The Edge - Volume One

THE STRATEGY Moving forward, we need practical steps to ease fears of the unknowns

more efficient space. Reiterate that any information collected via sensors will be used to understand the big picture and analyze trends across the organization, rather than to hone in on individual productivity. 4. Celebrate your wins: Whenever possible, celebrate office improvements made possible by smart technology. This will establish the connection between data collection and the success of your organization. Timely communication of measurable results will increase the likelihood of employees supporting your initiatives. 5. Deploy responsibly: Every company is responsible for protecting its employees. Whatever monitoring techniques are employed should be, above all, ethical and legal. Before implementing any tracking devices, make sure you know the law in your state or country. The misuse of biometric data can open up companies to lawsuits and breaches of sensitive information. Check out the sidebar to read about the variety of privacy laws globally. IoT is here to stay, so you must involve your employees in the journey early. Frequent communication and change management are crucial for success. Getting people fully on board with why your organization is deploying smart technology is half the battle. Give frequent updates and address privacy and security concerns. Build trust, ask for feedback and act on it.

IoT will connect 50 billion smart things by 2020

and to think about the social implication of technology on workplace experiences:

1. Be upfront: Executives must be upfront about the purpose of monitoring and surveillance as well as the extent of it. To feel safe, employees must know exactly what will be measured and how the data will be used before anything is implemented. Employees should understand that sensors are not there to measure them, but their environment and how well it supports them. Take the time to clearly explain to your workforce how IoT applications will benefit employees personally. Additionally, leadership should provide examples of how data monitoring and analysis have benefited other companies. 2. Ensure anonymity: Clearly communicate that the employee data will be anonymized to diminish the risk of intruding privacy. Therefore, personally identifiable information should only be collected as metadata, and data results should be aggregated to show trends rather than individual employee behavior. 3. Be transparent and open: Executives should be transparent about data collection results to maintain trust between the employer and employee. It’s important to share with employees that the purpose of sensors is to enhance their in-office experience and offer them a smarter,

In China, surveillance in workplaces is literally getting in workers’ heads. Lightweight sensors embedded in workers’ helmets wirelessly transmit brainwave data to a computer. Then, AI algorithms scan the data, looking for outliers that could indicate anxiety or distress. When the system issues a warning, the manager could, for example, ask the worker to take a day off or move to a less critical post. In the Netherlands, a software solution company measures employee engagement continuously by analyzing internal emails and digital chat. They highlight trends in commitment and tension as an indicator of employee performance. Their tools Mood Metrix and Attitude Heatmaps are no longer futuristic ideas.

46 THE EDGE

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