This article focuses on wearable computing and tracking devices that record employee behavior. They both monitor and measure the speed of task completion, as well as any changes in the way tasks are completed. The goal of these wearable monitoring devices is to provide feedback on employee behaviors and task performance that can be used to better design work, improve the efficiency of task flow, and hold employees accountable to certain productivity standards.
WAYS THAT ORGANIZATIONS TRACK EMPLOYEES
The idea behind tracking employees was actually made popular by Frederick Taylor’s time and motion studies a century ago. What is new is the technology now available for monitoring. In the modern era of technical sophistication, a human doesn’t have to observe employees’ actions. Instead, highly advanced wearable monitoring devices can easily scrutinize employee behavior and generate data for three kinds of analysis:
(1) Measurement of people’s work movements to track the speed of work tasks. When these wearable monitoring devices are used for productivity reasons, employees are generally annoyed by the feelings of “surveillance;” however, when they are used for safety and/or fatigue monitoring, employees find them much easier to accept.
(2) Analyzing time and motions needed to successfully complete a complicated process. This type of monitoring can be used with groups to help employees collaborate better and work smarter, if not necessarily faster. Also, these are commonly used with pilots to improve communication and allow better interpretation of information in the cockpit.
(3) Data quantifying the physiological things inside of us: Monitoring things like heart rate and cognitive processing to understand health and or thought patterns.
BOTTOM LINE FOR ORGANIZATIONS
There are many new ways that employee behavior can be tracked when on the job. While more data is typically useful for an organization and its bottom line, leaders will have to weigh this advantage against concerns of employee privacy. Where should they draw the line?