--- title: "Bank LGBTQ inclusion training pilot in VR" description: "How staff at a major bank practised speaking up against discrimination in Equal Reality VR, and what the pilot results showed afterwards." canonical: https://peopletechrevolution.com/work/case-studies/bank-lgbtq-inclusion-pilot --- [Our Work](https://peopletechrevolution.com/work) / [Case Studies](https://peopletechrevolution.com/work/case-studies) # A major bank: inclusion practised at the counter Bank staff felt a customer being refused for his sexuality, then practised speaking up as a colleague. The brief ## Speak up when something is wrong A major bank set out to empower its employees to take personal responsibility, to question, and to act when something does not seem right ([Equal Reality case study](https://equalreality.com/case-studies/); Equal Reality is a subsidiary of People Tech Revolution). A customer across a service counter. Two people practise a service conversation. A woman faces a conversation panel. A wheelchair user rehearses with a colleague. ### Refused at the front desk, then behind it In [Finding Common Ground](https://peopletechrevolution.com/xr/ptr-vr-library/finding-common-ground), staff become Jack, refused a partner gym membership with Pierre because of their sexuality, then Freddy, who works there and watches a colleague do it. The simulation came from an employee’s lived experience, so staff could make value-based decisions and practise acting in the moment ([Equal Reality](https://sites.google.com/equalreality.com/partner/training/lgbt-discrimination)). A visitor beside an empty chair. A wheelchair user chairs a meeting. A supervisor talks with a student. What changed ## Understood, prepared, and clear on what to do Pilot results published by [Equal Reality](https://equalreality.com/case-studies/), measured across empathy, readiness to act and knowing how to report. Two partners at separate stations. ### From feeling it to acting on it 99.2% of the 161 participants understood and felt what it was like to be treated disrespectfully. 96% felt prepared to act if they saw this behaviour at work, and over 99% understood the reporting options open to them. A colleague across the table, arms folded. ### What this tells you Our reading: the two roles do different jobs. Being the customer builds the feeling; being the colleague who sees it happen turns that feeling into a choice about what to do. Close every session on the practical step, how and where to report, because that is what turns readiness into action. A director waits in a meeting room. Two colleagues test a connected task. A participant follows a lit pathway. For your organisation ## Equal Reality titles, in PTR’s library The [PTR VR Library](https://peopletechrevolution.com/xr/ptr-vr-library) includes Equal Reality titles on race, gender and allyship, tested and reviewed independently in the [Journal of New Approaches in Educational Research](https://doi.org/10.1007/s44322-025-00034-z). - [PTR VR Library](https://peopletechrevolution.com/xr/ptr-vr-library) - [Immersive training and roleplay](https://peopletechrevolution.com/training/vr-training-and-roleplay) - [All case studies](https://peopletechrevolution.com/work/case-studies) - [Workplace and enterprise](https://peopletechrevolution.com/work/industries/workplace-enterprise) Want staff ready to speak up? [Open the contact form](https://peopletechrevolution.com/work/case-studies/bank-lgbtq-inclusion-pilot#contact) Ask our CEO Simon Lowe’s Digital Twin a question ## Sources The case study, the scenario and an independent review, on their own sites. ### [DEI Pilot Program Results](https://equalreality.com/case-studies/) Equal Reality case studies The pilot and its results. ### [Finding Common Ground](https://sites.google.com/equalreality.com/partner/training/lgbt-discrimination) Equal Reality The two scenarios staff experienced. ### [The use of virtual reality training to enhance empathy: software review](https://doi.org/10.1007/s44322-025-00034-z) Iuliia Khukalenko and Daria Khanolainen, Journal of New Approaches in Educational Research, 2025, open access An independent review that tested PTR’s VR library.