Image (c) CanStock PhotoUp until now, not that many employees wore technology. Those who did were a curiosity, people whose specialized skills were enhanced by wearable tech. As the technology matures and the benefits of wearable technology become more and more obvious, wristbands, eyewear and other gadgetwear will become common work tools.

If wearable tech explodes into a monster trend, it could well reach its tipping point in the workplace. As more and more employees are asked to adopt the use of these tools, issues are bound to arise. Armed with the certain knowledge that the trend is barreling toward us, communicators, HR staff and legal departments can save a lot of scrambling later by preparing for wearable tech at work now.

In a Harvard Business Review article, Babson Education researcher H. James Wilson outlines two trends that will drive the adoption of wearable tech. First is the accelerated sophistication of a vast array of wearable devices. The value derives from the connection of wearables with data to provide useful feedback to both the company and the employee.

The combination of GPS, sensors, data and wearable gadgets is all part of the Age of Context we’re entering, chronicled clearly by Shel Israel and Robert Scoble in their book. And it’s already finding its way into the enterprise.

The quantified self for the entire workforce

For years, companies have invested in wellness programs. Healthier employees take fewer sick days cost less in medical premiums. If program participants all wear devices like FitBits or Nike Fuelbands, the resulting improvements could save the company considerable sums of money while sculpting a more energetic workforce. Last month, Forrester issued a report predicted that fitness-focused wearables are “coming soon to an enterprise near you.” Fitbit CEO James Park told CNBC that 30 Fortune 500 companies are using his company’s product for their wellness programs.

Fitness devices fit into just one category of Wilson’s enterprise wearable schema, self-quantification. Over 20 percent of Americans are tracking their steps walked, stairs climbed, miles run, their pulses, their sleep, their diet and other data produced by their physical actions, according to a Pew study.

Some of the developments in another category—working more efficiently with data—conjure futuristic scenarios from science fiction movies. “Microsoft is developing armbands that will project keyboards and displays onto wearers’ wrists—obviating the need, say, to fumble with a smartphone to check a price,” he writes.

Tracking movement to improve efficiency

Of most immediate interest to business, though, are devices that quantify movements. Joining a wellness program is voluntary and there are obvious personal motivations for participating. A wristband worn by a warehouse worker that tracks the merchandise they’re handling is another matter. If that’s the work process, then all workers wear them, as Tesco distribution center workers in Ireland do. The device “also allots tasks to the wearer, forecasts his completion time, and quantifies his precise movements among the facility’s 9.6 miles of shelving and 111 loading bays. A 2.8-inch display provides analytical feedback, verifying the correct fulfillment of an order, for instance, or nudging a worker whose order is short.”

That kind of data transmitted to managers is bound to raise the spectre of Big Brother monitoring every move, ready to pounce. Truck drivers are already monitored by GPS devices to make sure they’re where they’re supposed to be, and a wearable device that keeps an eye on fatigue as well as location and speed is not far off. But consider this scenario, as envisioned by Kronos, Inc.‘s Bill Bartow, in which employees wearing tech enable a manager to access…

...location-based information tying employees to specific production, even when the employees switch from task to task. When a machine malfunction interrupts the output on one line, John is able to quickly reassign three workers to another nearby line that could use their particular skill set until the machine is fixed. The employees simply walk from one line to another and don’t have to “clock” in at the terminal which isn’t nearby.

Big Brother is on your wrist

As Wilson notes, there’s plenty of promise in wearables, such as sensors in football helmets “that measure the force of impacts could reduce players’ long-term risk of traumatic brain injury.” And longtime internal communications thought leader Sheri Rosen has been chronicling her experience with Google Glass via her Gaze Further blog in order explore “How employee communicators and workplace communities might benefit from wearable technology like Google Glass.”

But as long as there’s suspicion over a company’s motives for requiring employees to wear tracking and monitoring devices, they potentially can be a cause of discontent.

“Managers must concentrate on issues that drive productivity and communicate that the goal is to improve organizational performance, not to punish individuals,” Wilson advises. More than that, internal communications needs to start building a base of understanding and support by explaining the technology, how it works and how the company plans to use it. HR and Legal, meanwhile, need to hammer out policies, looking at the implications of wearable tech from every possible angle. (Some are concerned that they can cause distractions, for example, resulting in workplace mishaps and injuries.)

If your company is already using wearable tech in pockets of the organization, start covering it and raising awareness so it isn’t so threatening to other employees. If not, start talking to production and other managers about the potential. Share information about competitors and peer organizations that may be getting a head start in the use of wearable technology.

Most important, internal communicators need to make sure they’re in the loop when wearables are going to be introduced to the workplace. Like any other technology, the success of wearable technology will depend as much on adoption—accomplished through a well-thought-out communication and training plan—as on deployment.