Employers Could Use Wearable Tech To Monitor Your Performance

That biannual review is set to get even more intensive.

The rise of increasingly accurate wearable devices could soon result in employers tracking worker behaviour, analysing their workflow in a similar manner to which sports scientists monitor athletes' performances. 

Dr John Coates, a fellow in neuroscience and finance at the University of Cambridge, has spoken to The Independentabout the increasing number of financial services, healthcare companies and tech firms all interested in applying "human optimisation" techniques to their workplaces.

"Up to now, if you weren’t doing well at your job, most people thought the corrective was more information or better reasoning, some kind of psychological intervention," said Dr Coates. "People are just wrapping their brain around this idea that if your body’s a mess, you’re not going to do very well at anything cognitive."

However, the invasive Orwellian system could well benefit workers and employers alike: by monitoring physical and psychological performances, wearable fitness trackers similar to those currently used in athletics and sports could flag up to companies when a worker is at risk of 'crashing' or about to hit optimum performance. In a high-risk industry such as hedge fund management, this could make all the difference between a costly deal and a huge pay off.

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"The public doesn’t really know what’s going on in sports physiology because the really good ones don’t publish – they want gold medals," Dr Coates said. "I’m working with some really good ones, and what they know right now is extraordinary. They can predict whether an athlete’s going to be in the zone in three days’ time, and if he or she isn’t going to be in the zone they know how to put them there. That’s going to happen in the work world."

So, your workplace reviews could well delve into stats cross-referencing your productivity, sleep patterns and fitness levels, resulting in new fitness and well-being targets alongside work goals. You could even get a biological CV for some industries, should they find the technology is as effective as it currently is in sports training.

Probably best you get as much out of that game of Solitaire while you're still untraceable.

[Via: The Independent]