Being a claims adjuster is hard work. Individuals in these positions need to deal with thousands of different scenarios that the best training and mentorship program cannot always prepare them for. In addition, as long-term, experienced employees are about to retire, they are not necessarily available or interested in mentoring their replacements.
All of this brought Farmers to the adaption of Virtual Reality as their company-wide training platform.
Here is an outline of what they did, why they did it and the benefits they continue to reap using VR.
What Farmers Did
First, they identified their collaborative partner. They chose Tailspin to help create the VR training experience they were looking for.
Second, Farmers and Talespin created a 74-member cross-functional team that was dedicated to ensuring the storylines reflected critical training elements. Because of the size and breadth of the team, they were able to rollout some training programs in three months.
Third, leveraging gamification concepts, they were able to introduce over 500 objects on six different floor plans, thus creating up to 10,000 claims scenarios.
Fourth, they engaged leadership early in the process. Creating six different demos, the team gained valuable management feedback that helped them tweak their end products. In addition, the C-Suite saw great benefits which aided in continued funding of this training initiative.
Why Farmers Did It
- Claims reps need deep knowledge about specific types of loss.
There are literally tens of thousands of scenarios a claims person can encounter. With limited training talent and highly skilled mentors ending their careers, they were faced with a choice: either extend the training cycle for new and existing employees or find a better way.
- The old way of training was expensive, time consuming and labor intensive.
It included:- Mentor or manager ride-alongs
- Watching videos
- Studying training manuals
- Renting or carving out dedicated office space
Bottom line: This process was neither scalable nor standardized.
Overall VR Benefits
“We’ve been watching the VR space for a number of years. When we first looked at it four years ago, it was cost prohibitive. The price point has finally gotten to the place that we knew this was going to be part of our future,” stated Jessica Decanio, Head of Claims Training at Farmers Insurance Group.
Here are the four benefits they have realized:
- Virtual Reality shortens the learning curve.
They can train new employees and refresh existing ones, in a matter of days and months instead of years.
- VR is scalable.
If a VR headset is available to them, Farmer employees all over the country can be armed with thousands of immersive options. VR is scalable both from the number of Virtual Reality headsets available to the addition of new or removal of outdated video options.
- This environment is safe and controlled.
Immersive scenarios that Virtual Reality provides allows employees to feel they are in a water damaged building or home that has burned down, without the risk of residual problems at the site. Employees can also take off the headset at any time, allowing them to control the pace of training.
- Employees like it and learn more.
The overall review on this method of training is a 4.7 out of 5 stars since it rolled out one year ago. Trainees are 20% more accurate in their decisions versus the traditional training methods.
Find Success with VR – Partner with Hartford Technology Rental
Is your organization interested in renting VR headsets for training purposes but doesn’t know where to begin? Check out our AR/VR Comparison Guide as a starting point. Give us a call today at 888-520-5667 and we’ll be happy to help you get your training (or any immersive program) started.