The era of Quantified Self with Wearables

The progress of mobile technology has made the wearable devices pretty advent and a darling in the mobile industry today. Specifically, the launches of Smartwatches on the new platforms of the developing applications have added the threshold energy that was needed to ignite the importance of wearable technology in the business world. This is certainly the era of quantified self in terms of health metrics and wearable technology is more than capable of generating the path of self-knowledge through it.

We all know that technology has been instrumental in measuring worker productivity right from GPS to time devices to monitor office productivity. Similarly, as organizations and companies are starting to realize employee wellness and health as crucial for their productivity, they have spotted that wearable devices can give them more opportunities to gather and store information about “employee well-being”. Analysts and researchers are trying hard to incorporate wearables in their business strategy so as to make their workforce in “pink of health” and make them use their potential to the optimum.

Wearable devices are often considered the extension of mobile computing and according to IDC report, there has been a 38% rise in the shipments of wearable devices which could exceed 237 million by 2020.

Also Read: A peek into the future with Wearable Apps

There are different wearables that can be put on many parts of the body to keep the users updated about their health readings and conditions. Therefore, let us get into the scheme of things and look at how wearable technology is redefining the era of the quantified self.

Clearly Laid out Wellness Plan

A well-maintained and well-established wellness plan is essential and is the most effective means of having a productive team in the organization. Wearable technologies can include health promotion activities, which if implemented efficiently will encourage and sustain healthy behavior among employees.

In the present times, there has been a steep increase in the number of chronic diseases and most of it has been due to ignorance of such a development or not having timely health monitors to notice it. This has been the greatest barrier for the employees to completely engage at their workplace. Thus using wearables such as Apple Watch can help organizations to monitor heart rates and to implement fitness plans, adding to a valuable tool in enhancing health at the workplace. Stats also show that almost 12% of the employees use wearable technology such as Apple Watch, Fitbit, or Google Glass and have seen an effective 71% increase in their productivity.

Wearable technology can also play a vital role in reducing stress levels amongst employees as many devices have intuitive and interactive games that would keep the employees engaged if they want to switch off from their monotonous work. Also, wearable apps like Apple Watch can be vital in reducing absenteeism due to bad health and can increase the work-life balance. The real-time evaluation and monitoring system used by wearable apps could drive employees to take note of their health and prevent them from long-term disability leaves.

Efficiency at the workplace

It is a straightforward thing to understand that wearable apps have made work management and method of work a little easier than before. But, is it quantifiable? As said before, there is no question mark on the reliability of wearables as the study at Rackspace shows that employees become 8.5% more productive and 3.5% more satisfied with their work if their methods include the involvement of wearable devices. Wearable technology goes beyond the classic time-motion studies and can measure efficiency at work according to the standard time that the employee has labored.

Wearable apps with embedded sensors can track the data stored even more efficiently and can give you the information that you can get from a smart wearable device. These can be integrated with ordinary articles of clothing or accessories and can communicate and display accurate biometrics in real-time. Moreover, wearable technology also has the capability of tracking vital statistics that could help the organization in knowing the contribution of the workers.

Wearable technology can also empower businesses in collecting data from head to toe related to the health and productivity of the employees.

Fostering Positive Results

Apart from decreasing the health care cost of the company, Wearable technology provides security to the stored data and saves it from getting misused. This allows the employees to manage the expectations of the work which results in fostering positive results in the entire team.

Wearables can be effective in changing the mindset of the employer from acute care to preventive care and getting the team focused on the work that yields more prosperity. It will also help in encouraging the team to participate in physical activities that can lower the stress level, enhance the bonding and ultimately lead towards a more productive and effective team as a whole.

Closing in
Wearable technology has been routed as the “technology for the future” by many tech pundits. Therefore, amalgamating it in the scheme of things could do wonders for the businesses as it would increase the efficiency and team bonding among the employees. As wearables are taking baby steps in the direction of making it big in the future, it is bound to evolve from a geeky toy to a mainstream regular that the customer would want. Businesses would join it in high numbers in the future because wearable technology would ensure better productivity and satisfaction among employees.

Ashish Parmar

He is the Co-Founder and CEO of Prismetric . An enthusiastic entrepreneur, interested to discuss new app ideas, rich gadget tricks and trends, and admires signature tech business styles to readily embrace. He enjoys learning most modern app crafting methods, exploring smart technologies and passionate about writing his thoughts too. Inventions related to mobile and software technology inspire Ashish and he likes to inspire the like-minded community through the finesse of his work.