Employee well-being is one of the topics that grew in importance over the past few years. Employers have realized that the happier and healthier their staff is, the more productive the establishment becomes. Now, they try to use that piece of information to their advantage, and technology is here to help. Smart building management, wearables, automation tools, all these are here to make employee labour easier, the workplace environment, healthier, and the company, more profitable. This is a situation that advantages everybody involved. So, let’s see how employers can use tech to make their staff happier and healthier.
Corporate focus on well-being and health
We live in a completely different era, where the employer fully understands the benefits of proper mental health, mental care programs, and mindfulness. Today, the focus falls on allowing people to experience new techniques and strategies to boost their physical and mental well-being in the workplace and outside of it.
The shift is fuelled by a deeper integration and adoption of IoT technologies in the workplace. From smart corporate buildings to a change of workplace dynamic, and richer employee experience. All these changes and adaptations are expected to improve employee well-being and workplace efficiency.
Customized health monitoring and health benefit packages
More companies in the tech industry today develop and implement smart technologies to help healthcare professionals. But, health monitoring devices and technologies can prove themselves invaluable for business owners who want to help their employees become healthier.
The biggest advantage experienced by managers and business owners is that their staff is enabled to avoid taking extra days off. With accurate health tracking systems, employees can now keep a close eye on their health and prevent big health concerns from appearing. These systems usually include a series of tips and tricks, recommendations, and so on, to help workers preserve proper health levels and fix potential issues.
Wearables for accurate health tracking
Wearables are other good way to keep employees motivated and healthy. Wearable health devices are small, convenient and discreet. They offer workers the ideal tool to keep on track with their mental and physical well-being practices.
Companies all over the world base their wellness programs on such devices. Equipped with gyms and wellness areas, these employers encourage workers to use the wearables to keep on track with their exercising habits, relaxation habits, and work breaks. When companies pay more attention to their workers’ mental and physical health, they motivate employees to become more productive. This is a situation which advantages both parties, and it has started to be implemented at a large scale, recently.
Engaged teams are by over 20% more productive and profitable than unhappy employees, according to this Gallup survey. On the other hand, disengaged employees cost US companies up to $550 billion each year, as per these findings.
By paying attention to their employee’s happiness, companies create motivated teams. So, they avoid financial losses but boost productivity with success.
Automation and robotics
When asked about what potential robotics and automation have in the workplace, employees’ answers surprised everybody. According to them, highly-automated and robotized workplaces help workers to qualify for higher-skilled, better-remunerated work.
And such, by the next year, we should expect to see double the robots currently used for automation purposes in various establishments. However, robotics and automation leave the most visible footprint in manufacturing industries.
Today, a flexible robot arm helps employees tackle redundant and time-consuming tasks like packaging, product assembly, and transportation. Companies in the field that use similar technologies seamlessly integrated with their protocols have happier, healthier employees.
Such technologies allow employees to focus on those higher-value tasks, take better care of their health, and prevent workplace accidents from happening.
They allow employees to focus on acquiring new, valuable qualifications and boost their value within the company. According to specialists, employees that are provided with similar perks are happier, more productive, and profitable.
Sensors that improve workplace quality
Sensors allow companies today to improve workplace wellness and happiness levels. Think of light sensors, temperature sensors, and air quality sensors. All these devices hold valuable potential in creating a healthier and happier work environment in companies where they are implemented. Plus, they boost efficiency levels.
Smart light sensors have the potential to make employees happier by adjusting the light to the proper levels throughout the day. This is a proven strategy used by corporations to boost worker productivity and also to cut energy consumption and costs. Light sensors ensure to energy is used unnecessarily, by automatically switching off the light in unused building areas and offices.
Sensor-based HVAC systems improve workplace comfort levels by adjusting the indoor temperature automatically. Productivity is also linked to temperature levels, but so is health.
Data-driven insights
We have seen above how employees can enjoy better health and wellness levels by using wearables and enjoying sensors. But they are not the only ones helped by data-driven insights. Employers can also determine how changes in the workplace environment influence their staff’s health, well-being, but also productivity.
Although companies already have in place detailed well-being and health programs, these cost a lot of money and are not always as efficient as desired. According to this Forbes article, similar initiatives cost companies over $1,500 per employee. Although these programs have proven to boost employee retention rates, they sometimes perform poorly at truly offering viable wealth and well-being suggestions and packages.
The data offered by wearables and health tracking systems are due to improve the efficiency of similar initiatives in the future, by offering employers better insights into the topic.
Final Thoughts
Technology is an employer’s best friend when it comes to ensuring a richer employee experience in the workplace. As the accent falls today on employee happiness and well-being more than ever, we should expect to see similar technologies integrated deeper into the workplace all over the world. But, as proven above, the worker’s well-being is not only due to lower sick leave days. It can also improve company profitability and bring it to new, unexpected levels.
