Training programs / Induction and onboarding

Induction and onboarding: practise before the job begins

The first shift, the first site, the first participant. Give new starters the conversation before the moment finds them.

The moment

Orientation is done. The shift starts anyway

A support worker meets a participant they have never supported. A crew member stands at a first pre-start. A learner on placement waits for a situation that has not happened yet. Each has read the procedure. None has said the words out loud.

A support worker wearing a headset sits beside an older woman in a sunroom with plants at the window. — A support worker sits beside an older woman.

A supervisor wearing a headset faces a crew member under a depot awning, the rest of the crew in hi-vis gathered behind them. — A supervisor faces a crew member outdoors.

A plumbing instructor briefs trainees outside. A VR training scenario for education. — A plumbing instructor briefs trainees outside.

Why it goes wrong

Induction explains the rules; the job asks for judgement

Orientation covers the core obligations. What a new starter needs on the day depends on the person in front of them, the site and the role, and that part is rarely rehearsed.

A receptionist wearing a headset leans over the desk while an older man waits at the counter. — A receptionist leans over the desk.

Match the practice to the role

The NDIS Commission’s training guidance connects worker capability with the support provided, and England’s staffing regulation asks for an induction that prepares staff for their role. Practice is where a new starter shows they can.

Every way to practise it

On site, in a headset, on a phone or with a supervisor

New starters are spread across shifts, sites and homes, so induction practice has to travel with them.

In a simulated welding workshop, a trainee in overalls and gloves settles a headset with a torch in hand, a supervisor standing across the bench with folded arms. — A trainee settles a headset in a workshop.

Custom VR from your own procedures

PTR builds VR scenarios from your induction material and the situations your supervisors describe: the handover, the pre-start, the first client. A fast build puts a first version in front of new starters quickly.

An apprentice undertakes a practical workshop assessment. A first person VR training scenario for education, seen through the headset. — An apprentice takes a practical workshop assessment.

Simulated assessment for RTOs and TAFEs

A simulation gives every learner the same situation, as many times as it takes, and whether each response is recorded is a setting agreed before launch. Where a unit’s assessment conditions allow it, simulated assessment gives an RTO consistent evidence.

A warehouse worker rehearses a briefing beside the storage racks. — A warehouse worker rehearses a briefing.

AI roleplay on the phone they carry

An AI roleplay partner runs on a laptop or phone, typed between services or spoken at the depot, so crews and support workers rehearse in the gaps a roster already has.

A trainer figure guiding a worker through a site procedure: a translucent AI trainer twin gestures while explaining, the worker listening in the headset. — A trainer twin guides a worker.

A twin for new starters’ questions

A Didymo twin answers from your approved induction material at any hour, and hands over to a supervisor when judgement is needed.

A facilitator adjusts a headset for a seated learner in a workshop room. — A facilitator adjusts a headset for a learner.

A facilitated session with a supervisor

A supervisor briefs the group, each new starter takes a turn, and the debrief compares what they did with the plan and the role. Feedback and follow-up go into the next review.

The evidence

A hospital that took its program in-house, and a rail operator

What a client evaluation reported, and how delivered training was split for different audiences.

Inside the Mater build: an older patient sits up in a hospital bed, a meal tray across the blanket, curtains drawn beside him. — Inside the Mater build, at a bedside.

Client evaluation: Mater Education

In Mater’s own program evaluation of its VR pilot with more than 60 staff, 90% of participants reported better concentration. Mater’s own facilitators were then trained to run the technology themselves.

Download the Mater case study PDF

A simulated rail maintenance yard at dawn, gravel ballast, rolling stock and mist. A woman wearing the headset speaks to a younger and an older crew member. — A dawn toolbox talk in the rail yard.

Delivered work: Metro Trains

With Grit Leadership, PTR ran targeted VR sessions for Metro Trains, split by audience: head office staff, operational leaders and the wider leadership group.

How it runs

Run it the way your team already learns.

Workplace exchanges inside the VR Library.

Run it yourself Your facilitator runs PTR VR Library titles on standalone headsets.

Practice on a monitor, a laptop or a phone. An AI roleplay scenario for AI roleplay and practice.

In a browser Staff rehearse with an AI partner on a laptop, no headset.

A video call grid of people in their own rooms: a study, a kitchen, an office, a lounge, a home desk and a greenhouse.

Facilitated over video A PTR facilitator runs the debrief by video, wherever teams sit.

Facilitators hand over an XR practice session in a workshop room.

With your trainer A trainer you already know runs it, licensed and prepared by PTR.

A facilitator with grey hair talks through a flow diagram and sticky notes on a whiteboard while participants, including a wheelchair user, watch from the table. — A facilitator plans a scenario at a whiteboard.

Start with the first week

Tell us the moment new starters find hardest, and we will show you how teams rehearse it before the first day. Talk to us or book a time with our team.