Submitted:
29 July 2026
Posted:
31 July 2026
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Abstract
Job preparation, engagement, and retention are crucial processes for retaining and supporting a quality workforce, and realistic job previews (RJPs), along with simulation-based training, play a crucial role in this process. In this paper, we bring together four sources of literature to review the translation of experiential and simulation-based training into tangible positive outcomes for organizations, most notably employee retention. This paper, relying on the foundational thinking of Kolb's (1984) experiential learning cycle, Issenberg et al.'s (2005) review of the features of high-fidelity simulation training programs, Jun and Eckardt's (2023) social exchange perspective on training and turnover, as well as Albtoosh, Ngah, & Yusoff's (2022) meta-analytic findings, demonstrates that high-quality simulation-based training not only enhances skill attainment but also fosters organizational identification and lower voluntary turnover. Research shows that quality training and development (with its features of feedback, repetition, variability, and integration) is a more important driver of turnover than quantity. By providing employees with structured simulation-based onboarding and real job previews, employers are likely to foster psychological readiness, loyalty, and retention among employees. The findings have implications for human resource strategies, training for industrial safety, and within other industries.
Keywords:
simulation-based training
; realistic job previews
; RJP
; experience-based learning
; retention
; social exchange
; high-fidelity simulation
; quality of training
Introduction
Significant change has been seen in employee onboarding and workforce preparation as the importance of initial perceptions of roles, both realistic and accurate, in determining subsequent job commitment and performance has been acknowledged by organizations. Employee preparation through formal and substantive methods of training is not only a regulatory objective, but a strategic one. Simulation-based training and RJPs are at the junction of these concerns and provide platforms to simultaneously create skill competence, clarity of role, and psychological safety needed for job retention.
Realistic job previews (RJPs) are organisational tools used to give applicants or employees realistic and balanced information prior to entering the job about job responsibilities, expectations, challenges, and work conditions. RJPs offer a more-comprehensive picture of a job by highlighting positive and challenging characteristics rather than focusing exclusively on the desirable traits associated with a job, as seen in traditional recruitment strategies. Today, RJPs are no longer limited to a written description and a video, but also involve more interactive techniques such as virtual reality (VR), scenario-based simulations, and real-life experiences in which candidates are given a chance to get a feel for job-related situations before they are hired (Wanous, 2017).
RJPs with simulation are techniques that include virtual reality (VR), interactive simulations, scenario-based role play, and situational judgment tests (SJTs) that give candidates a realistic experience of job demands (Oluwaniyi, 2026). VR-based RJPs provide an immersive experience that allows applicants to engage with the role through simulated environments, gain a deeper understanding of the job role before they secure it, and ultimately, improve their chances of securing the position and of the employer being satisfied with the hire. Interactive simulations also complement RJPs by allowing candidates to react to authentic work-related scenarios, enact job-related behaviours, and learn about the skills and expectations for the job (Sabel, 2018). These methods enable individuals to experience the workplace context, get feedback, assess their match with the role, and make better predictions about the role before entering employment.
The present review explores the theoretical underpinnings and empirical evidence of simulation-based training that underpins RJPs, largely sourced from research in healthcare, military, and organizational behavior, where simulation has been most-tightly honed. Core concepts of interest include experiential learning and training, high-fidelity simulations, scenario-based role-playing, and immersive training, all of which are used to facilitate transfer from training to job performance. These terms rest upon a theoretical framework of three mechanisms that describe how simulation operates as a culture-transfer and competency-development mechanism: self-efficacy development, role clarity, and psychological safety.
This paper proposes that, with careful consideration of quality training principles, feedback timeliness, repetition, and variation of contexts and situations, as well as integration with the training curriculum, simulation-based methods improve job retention and organizational loyalty (Phillips, 1998). The synthesis examines key citations that support this argument, not only in their individual context but also in their theoretical connections to the other citations that culminate in a body of knowledge that can be applied in an organizational context.
Literature Review
Experiential Learning as the Theoretical Foundation
A discussion of simulation training must be grounded in the structure that provides it with an explanatory framework. Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) and Kolb (1984) just did that when they developed the experiential learning cycle model, which encompasses a four-part process that postulates that "sustainable learning" is a result of a cyclical process of concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. This places experience, rather than traditional instruction, as the driving force for learning and competency building.
The importance of Kolb's (1984) theory to simulation-based RJPs is its focus on a recursive model of learning and development. When job applicants are placed in a simulated workplace scenario, be it an explicit safety exercise, a role-play situation involving a challenging client, or a three-dimensional computer representation of a workplace, they interactively engage in the complete cycle. They behaviourally engage with the scenario; reflect on their actions and outcomes, abstract categories of principles; and then apply them in new situations. This interactive process leads to a different type of learning than can occur via manuals and lectures. This is especially important in the context of RJP: when an applicant or new hire engages in a high-fidelity simulation of a job, they actually experience the challenges inherent in it, they reflect on whether they enjoy it and are "cut out" to be successful in it, and they have a more realistic view of their abilities.
Methodology
This paper is of an integrative-analytic rather than primary-empirical nature. The research data came from a targeted literature review of four peer-reviewed sources about simulation and/or RJPs. Sources were selected based on the significance and validity of theories and methods, and their practical applicability in organizations.
A theoretical source was chosen, and this was Kolb (1984), as it provides the underlying theory of how experiential simulation leads to learning. Issenberg et al. (2005) were selected for their meta-analysis of prior studies in simulation and empirical determination of the factors contributing to positive outcomes of simulation. Jun and Eckardt (2023) were chosen for their quantitative, survey-based analysis of the effects of training on turnover intentions; validated through regression. Albtoosh et al. (2022) were selected for their design for a rigorous meta-analysis, including synthesis of more than 50 studies and the use of effect sizes for assessing consistency and the size of observed results.
This review consists of first identifying the key argument and study approach between the sources, and then determining the similarities and complementarities between the sources. We have a thematic emphasis during the synthesis from learning theories to principles for simulation-based design, to retention in organizations, and a focus on the adjacent issues of how simulation-based training and RJPs work.
Features of Effective High-Fidelity Simulation
The shift from theory to evidence is through the systematic review of Issenberg et al. (2005), an invaluable contribution to the field of simulation training. Reviewing studies mostly found in medical education, they identified features of simulation learning that were shown to support learning: prompt and targeted feedback; opportunities for repeated practice; variability in situations encountered; and important curricular connections.
All of these features align with learning efficacy mechanisms. Feedback serves as a corrective error signal to guide the learning process toward success, protect against the development of ineffective practices, and facilitate an accelerated learning curve. Repetition, especially wilful repetition and spacing of repetitions, aids in transferring skills from short-term to long-term memory. Variability of case scenarios helps ensure learners can engage in flexible problem solving and develop the ability to transfer skills to new, unanticipated situations, essential in learning how to cope in a work environment where unforeseen circumstances are the rule. Integration ensures simulation drills are part of a sequence of training exercises that provide context for each exercise and build towards expert performance.
Issenberg et al.'s (2005) results have implications beyond the medical field. Occupational safety administrators can use high-fidelity simulations of emergency response scenarios to include all four features: immediate debriefings and reviews after each emergency drill (feedback), repeated practice of evacuation procedures (repetition), different types of emergencies and places of occurrence (variation), and integration with additional safety-related training from a safety administrator's certification program (integration). The same features guide the design of successful RJPs: a preview that incorporates realistic job demands via a series of scenario-based tasks enhances learning over and above a simple written job description.
Training and Employee Turnover: A Social Exchange Perspective
Issenberg et al. (2005) looked at learning outcomes of simulation, whereas Jun and Eckardt (2023) explored its strategic effect on employee turnover. They proposed that organizational investment in employee development leads to higher levels of trust, commitment, and engagement, while decreasing the likelihood of turnover, based on social exchange theory. When organizations value their employees and support their growth, high-quality training signals are created.
The quantitative approach of the study by Jun and Eckardt (2023) was a survey design that used regression analysis to analyze the relationship between training investment and intention to turn over. They found that when employees felt there was a greater level of support from the organization around training, they were less likely to intend to leave the organization. This reinforces the value of simulation-based RJPs as a means to show the candidate what it takes to be in the position and to get him/her realistic expectations before starting the job.
Simulation-based RJPs involve realistic scenarios, candidates must make decisions, and feedback is based on expected job behaviours. These methods enhance person–job fit by enabling applicants to gain insight into job demands before the job offers (Klassen et al., 2020).
Meta-Analytic Research on Quality and Turnover
Albtoosh et al. (2022) extended this work to draw on a broader set of studies in a meta-analysis of over 50 studies examining the association between quality training and turnover. Their conclusion was to reaffirm and extend the work of Jun and Eckardt (2023): the quality of training matters to turnover, not just the quantity of training. Using statistics for effect size that permit examining how strong and consistent relationships are across studies, Albtoosh et al. (2022) showed that there is a large negative correlation between high-quality training programs and employee turnover in multiple kinds of organizations.
When organizations experience problems with high turnover, their often-naturalistic response is to increase the duration of training or offer several training programs to employees, rather than assessing whether these have several of the characteristics identified by Issenberg et al. (2005) as essential to quality training. Albtoosh et al.'s (2022) meta-analysis provides some empirical evidence to support changing the focus: organizations do not need to train employees more; they need to train them well. For simulation-based RJPs, this means to make preview episodes immersive and realistic, but not necessarily informative; for instance, by training candidates in scenario-based training, rather than somatic learning.
Findings
From the literature reviewed, there are several common themes that will be noted regarding the use of simulation and RJPs. First, Kolb's (1984) experiential learning theory suggests that learning is better facilitated by doing, reflecting, and applying information than by simply receiving information. Therefore, simulation-based approaches allow employees and job seekers to build up skills and to have a realistic perception of the expectations of the position.
Second, Issenberg et al. (2005) empirically identified four design features of simulation training that lead to enhanced learning: feedback, repetition, variation, and integration in the curriculum. Lacking these features, training simulations are subpar. The systematic review process adds to this rigor, beyond the initial context of medical education.
Third, Jun and Eckardt (2023) found that in regression-validated survey-based research, training investors enhances the likelihood of retention by lowering employee turnover intentions. By signalling to employees the organization's commitment to and retention of its staff, simulation is both a training and retention initiative, part of the social contract for employment.
Fourth, Albtoosh et al. (2022) confirmed in an analysis of 10 studies that training quality, not the training quantity, is related to retention. The results that they reported in the studies they reviewed had consistent effect sizes that were large, suggesting that organizations need to care more about the design of their training programs, rather than the quantity.
Discussion
This review illustrates the effectiveness of simulation-based training and RJPs as a means of enhancing workforce preparation and retention. Simulations that are designed with evidence-based principles like feedback, repetition, variation, and integration improve learning, role clarity, and confidence. These outcomes lead to better employee engagement and lower risk of employee turnover.
This has implications for the design of RJPs. Traditional RJPs have sometimes used job information sheets, interviews, or videos about the demands of the job. The synthesized simulation-based model presented in this paper suggests that RJPs should be more interactive (candidates and new hires simulate problems, get feedback on how they solve problems, and develop early on-the-job skills). This would also select out candidates with perceptions and expectations at odds with the role being applied for (thereby reducing the risk of early voluntary turnover) and increase the role clarity and self-efficacy that predicted early voluntary turnover.
The second insight has to do with quality over quantity in training. Training is quite often evaluated in many (compliance-based) organizations, such as occupational health and safety, by "training minutes" or "certificates" delivered. And yet, Albtoosh et al.'s (2023) meta-analytic findings suggest this is not always effective, implying that acquired learning may be limited (or absent) from a large quantity of poorly delivered training, but much greater learning retention with a relatively brief and focused program where opportunities for feedback, repetition, and variation have been provided. These results impact an organization's training dollars and measures of training.
There are limitations to this review. The four articles selected, while varying in the theories they draw upon, and rigorous in their designs and formulations, are a limited sample of simulation-based training and RJP studies. We encourage researchers to investigate the environment in which the social exchange process is particularly responsive to the training provided, such as organizational culture, the hazardous nature of the environment, or tenure. Other studies of longitudinal designs that examine the effects of simulation RJPs on longer-term retention (years) should be carried out to add more strength to the arguments and recommendations of this paper.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this paper presented a review of the theoretical and empirical work to show how simulation and RJPs in training are strategically sound and an integrated whole in workforce preparation and retention. The theoretical potential of simulation for strong knowledge and skills development is explained by Kolb (1984) through experiential learning. To justify the design of simulation training, Issenberg et al. (2005) empirically tested design principles for simulation, and Jun and Eckardt (2023) verified using social exchange theory that investment in training reduces intention to leave. Albtoosh et al.'s (2023) meta-analysis confirmed that quality is key to retention. The review of theory, systematic review, survey, and meta-analysis supports the main argument: organizations that capitalize on quality simulation (actively engaging employees) and RJPs see higher retention than organizations using informational interviews only (not RJPs). This is vital in safety and health, where employees are too often not properly prepared to take a role.
References
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- Oluwaniyi, R. (2026). What a realistic job preview looks like and how to create one. Vervoe. https://vervoe.com/realistic-job-preview/.
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- Sabel, J.-M. (2018, February 22). What is a realistic job preview? HireVue. https://www.hirevue.com/blog/hiring/what-is-a-realistic-job-preview-and-how-to-make-them-work-for-you.
- Wanous, J. P. (2017). Realistic job preview. In S. G. Rogelberg (Ed.), The SAGE encyclopedia of industrial and organizational psychology (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications. [CrossRef]
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