Hays pilots Synthesia Roleplay Sessions, reports 29% skill uplift

What the pilot found

Hays, which describes itself as a global specialist recruitment and workforce solutions company, piloted Roleplay Sessions to see how interactive practice and personalized feedback could complement its existing learning and development approach. Synthesia published the results in a post dated October 22, 2026.

The company reports three figures from the pilot:

• An engagement rate of over 70%, achieved with no mandate and through voluntary participation.
• A measured 29% average skill uplift across the cohort during the piloted period, tied to core sales skills.
• More than 60% of participants said they would use Roleplay Sessions regularly going forward.

These numbers come from Synthesia's own announcement, and the source does not describe how the skill uplift was measured.

How Roleplay Sessions works

According to Synthesia, Roleplay Sessions lets employees practise critical conversations with lifelike avatars and receive real-time coaching based on role-specific skills. Managers can see skills proficiency across teams, while Learning and Development teams can see skill levels across the whole business.

Synthesia positions the product against traditional training platforms, which it says inform but cannot coach at scale. The company says Roleplay Sessions offers interactive, on-demand practice with personalized coaching available 24/7 in multiple languages.

The pitch rests on a familiar training gap. Companies produce decks, guidance and playbooks, and Synthesia notes that its Synthesia Studio can turn these into videos in a few clicks. But knowing what to do and being able to do it are different things, the company argues. A sales consultant may know the frameworks and still struggle in a discovery call, and a manager may have read conflict-resolution guidance and still freeze in a hard conversation.

Until now, Synthesia says, closing that gap required a human coach or manager willing to run a scenario repeatedly. That works for very small groups coached by a subject matter expert, but not for most businesses at scale.

Hays and Synthesia in context

Tom Way, Hays CEO, UK & Ireland, said Roleplay Sessions is helping the company "explore new ways of delivering practical, engaging learning experiences that enable our colleagues to practice, receive feedback and continue building their capabilities." He added that, as part of Hays's broader learning and development approach, it offers "a valuable way to understand capability, coach more effectively and help our people develop the skills needed to have better conversations with clients and candidates."

According to the announcement, Hays is headquartered in London, operates in 33 countries and has over 12,000 employees. It is described as the UK's largest recruiter by market share, serving clients in financial services, technology, healthcare and the public sector.

Synthesia, also headquartered in London and founded in 2017, says it is used by over 90% of the Fortune 100. It states that its recent Series E round, led by Google Ventures, raised $200 million and puts its valuation at $4 billion.

What it means for employers

For companies with large workforces, the announcement points to a way to give staff repeated practice without tying up coaches or managers. The pilot figures suggest employees may take part voluntarily, and the skills dashboards are meant to give managers and L&D teams a view of proficiency. The evidence so far comes from a single pilot at one employer, reported by the vendor, so wider results remain to be seen.