11am, 1pm, 3pm and 5pm it was found that at 9am, effectively in schools and Drd Torp has been fielding
employees were 33% more stressed compared to calls from schools interested in the project.
measurements taken at other times of the day. In
fact, the results showed that at 3pm and 5pm, staff Anyone who wishes to apply can benefit and perhaps
were quite relaxed. When presenting the results to one day there will b e clinical centres where people
the HR officer, Drd Torp suggested implementing a can seek assessment themselves.
policy of ‘flexi time’. Perhaps someone was stuck in
traffic, or getting children ready for school or had
insufficient sleep and rushed to work to be there at
Paternalistic objectives
9am. By introducing a flexible start time, this may This assessment process fits in well with the training
lower stress levels in the morning. and development policies most companies have in
place for their staff. In addition to training that focuses
In addition to stress, the machine also measures en- purely at the mental level, this process can increase
ergy levels and Drd Torp was surprised to find energy an individual’s capacity for knowledge by optimising
levels were lower at 9am, rising a little by 11am, with their stress and energy levels.
1pm, 3pm and 5pm showing results of 80%+. Coming
from a culture with a strong Protestant work ethic, It requires a courageous attitude from the employer
Drd Torp was expecting to find high levels of energy to objectively look at the data and make decisions. For
in the morning, being consumed throughout the day, example if the measurements reveal stress levels in-
leaving staff depleted at the end of the day and yet creasing, it may be tempting to cease the analysis and
he found the opposite behavioural patterns at this ignore the issues, just as some companies see their
particular company. financial position worsen, blaming external factors
rather looking internally to beneficial effect change.
Employee attitudes
To begin with, during the first or second measure-
Individual aspirations
ments, employees were understandably feeling ap- Individuals themselves may have aspirations to spe-
prehensive however, they later shifted their focus on cialise in a particular area and more generally be
how they could improve on their current skill set. The looking to continually develop their skills. The key is
data collected is confidential and results fed back to to truly pursue transformation and personal devel-
HR are only statistics. opment using this form of integral feedback, rather
than simply satisfying curiosity of what energy levels
How much does it cost to
buy such instrument?
you are operating at.
The device itself is relatively inexpensive at around
1500 Euro. Additionally, a software license must be
purchased. A member of staff will also require train-
ing to conduct the study. Beyond the measurements
however, the interpretation of the data is a crucial
step. It is crucial that anyone carrying out the mea-
surements has undergone the appropriate training,
to avoid improper conclusions.
The future
The project is currently in the assimilation phase. As
with most new ideas, they are marketing their project,
seeking visionary businesses who are willing to trial
this with their employees.
In addition to places of work, this device can be used
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