Employee first, technology second: Implementation of smart glasses in a manufacturing company

Paruzel A, Bentler D, Schlicher K, Nettelstroth W, Maier GW. Employee first, technology second: Implementation of smart glasses in a manufacturing company. Zeitschrift für Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologie. 2020;64(1):46-57.Digitization and connectivity are hot topics for nearly every company nowadays; numerous new technologies offer diverse options. In this project, a specific technology − smart glasses − were implemented in a manufacturing company. The implementation process was innovative, as the employees' perspective was taken into account from the beginning, rather than solely designing the technological aspects and involving the users after decisions were taken. Employees concerned by the new technology were surveyed to take into account the employees' expectations and fears regarding work design characteristics. This allowed customizing features of the smart glasses, adapting work organisation and informing employees about unclear points about the implementation process. Moreover, the competencies required for future work were analysed using a comprehensive work analysis method. We report the results of two quantitative studies and sum up the lessons learned from this project which can be a guideline for other companies