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Wearable tech products can boost employee productivity by 8.5 per cent, according to experts from Goldsmiths University.
The study reveals that as well as improved productivity, donning wearable technology increases job satisfaction by 3.5 per cent.
“These results show the potential power and application of wearable devices in the workplace from employee biometric CVs to organisational real-time executive dashboards for resource allocation,” said lead researcher Dr Chris Brauer.
“Wearable technologies are arguably the biggest trend since tablet computing, so it’s natural that employees and businesses will look to use these devices in the workplace. Using data generated from the devices, organisations can learn how human behaviours impact productivity, performance, well-being, and job satisfaction. Employees can demand work environments and hours be optimised to maximise their productivity and health and well-being.”
According to a Vanson Bourne survey of 300 IT decision makers in the UK, 29 per cent of UK businesses have some form of wearable tech projects in practice.
The main reasons for such projects are employee well-being (16 per cent), instant access to important information (15 per cent), and improved customer service (14 per cent).
The greatest perceived barrier to entry for wearable technology at work was having an IT infrastructure that could take advantage of the data being collected and analysed (20 per cent).
There have been many wearable tech products launched over the past year, a number of which would be useful in the workplace, including Samsung’s Gear 2 smartwatch, Google Glass, and Fujitsu’s Smart Glove.
