made the investment in simulation based on its overall value and impact on several cost areas, especially loss prevention."

While HR professionals at Schneider National say simulation technology has led to increased student confidence, enhanced driving skills and safety, improved reaction time and retention, and better situational awareness, the company has noted one unpleasant side effect: "Full-motion cab simulators can provoke motion sickness," says Osterberg. "This is not a common problem, but it is there."

JAMES MICHAEL BRODIE IS A FREELANCE WRITER IN BALTIMORE.

Online Resources

For additional information about simulation technology in the workplace, see the online version of this article at www.shrm.org/hrmagazine/05December. There you will find links to:

* Project management simulation software.

* The Thiagi Group.

* Redwood e-Learning Systems.

* Quinnovation.

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