Wearable devices are gaining ground all the world over. India is not far behind. As per IDC Data published recently, in Q1 of FY 17 over 400,000 wearable devices were imported into the country. While the early adopters of wearable devices are fitness enthusiasts and other experimenters soon the world of work will find them make a foray on the floors. Some of the ways in which organizations can think about wearable devices to help improve the work organization are captured below.
a) Link fitness to incentives: While few innovative organizations have started off by linking fitness to external social responsibility and causes like sponsoring NGO's for miles clocked in future there will be lot of pressure to link fitness adoption to incentives. This will help directly bring down the cost of health insurance for the company. Wearable devices will play a key role in this with real time data from employees being used to track adoption as well as adherence to wellness program and fitness regimes. With escalating health care costs and insurance bills it would be the right direction for organizations to encourage and incentivise fitness.
b) Tracking employee movement and Safety: Organizations can track movement of employees, track entry and exit within the organization space and this can be a key tool to monitor safety of employees. This could be very important in times of emergency situations needing evacuation of people at organizations. If wearable devices are registered against individual names and consent provided to use the data it would be a great way to work collaboratively in the work space to track, monitor safety. Those not registered could continue the manual route.
c) Always Clued in: Employees would get real time information relevant to their work wherever they move away from their desks or work stations. Unlike laptops and tablet devices It is much easier to move around with a wearable and probability of being away is far less. Email alerts, Flash information from organization communication channel or even push messaging can be easily enabled for all key relevant stakeholders in organizations. Remember the days of pagers... similar scenarios can be worked out by organizations. Hotels, Hospitals, Retail Stores, Airline operations can all benefit from such configurations.
d) Mobile Learning: A good start to real time mobile learning can happen through wearable devices. There are complicated troubleshooting on shop floors which may need access to data which can be readily transmitted to the wearable for quick response on the shop floor. Similarly information needed for spot decisions can be pushed on the wearable device for situations where there is need such as pricing negotiations, deal closing, evaluating alternatives etc.
There will be a sea change in the way people work and relate to their organizations. Of course there would be some downside also on the organization behavior side with some feeling too much intrusion in their work space and spillover into their personal time. Remember there was a time, not long ago, when you left office and were completely disconnected with whats happening at work. Today you are almost all the time in extended office and work space including on weekends and holidays and cant' afford to be left out of the action and if you do stay out it is at your own cost sometimes.
a) Link fitness to incentives: While few innovative organizations have started off by linking fitness to external social responsibility and causes like sponsoring NGO's for miles clocked in future there will be lot of pressure to link fitness adoption to incentives. This will help directly bring down the cost of health insurance for the company. Wearable devices will play a key role in this with real time data from employees being used to track adoption as well as adherence to wellness program and fitness regimes. With escalating health care costs and insurance bills it would be the right direction for organizations to encourage and incentivise fitness.
b) Tracking employee movement and Safety: Organizations can track movement of employees, track entry and exit within the organization space and this can be a key tool to monitor safety of employees. This could be very important in times of emergency situations needing evacuation of people at organizations. If wearable devices are registered against individual names and consent provided to use the data it would be a great way to work collaboratively in the work space to track, monitor safety. Those not registered could continue the manual route.
c) Always Clued in: Employees would get real time information relevant to their work wherever they move away from their desks or work stations. Unlike laptops and tablet devices It is much easier to move around with a wearable and probability of being away is far less. Email alerts, Flash information from organization communication channel or even push messaging can be easily enabled for all key relevant stakeholders in organizations. Remember the days of pagers... similar scenarios can be worked out by organizations. Hotels, Hospitals, Retail Stores, Airline operations can all benefit from such configurations.
d) Mobile Learning: A good start to real time mobile learning can happen through wearable devices. There are complicated troubleshooting on shop floors which may need access to data which can be readily transmitted to the wearable for quick response on the shop floor. Similarly information needed for spot decisions can be pushed on the wearable device for situations where there is need such as pricing negotiations, deal closing, evaluating alternatives etc.
There will be a sea change in the way people work and relate to their organizations. Of course there would be some downside also on the organization behavior side with some feeling too much intrusion in their work space and spillover into their personal time. Remember there was a time, not long ago, when you left office and were completely disconnected with whats happening at work. Today you are almost all the time in extended office and work space including on weekends and holidays and cant' afford to be left out of the action and if you do stay out it is at your own cost sometimes.
