Apple recently gave the wearable technology industry a shot in the arm. Its much-anticipated Apple Watch launch elevated the conversation about existing wearable innovations while perhaps finally establishing smart watches as a fashion-conscious status symbol in a way only Apple can.
However, even before the Apple Watch announcement, predictions regarding the wearable technology market were bullish. IDC claimed the 2014 wearable market would triple 2013 sales; Credit Suisse said the market could reach $50 billion by 2017; and Morgan Stanley thinks Apple could sell up to 60 million Watches in the first year alone.
Yet while Apple’s loyal fan base might cause a spike in consumer wearable adoption, some believe the future of wearable technology is in the workplace, not at home. This is because wearables—from smart watches, to Google Glass, to health and fitness monitors, to tethered devices—have the potential to improve safety, productivity, collaboration, compliance, and overall workplace effectiveness.
The Workplace: There’s a (Wearable) App for That
Frankly, wearable technology adoption has been slow for consumers. While analysts are bullish on future adoption, barriers include price, fashion, and valuable, real-world functionality. So why would workplace adoption be any different?
If an employer purchases the device or allows its employees to expense personable wearables, that removes the price barrier. Workers throughout history have donned uniforms, business attire, and safety gear that they’d very rarely, if ever, wear at home. Thus, barrier No. 2 is less of a concern.
Functionality, however, is where the possibilities are endless.
Millions of hourly employees could wear a watch or sensor to clock in and clock out of a job using location-based geosensing. Retail associates could receive real-time product details and store availability on the sales floor while remaining “heads up and hands down” with the customer. Hospitals could monitor vital signs of medical personnel to reallocate staff if and when fatigue levels drop below the danger threshold. Manufacturers could link smart wristbands and scanners with pieces of machinery to instantly reallocate staff if certain lines overachieve or fall behind, or even reassign workers to different areas in case of a temporary machine malfunction or shutdown.
Wearables can provide employers with uncharted data collection points and instant information access without taking an employee’s eyes, hands, and mind away from their work.
Training on the Fly
Where wearables could have the biggest impact is in the realm of communication and collaboration. These devices can make it easier for employees to communicate with colleagues on the fly, or instantly access troubleshooting documents and multimedia. Sure, this can be done today with e-mail, tablets, and smart phones, but wearables afford the rare opportunity to access people and information hands-free.
Consider the famous quote often attributed to Ben Franklin: “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” A wearable device brings on-the-job training to a new level by acting as the trainer, manager, or mentor offering tips directly to their employee’s ears, eyes, and wrists while they complete a new task. A mentor is just a click (or earpiece) away as employees learn in the moment.
If integrated into an organization’s social collaboration and gamification initiatives—a topic for another article entirely—the power of group training, friendly competition, and positive reinforcement can take hold to build a smarter, more productive workforce.
Set Up for Success: The Next Generation
Research nearly always points to the fact that younger workers—especially from ages 18 to 35—are more apt to accept new technologies, both at home and on the job. But wearable adoption in the workplace won’t happen because of youth acceptance alone.
The next generation of workers—namely Millennials and Generation Zers—is set up for wearable success because:
- The best is yet to come: Apple’s entrance into the market will not only lead to a spike in adoption, but the increased competition and new development platforms will drive innovation. There was a time the iPhone was considered just a cool toy while smart phones and PDAs designed specifically for the business world reigned supreme. Today, iOS, Android, and bring your own device (BYOD) dominate the working world, and our mobile-savvy workforce continually uncovers novel uses as technology improves.
- It’s a level (tech) playing field: There’s data to support that the distinct fault line between technology and age has disappeared. Tail-end Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, and Gen Yers have embraced technology for decades and understand the benefits unlike any “elder” generation before them. Managers of today not only embrace technology, they understand it. This means employers are better armed to deploy wearable technology without the pushback or learning curve faced by PCs, laptops, smart phones, and tablets.
- It’s not cheating, it’s collaborating: Middle and high schoolers use technology to collaborate as second nature. What past students and teachers may have considered cheating now is thought of as collaborating. And isn’t that how we survive in the workplace today? We’re encouraged to leverage colleagues and technology to solve problems. Wearable technology puts both at our fingertips.
Are Your Employees Ready for Wearables?
Wearables at work is not a new concept. Uniforms, hats or hairnets, and safety gear are the earliest forms of wearables. Most office employees wear an ID badge that doubles as an access control and/or time card without second thought. Distribution companies utilize package-tracking devices, retailers wear headsets for in-store communication, and health-care workers leverage tablets as part of their daily work lives.
Yet as technology becomes ever-more sophisticated and we uncover innovative uses for wearable devices, employers must take care to avoid the perception that a wearables-in-the-workplace program is an attempt to track employees or infringe on their privacy. The good news is that, if implemented properly, employees may be more receptive than you may think.
The key will be to showcase the work and work/life benefits a wearable device can deliver. iPhones, for instance, utilized location-based services to improve accuracy of applications such as Google Maps, Yelp!, Facebook, Four Square, and more. Additionally, the ability to share and compare performance with friends has driven the fitness craze of personable wearables. If the application makes the person more productive or collaborative or improves the value of the service, users gladly opt to enable location-based services and share performance data.
The same way we use company-paid smart phones for both business and pleasure today, work wearables could be used at home to improve fitness, communicate with friends, or push recipe instructions to your eyeballs while your hands are free to prep ingredients on the counter. It’s a win-win for the employer and the employee.
People readily accept technology that makes them better and more efficient. Our desire to connect personal devices to work-related functions led to the IT manager BYOD debate. We’ve crossed that hurdle and, with a little transparency and clear outline of benefits, wearables soon may become the next extension of our work-selves.
Bill Bartow is vice president, Global Product Management at Kronos Incorporated, a global provider of workforce management solutions that help organizations control labor costs, minimize compliance risk, and improve workforce productivity.
