Technology to tell employers ‘when to recharge employees’

The auto indicators will be able to assess when people have worked too much and when they need to recharge by monitoring their biorhythms, nutritional requirements and exercise needs.

We may not realise but a small function of our cellphone comes very handy. It tells us when to recharge the battery so that we can stay connected.

Imagine, if there was a similar kind of indicator for our workforce, which would tell us when it is overworked and needs an immediate recharge. The life of HR professionals would be so wonderful!

This may sound somewhat farfetched right now, but it is possible for technology to assess when people have worked too much and when they need to recharge by monitoring their biorhythms, nutritional requirements and exercise needs.

There will be a feeling among remote workers that they are working 24×7 and there should be a technology to tell them that it’s time to take a break.

Biorythm is an attempt to predict various aspects of a person’s life through simple mathematical cycles. Many diseases involve chronic deprivation of sleep at night and constitute conditions mimicking that of night-shift workers who are intolerant to desynchronisation.

Organisations are now able to track and analyse sleep patterns, food intake, weight, exercise routines and many other lifestyle and health indicators—all in an effort to ensure a productive workforce, which is also happier and healthier.

Employers are now actively trying to harness the human side of their data, for the well-being of their people, their productivity, and their bottom line.

The future of the workforce is in the gig economy. People across the world will work together as a team but from remote locations. Colleagues will not know each other but be part of the team as micro-taskers.

In this new workplace, this technology will be in rampant use.

There will be a feeling among remote workers that they are working 24×7 and there should be a technology to tell them that it’s time to take a break.

The data collected will have another great consequence. People, when being hired, may not be judged by their resumes but by their personal data, that is, the digital reputations and habits of people will become a prerequisite for employment.

Workplace analytic tools can now measure the excess demands on the time of the best managers, enabling their bosses to redesign workflows or take other steps to avoid overload and burnout.

There is a new breed of workers that has come up, called Work Martyrs. These are employees who give up their vacation and personal time to work because they believe that that makes them indispensable.

It is very important to help these employees realise when they are overworked. This will prove to be beneficial in the long run and prevent extreme employee burnout from where there is little scope of return.

There is a new breed of workers that has come up, called Work Martyrs. These are employees who give up their vacation and personal time to work because they believe that that makes them indispensable. It is very important to help these employees realise when they are overworked. 

Another big difference that this technology will bring is in the complete wipe out of the middle managers. In every organisation, there are managers whose sole job is to collect data, supervise actions and ensure compliance. In the new world, not managers but algorithms will be able to assemble teams and monitor performances. They will encourage autonomy and trust among the employees.

There is a new work philosophy called ‘We Working’, which involves designing small and flexible teams in response to fluctuating workloads, shrinking time frames, and intense flurries of information exchange and coordination.

It will encourage businesses to create small, autonomous and high-performing teams that form, converge, act and dismantle as assignments change.

There is a thin line between productivity and burnout. And that line gets crossed when employees believe that they have to work longer hours. So they keep going, even after the business day is over. Employers need to take immediate notice of the same.

Corporations need to change their mindsets, and also positively alter the lifestyle of employees.