How Xcel Energy Improved Training Efficiency, Safety, and Engagement with VR

Xcel Energy, a leading US electric and natural gas energy company with over 12,000 employees, facing rapid changes in the energy industry and a transforming workforce, sought innovative and scalable training solutions. They partnered with Facilitate to implement virtual reality (VR) training, aiming to improve training efficiency, safety, and engagement.

The Challenge

Xcel Energy faced significant hurdles in their journey to modernized training including:

• Scaling Training and Managing Costs: Addressing large-scale training needs across multiple locations while dealing with high traditional training costs.
• Ensuring Safety and Modernizing Content: Meeting safety requirements in a high-risk industry while moving away from outdated training materials.
• Technical Implementation and Expertise: Overcoming a lack of internal VR development expertise and integrating VR into the existing Learning Management System (LMS).
• Gaining User Adoption and Maintaining Content Relevance: Securing user buy-in for VR training and keeping training materials up-to-date with industry changes.

The Solution

Xcel Energy partnered closely with Facilitate on:

• Internal and User-Friendly Content Creation: Xcel Energy opted for internal VR content creation using Facilitate's no-code platform to control costs and allow Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to easily create and contribute.

• Strategic Implementation with Pilot and Collaboration: They began with a pilot program and employed a collaborative team approach involving SMEs, instructional designers, and content builders.

• LMS Integration for Tracking: VR training was integrated into their existing Learning Management System (LMS) to track progress.

• Iterative Development with User Feedback: They used an iterative development process, emphasizing testing and user feedback to refine the VR training content.

The Results

With Facilitate, Xcel Energy was able to achieve substantial improvements in training outcomes:

• Reduced Onboarding Costs: VR cut expensive physical training needs like travel and equipment, enabling scalable and efficient onboarding for a rapidly expanding workforce.
• Boosted Safety & Business Continuity: VR created a risk-free environment for Xcel Energy employees to explore hazardous worksites and equipment, boosting workforce preparedness while avoiding operational disruptions.
• Enhanced Employee Experience: Immersive VR training engaged a new, digitally-native workforce, making learning more effective and serving as a powerful tool to attract and retain dynamic talent in a transforming industry.

Key Success Factors