How to satisfy employee demand for consumer technology

As we see a profound shift in the expectations employees have about their experiences at work, employers are increasingly looking at consumer technology to recreate the stimulation, pleasures and engagement they provide.

Why can’t work life be more like home life? Employers are gradually catching on to the desire – nay, expectation – in the workforce to have the same kind of instant, seamless and engaging interactions that we have with consumer technology in our personal lives.

In the sphere of learning and development (L&D) for example, companies such as NTT Data and Deloitte are employing gamification to produce training programs that share many of the characteristics of video games. They are fun and engaging, transparent and competitive – as well as customisable (similar to the options given to players to dress their character in role-play style video games). Training programs are also being delivered to employees on apps that can be accessed on personal devices, meaning workers can complete them at a time and location that suits them.

This example shows how workplaces are inviting consumer technology such as personal devices into the office, and taking an array of tech that people use in their day-to-day lives – and applying it to the workplace, wherever that may be.

Here, we look at three consumer-driven trends that are reshaping the ways employers engage with their staff.

Selfies replace passwords

Consumerism continues to drive change in the HR technology market – and one new innovation seeks to do so while also managing the risk of data breaches.

Several banks and technology firms in the US are introducing selfies as a replacement for passwords at work. The development comes off the back of consumer focused launches in the sector, such as the introduction of “selfie pay” by MasterCard and a service that allows customers to use selfies to log on to mobile banking apps by financial services company USAA.

“Using a selfie instead of a password is going to happen in your organisations,” says Freddye Silverman, principal at Silver Bullet Solutions consultancy, “because it’s another step in security.” As businesses continue to find creative ways to guard against rising identity theft and hacking, consumer-driven innovations will continue to be adapted for workplaces.

Workplace wellness apps… that blow fitbit out of the water

As we reported recently, organisations are increasingly developing programs to help manage the health and wellbeing of their employees.

Where many companies issue wearable technology such as fitbits to encourage staff to stay active, others are taking the personalisation of wellness to the next level.

Whil, a corporate wellness app designs ‘digital wellbeing training’ to employees in the form of audio- and video-led programs that help reduce stress, increase resiliency, boost performance, improve relationships on and off the job, and help with sleep. Others, such as Vista Staffing in the US provides staff with badges that have sensors in them to measure pulse rates, sweating or breathing heavily.

“These newly developed wearables aren’t just tracking fitness,” says Silverman, but are “proactively detecting health issues through sensors.”

Join us at the “Leading Strategic HR Transformation” workshop in Johannesburg (10th – 12th May, 2017)