Embracing virtual reality: How Paramount is pioneering employee engagement and learning
Paramount leader Johan Eerenstein describes how the organization is exploring spatial computing to better engage its global workforce
With all the recent buzz around spatial computing and its potential applications across the entertainment industry, it’s not surprising that Paramount Global was interested in exploring this immersive medium to foster greater employee engagement. The organization started on this path by researching several use cases across various frontier technologies, eventually developing a comprehensive initiative to integrate virtual reality into its core HR experiences. The goal: better connecting its global employee base to its mission and content.
The company started by testing the idea of VR internally, using small focus groups to gauge employee interest and gather feedback. The team then launched a pilot project across several corporate departments, during which it experimented with different ways of rolling out the technology, eventually settling on a VR experience focused on new employees.
Paramount has a large global workforce, many of whom aren’t able to visit its 100-year-old Hollywood-based studio lot where it creates films and TV shows. The project aimed to help its employees develop a deeper connection to Paramount’s mission and brand by enabling them to experience the creative energy of the lot, regardless of their location or area of the business in which they work.
New employees within pilot departments are now given the opportunity to access a VR environment where they can tour the studio lot and get a sense for how things look and feel behind the scenes. The primary goal of this experience is to make new employees feel more connected—though Paramount’s longer-term vision is also to test VR technology and consider the role it can play across the employee experience.
“To maximize new technologies, you have to be mindful of the right use case by creating something that will foster greater connection between employees and the organization,” says Johan Eerenstein, executive vice president of workforce enablement at Paramount.1
To successfully implement the studio-lot VR project, communication across multiple internal departments was key. Eerenstein emphasizes, “It wasn’t just one team that delivered this. You need a lot of collaboration across diverse teams to be successful with these types of projects.”
The company’s VR project was the by-product of a three-year effort focused on consolidating internal infrastructure and data across Paramount’s HR ecosystem, including 20 different employee portals, each with its own experience. “Without all the building blocks and putting the right foundations in place, you can’t do all the creative things you want to do,” Eerenstein says.
Following that initial pilot, Paramount’s next step is to determine how and when to scale this initiative across its workforce, including easier access to these experiences.
“Spatial computing differs from many technologies due to the physical asset considerations,” Eerenstein says. “Software is easier to scale. Hardware is tricky and much more difficult to scale without a meaningful investment.”
Personalization is a significant part of Paramount's emerging VR strategy. The company is considering using VR to make leadership training more interactive and effective by simulating scenarios that managers may face when dealing with employees. As artificial intelligence tools continue to develop, they could enable spontaneous conversations and real-time feedback, with the potential to make training much more dynamic and conversational.
“Great organizations succeed because they have invested in their people leaders. It’s the one thing all great companies have in common,” says Eerenstein. “And it’s part of our role in HR to cultivate this leadership as much as we can. We can’t do that through generic training.”
Spatial computing opens a new frontier for companies to explore how to engage their workforce. “You start with a blank page compared to other technology implementations. There’s complexity in the newness but not the same complexity you deal with when you’re implementing solutions on legacy platforms. You can shape this technology in new and creative ways,” Eerenstein says.