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On Wednesday, Feb. 11, at 11 a.m. PST/2 p.m. EST/7 p.m. GMT, @eWEEKNews will host its monthly #eWEEKChat. The topic will be “Wearables in the Workplace.” It will be moderated by Chris Preimesberger, who serves as eWEEK’s editor of features and analysis.
Some quick facts:
Topic: Wearables in the Workplace
Date/time: Feb. 11, 2014 @11a.m. PST/2 p.m. EST/7 p.m. GMT
Hosted by: @eWEEKNews
Moderator: Chris Preimesberger: @editingwhiz
Tweetchat handle: Use #eWEEKChat to follow/participate or use the widget below
Chatroom real-time links: We have two: http://tweetchat.com/room/eweekchat or http://www.tchat.io/rooms/eweekchat. Both work very well.
“Wearables in the Workplace”
eWEEK recently reported on a Cornerstone OnDemand research project involving connected devices worn by employees at the office or elsewhere on the job. One intriguing insight was that the study found a full 80 percent of employees would be motivated to use company-provided wearable tech that allows employers to track their health and wellness data.
Even more intriguing: Some workers would be enticed to do this in exchange for benefits such as extra 5 percent end-of-year bonuses (67 percent), reduced health insurance premiums (57 percent) or discounts to exercise programs (36 percent). Nearly the same amount of employees (76 percent) would be willing to do the same for wearable tech that tracks job performance and productivity.
While only 12 percent of those surveyed use wearable tech for work, a little more than seven in 10 (71 percent) of wearable tech users say that it has helped them to be more productive. That number of users is expected to grow, with 72 percent of employees believing that wearable tech in the workplace will eventually become standard.
Survey results also indicated the demand is there, as 66 percent of workers would be willing to use wearable tech if it helped them do their job better, a 7 percent increase from last year.
So there appears to be some real upsides to using wearables at work. But what about the downsides? When it comes to workplace distractions, 43 percent of employees say that impromptu visits by coworkers are the biggest productivity killer.
What about personal data privacy? When a worker wears a connected device into an enterprise environment, the data collected by the wearable device can be picked up by other sensors and perhaps used in ways not particularly intended by the wearer.
There’s no question that technology is making significant inroads within the workplace and will continue to do so in the future: employees are using more hardware, downloading more software, and are now being asked to use wearable devices as well. But the question about whether technology will become more of a burden or more of a help depends simply on whether that IT helps them become healthier, more engaged, and more productive.
Our questions on Feb. 11 will include:
–What wearable connected devices are you using at work, whether at a home or corporate office?
–How do wearables help you be more productive through the day?
–What are some of the data privacy issues that arise when employees use wearables in an office?
–Do you see wearable computing continuing to get more pervasive? Will mainstreamers eventually buy into it?
Plan to join us for an hour on Feb. 11.