Building empathy to enhance hospitality

Hilton is one of the world’s largest hospitality companies, with nearly 6,000 properties in 117 countries and territories. Recognized as the #2 World’s Best Workplace**, Hilton knows that when their Team Members truly feel empathy for the experiences of their guests, they’ll provide the absolute best hospitality service. To develop that empathy, Hilton turned to virtual reality and the development of innovative learning experiences supported by the Oculus for Business platform.

SweetRush — a learning and development company known for producing engaging and highly effective solutions — supported Hilton in the development of their cutting-edge virtual reality experiences.

Many of Hilton’s corporate Team Members have never worked in a hotel, so it isn’t uncommon for them to brainstorm new programs or processes that inadvertently make hotel operations more challenging. To help these corporate Team Members develop empathy and appreciation for front-line hotel service delivery, Hilton’s Learning team partnered with SweetRush to bring the hotel experience to corporate Team Members through the power of virtual reality.

SweetRush also developed VR scenarios for Hilton to help train hotel Team Members to better handle challenging interactions with guests. Wearing Oculus headsets, Team Members take on the role of guests in virtual scenarios that include interactions at a front desk, a meeting room setup, room service, breakfast service, and departure to see how it feels when interactions are poorly managed, resolved correctly, or handled in a way that goes beyond expectations. “Providing an experience that increases empathy is a game-changer for us,” says Bhojwani. “If Team Members understand what guests are feeling, they will be better equipped to manage guests’ expectations and work to exceed them.”

“At Hilton, innovation is in our DNA,” says Bhojwani. “We were the first hotel company to have in-room air conditioning and televisions, we invented the Pina Colada, and we sent our DoubleTree cookie into space. We are excited to be leveraging new and emerging technologies to create a fully immersive world and innovate learning and development.”