Joel Baynes, COO at data science consultancy Profusion, discusses what new technology might impact the HR industry in 2016.

Cyborgs to the left of you, robots to the right, welcome to the workplace of the future. You may think this is the stuff of science fiction, but several tech developments over the past year have brought this sci-fi workplace closer to reality and this trend is expected to continue well into 2016.

In 2015 there were several break-out products that caught public attention, the Apple Watch primarily, although many wouldn’t be aware that these products are the first in a series of iterations that will eventually touch every aspect of our lives. Following the somewhat tepid release of Google Glass in 2014, rumours have been circulating about Google Glass Gen. 2. It is said that this will be targeted towards businesses and dubbed Google Glass Enterprise, and Google aren’t the only wearable tech developer looking at the possibilities of workforce tech.

Wearables in the workplace do bring a host of possibilities for HR professionals. The ability to track employees’ biometric data, including their sleep and stress levels, will give HR a more informed approach to ensuring the welfare of the workforce. It is well documented that a happier staff is likely to be significantly more productive. Wearables now give you the ability to track that happiness.

But the opportunities go further than that. In recruitment, an interviewee can wear a device to monitor their heart rate and stress levels, giving recruiters an indication whether the person is feeling uncomfortable about a certain line of questioning – a sign, perhaps, of lying or underlying weakness. There’s also the ability to guide employees through every step of their training, and understand their progress, through tech like the Glass. This is especially true in the manufacturing or construction industries. Again, consider the possibilities of providing real-time training before an apprentice’s very eyes, without them having to take their hands off the job to read a manual.

Then there are other smart devices not worn on the body. Beacon technology is expected to make an appearance in workplaces and can track the movement of people throughout a building. You’ll be able to see who interacts with who and where the most popular places in the building are. Being informed is the main benefit of this tech. Knowing how your staff feel, how they interact and how they move are all good stepping stones to improving performance, welfare and productivity. It is also possible to build detailed profiles on all your staff members, using data science, to see their strengths and weaknesses and help inform how an individual’s career should develop. You could also predict how a person will react in certain situations or whether they are likely to leave. This gives you the chance to offer training and support before issues snowball.

Similarly, a profile could be built on prospective employees. A new tool offered through AI powered supercomputer Watson allows you to extract personality insights from the way a person writes. This can then be combined with insights obtained through social media, psychometric testing (or the more recent psychometrics games offered by some employers) and the wearable data previously mentioned. Another key source of information is the mountain of enterprise data businesses have. There are now sophisticated data science techniques which can make sense of all this data, and 2016 will see more businesses understand the benefits of data science and begin to use these techniques on their own data. Everything from the number of emails sent and received, to meeting room bookings and stationary orders can be analysed to find out ways a business can be more efficient. It is evident from recent developments that the world of work is going to change in drastic ways over the coming years. With many employers considering alternate ways of ensuring their staff are well looked after, the trend for using wearables, the IoT and data to inform a HR strategy is only going to gather pace.