Employee satisfaction has a positive impact on company productivity. In addition, absenteeism due to anxiety and stress-related illnesses decreases, and innovation increases because “when someone is good, someone is more creative and has more desire to contribute ideas, so it is reflected in company results.”
This is explained by Xavi Escales, founder of Always People First, a human resources consultancy dedicated to helping companies implement plans to improve the well-being of their employees. The expert assures that employee care increases the chances of retaining and attracting talent, as well as generating a positive return in society.
But to know exactly the results of the implementation of these plans, the company created AlwaysPeopleFirst Technologies (APFtech), the first technology capable of objectively measuring people’s well-being not through surveys, but through the application of artificial intelligence. and machine learning.
A need of mine
After several years working to improve the well-being of employees of companies such as Asic, Escales created in 2018 its own human resources consultancy and realizes that there is no type of technology capable of showing the result of the measures it implements in companies Business.
“I asked a friend dedicated to technological problems with artificial intelligence if a person’s emotional situation can be measured objectively through technology. In 2018 we started to study it and at the end of 2019 we saw that it is possible. The idea came from here, to be able to measure a person’s emotional well-being in an objective way, without the need for boring surveys.
After investigating the various definitions of well-being and how these measurements were performed, the partners reached an agreement with the Quirón Salud group, where they were informed that the most reliable in the body to measure this factor was heart rate variability. “If the rate of 60 beats per minute is constant, you’re fine. If this rhythm varies, that is, you have a pulse every second and then another every five, it’s because something is happening. This is what we analyze to know if it is positive or negative “, says Escales.
How does technology help?
This is where technology comes in. The data collection process is performed by personal devices in the form of bands placed around the arm which, in addition to heart rate variability, measure other values such as skin temperature or blood pressure.
After a few weeks with the device, the algorithm applies procedures machine learning to detect and predict individual patterns, personalization of conclusions. “The device detects changes in body parameters, either because the user is in a happy moment, has done sports or suffered a very stressful situation. From now on, the algorithm learns to determine if it is a positive or negative change”.
Once the monitoring is done, the results are analyzed and the software makes a report with specific actions and improvement plans. Users have access to this data at any time through a mobile application.
A solution that not only helps the business fabric
Escales’ initial idea was for this solution to serve the business fabric as a demonstration of the benefits of the plans that are implemented to improve employee well-being. “I know that when you invest a lot of money in this aspect, you like to have information to see that it is worthwhile and, above all, to do it better.”
To their surprise, the medical industry was also interested in this technology. “At the moment there are two strong pillars in this area. On the one hand, the issue of humanizing medicine and, on the other hand, COVID has accelerated the field eHealth. This interest in the medical world is something that surprised us “, says the founder.
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In this sense, in addition to the fact that it implements it in companies such as HolaLuz or Laboratorios Uriach, two pilot projects are also being developed at the Teknon Medical Center and the Pillar Hospital, both located in Barcelona. To these will be added the Hospital del Mar, which aims to conduct a study with APFtech in the ICU department in relation to the stress and anxiety situation of health workers due to COVID, because this technology “can help prevent it.”