There’s a worrying trend of dissatisfaction amongst employees. According to Job Site Monster’s World of Work study, only 51% of Brits feel settled in their job and are 10% more likely to be searching for a new one than European counterparts. One of the issues fuelling this sentiment is the lack of opportunity to develop in their careers.
To turn this tide, HR need to work to ensure that employees remain passionate about their career development and have access to the necessary tools needed to progress. The rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) may just enable that.
The intelligent office
As the IoT immerses itself into our everyday lives, the emergence of web 3.0 is ushering in an era of unprecedented connective intelligence. By 2020, it’s estimated there will be over 30 billion wirelessly connected devices on the market worldwide.
While IoT has most definitely arrived and made itself welcome in many of our homes and day to day lives, it’s the office space that it’s yet to truly materialise.
Workplace transformation
The workplace as we know it, is poised for the ultimate transformation. Some human functions will become obsolete thanks to machine learning and automation, while new ones will be created.
One area where IoT is set to make a direct impact on the environment around us is workplace design. The IoT enabled office of the future will collect and analyse data on employee working habits to boost every possible area of performance.
This ‘informative workplace’ will be able to suggest efficiency savings, streamline onboarding, point out which rooms are occupied most commonly, and even digitise employee review processes. This will lead to office spaces which create an environment that aligns more closely than ever with employee working habits, helping HR to boost engagement, collaboration and wellbeing.
Future of employee engagement
Real-time information will also help HR deliver an experience that best suits each individual employees’ needs. Trends such as flexible working or reduced office hours shouldn’t be approached with a one size fits all approach, rather IoT will help to make each employee happier, more relaxed and ultimately more productive.
By offering this level of autonomy, HR can aide in empowering employees and improving the worker experience, which in turn will improve retention rates.
Outside of the employee’s day-to-day work the role of IoT is even more welcome. With lengthy onboarding processes and various paperwork to fill out for new hires, IoT technology that helps automate these process could cut down on the amount of time spent on admin tasks and boosting productivity rates.
Confident employees = satisfied customers
With spending on IoT set to hit $1.3 trillion by 2019, the time is now for HR departments to embrace this technological revolution. Equipping employees with the tools they need to succeed in the workplace and improving productivity within the working environment will directly correlate to an overall improved experience for the businesses’ customers.
By Justin Anderson, general manager EMEA, Appirio
