St. James’s Place: Elevating Soft Skills with VR
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On this episode of XR Industry Leaders, we interview Hannah Frame (Social Learning Tech & Innovation Manager) and Josh Ellick (Immersive Technology Manager) from St. James’s Place. We discuss how St. James’s Place, a major UK financial services company, has implemented VR across its training programs. They cover creating bespoke VR simulations to develop advisor soft skills, the importance of making VR accessible to all learning styles, and using VR to boost engagement and empathy.

The episode explores VR content development, change management, hardware logistics at scale, and plans to integrate AI for more adaptive training. Hannah and Josh also share advice for VR adoption, including hands-on demos to get buy-in, having VR champions spread awareness, and offering a blend of modalities so VR supplements other learning.

Timestamps:

• About SJP: (01:05)
• Personal backgrounds: (02:08)
• How VR found its way to SJP (07:01)
• Perspective on quantifying soft skills: (16:23)
• Key metric leadership is excited about: (20:48)
• Pushback when it comes to VR: (22:16)
• VR Hubs: (24:20)
• Feedback on VR Hubs: (26:43)
• Where is VR content coming from: (29:01)
• Pain points using VR: (32:13)
• Content pipeline: (35:57)
• Where do you see VR going at SJP: (38:17)
• Brad & Will perspective on VR moving forward: (42:26)
• Wrap up, SJP podcast and goodbyes: (45:47)

About the Guests:

Previously a rotational graduate at SJP, Hannah now works in the Learning & Development team driving the digital engagement strategy for learning and helping transform the approach to development. This includes driving the adoption of Virtual Reality, AR, podcasts, bite-size digital learning, and social learning platforms. Hannah’s main passion is how we can utilize technology to foster collaborative, peer-to-peer learning and to increase engagement.

Josh has been working with SJP since the beginning of 2022, and is responsible for project management and delivery of immersive technologies, including Virtual and Augmented Reality, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Gamification. Working in the Learning and Development division, Josh is focussed on delivering impactful immersive experiences that solve business challenges, as well as offering scalable, accessible content solutions through a variety of mediums.

About St. James's Place:

St. James’s Place engages in the wealth management business. It offers investment, retirement, protection, intergenerational wealth management, banking and mortgages, and advice for businesses. The company was founded by Nathaniel Charles Jacob Rothschild, Mark Aubrey Weinberg, and Michael Summer Wilson in 1991 and is headquartered in Cirencester, the United Kingdom.

About ArborXR:

ArborXR helps organizations confidently manage VR & AR devices at scale, remotely install content, and control what users can see and do in the headset. Our mission is to help people live more meaningful lives through the power of XR. Learn more at https://arborxr.com).

Links & Resources:

• Connect with Hannah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/framehannah/)
• Connect with Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-ellick-a42130a8/)
• Connect with Brad on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brad-scoggin/)
• Connect with Will on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/willstackable/)