Companies are issuing iPods to workers to enhance training and communications. But along with the benefits have come serious policy questions.
Once you mostly saw them dangling from the ears of teenagers hanging out near the local high school. Now you see them worn by the forklift driver in the warehouse, the receptionist on break, and maybe the company president, too.
What are they? iPods. The ubiquitous little players that can pack hours of video and high-quality sound into a device the size of a hand calculator.
Sure, they’re fun gadgets, but what are they doing at work? Even more surprising, why are companies actually issuing IPods to their employees, just as they do Blackberries or laptops?
National Semiconductor, for example, recently placed a bulk order for 8,500 of the units for its employees at a cost of $2.5 million. And Capital One Financial bought more than 3,000 iPods for its workforce.
Training and Communication.
It turns out that it’s just as easy for an iPod to record and play training materials and other company communications as it is the latest hit by Carrie Underwood or the White Stripes.
Do you have to deal with the safety issues iPods can present? The resource you need is BLR’s Managing Safety from the HR Desk. Click here for more information or to try it at no cost.
But unlike bulky training computers or video players, iPods and similar devices are the essence of portable. They can go right back to the workstation so that employees can review the materials on the job, losing no time in training classes and enhancing productivity as they see and hear what to do as they actually do it.
But like many new technologies, the iPod has brought issues along with its benefits. These include:
–Compensation Issues. When you provide an iPod to a nonexempt employee and he or she then listens to your materials at home, it’s possible you may have to compensate them for that time, possibly at overtime rates.
–Security Issues. iPods download training materials off any computer. But they just as easily can record proprietary information such as personnel records or trade secrets, then carry them right out of the building.
–Copyright Issues. The music industry has been having fits over the illegal download of copyrighted material onto iPod-type devices. That’s usually a personal matter for the employee, except when he or she uses the unit you issued or downloads off your company computers. A copyright holder can then conceivably add your company name to the same lawsuit they file against the downloader. The fact that a business usually has “deeper pockets” than an individual makes it even more likely.
–Productivity Issues. Suppose you don’t mind your people listening to a little music at work. Does that policy apply across the board, or just on breaks and during lunch? And if they can listen while they work, what will that do to productivity or communication between workers that’s vital to the production process?
–Safety Issues. Anything that cuts off hearing is a potential safety issue. Say that an employee is listening to company-supplied materials while driving or listening on a company-supplied unit, and an accident ensues. You then could be looking at serious trouble if investigators declare the distraction of the iPod as a cause for the mishap.
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What’s the answer to all of this?
Policy … that spells out in advance, and in detail, when, where, and for what iPod-type devices can be used, and prohibits the recording of illegal or proprietary material. (You can find such a policy in BLR’s product SmartPolicies on CD-ROM. Click here for information on this program.)
Your policy should also indicate at the outset what the disposition of a company-supplied unit will be on termination. National Semiconductor had to deal with that question during a layoff when angry outplaced workers were reluctant to surrender their precious iPods.
National’s solution…they sold the units to the workers at a discounted price.
Do HR and Safety Go Together?
You bet they do! In more and more firms, the HR manager is being charged with office or workplace safety. If that’s you, the resource you need is BLR’s unique and highly affordable book and CD program Managing Safety from the HR Desk. Read more.