Welcome to the competitive universe of video games, better known as esports, which involves more than 320 million people worldwide and with revenues valued at 450 million euros in 2016.

The area of video games has been growing more and more. It has started as entertainment to evolve to a career.

The similarities between traditional athletes and esports professionals are many: with a regulated routine, players need to dedicate themselves to training, teamwork and also go through the pressures and rewards of the competition calendar, obtain awards for the classifications obtained and in addition to dealing with sponsors, among other issues.

An esports professional can earn on average 8000 euros per month being a value that is not fixed as it depends on the level in which the player and the prizes achieved in competitions and sponsorships. An esports professional can earn on average 8000 euros per month being a value that is not fixed, as it depends on the level in which the player and the prizes achieved in the competitions and sponsorships.

Some examples of the most relevant championships in the area that occur around the world such as Electronic Sports World Cup, World Cyber Games and The World Series of Video Games.

However, there is a tight competition in this field and only the best can succeed and profit enough to be a professional. Strategic thinking and rapid thinking skills are critical, requiring many hours to plan strategies and training.

The huge growth and relevance of this sport has been gaining all over the world and the demands it requires have triggered the need to create a specialized training in this area. Therefore, in Osaka, the Jikei Group will create a university course where several professionals of the sector will dedicate themselves to train students to take part in the competitive world of video games.

This sports modality requires its practitioners to be great, as they spend thousands of hours staring on the screens.The mental effort is caused by the expended energy in the elaboration of the best tactics as well as the effort that is made by the vision to focus for thousands of hours a screen. These are two examples that lead to mental fatigue or mental health problems that are highlighted as a result of the practice of this modality.

Professional players face daily the consequences of the correct or incorrect management of this daily mental effort, that have then direct impact on their performance. An incorrect mental effort management can lead to mental fatigue or mental health problems. Performetric is an example of a tool that can add an important value (if not, extremely indispensable) in the area of mental fatigue management, providing to its user a diversity of information and alerts regarding the level of fatigue in real time. This real-time monitoring allows the user to manage their efforts in a correct way, helping for example to alert when its time to make a break and thus obtain the best performance.

Sources:

• https://www.theverge.com/2014/7/21/5919973/inside-the-life-of-a-pro-gamer;
• https://www.entrepreneurshiplife.com/how-to-make-money-in-the-booming-esports-market/;

“Mental fatigue is a condition characterized by excessive mental tiredness.”

This condition can lead to serious problems including reduced productivity, poor performance at work and impairment of physical functioning. Learning to recognize the symptoms of fatigue can help avoiding unnecessary complications. Therefore, it is fundamental to anticipate it with preventive actions.

This mental status can manifest differently for each person. For instance, difficulty focusing and problem solving, anxiety, irritability with co-workers and loss of passion for work are potential symptoms.Other symptoms include insomnia and confusion as well as frustration triggered by problem-solving tasks such as simple math.

According to a study lead by the Portuguese Consumer Protection Association (DECO), the professionals most at risk of developing mental exhaustion are those employed in stores and supermarkets (43%), health professionals (non-doctors, 39%) and those who work in administrative services (37%) or in professions linked to education (28%). Three out of ten workers reported being emotionally tired of work more than once a week, and 35% reported feeling exhausted with the same frequency.

These results reinforce this as a growing problem in todays society as well as the need to take action.
However, it is important to point out that there are ways to prevent from affecting your professional and personal life.

We suggest four main ideas to overcome this mental condition:

1. To practice physical exercise-The importance of physical exercise is already something consensual, however many individuals still do not understand its real effect and relevance in physical and mental health. Physical exercise may have a relaxing effect similar to antidepressives.
2. Healthy Eating- A healthy diet rich in vegetables and fruits is common ground for general well-being, having a direct influence on your tiredness. This type of diet helps your body collecting all the nutrients and vitamins necessary for its balance;
3. Sleep Routine- Creating a sleep routine is critical to your health is essential to avoid feeling tired. A sleep routine involves an average rest period of 7 to 8 hours. As well as regular sleeping and wake-up times (weekends included);
4. Monitoring of fatigue levels - Monitoring your fatigue levels is another of the measures that must be taken to avoid the state of mental fatigue. The monitoring can be done, for example, through applications for this purpose, which measure, control and alert in real time the need to take breaks.
   Performetric application is an example. Can be useful to monitor tasks, giving the user an ability to access real-time information about their tiredness levels, notifying you with recommendations that help improving performance and mental health. Monitoring is done through typing speed, keystroke duration and typing errors in a non-invasive manner. Other advantage is the user’s privacy is 100% protected. The Performetric does not accumulate private user data and privacy is not invaded.
   Keep in mind: Organizations flourish when the people who work in them flourish. Happy people are synonymous with productive people.

Source:

• https://www.lusa.pt/article/24860942/um-em-cada-tr%C3%AAs-trabalhadores-em-risco-de-burnout-top-five-news;

• https://www.livestrong.com/article/148147-symptoms-of-mental-fatigue/;

It is with great pleasure that we announce that the OFFSET Esports CS:GO team will join the group of pioneering teams in managing their athletes' mental performance and wear.
The OFFSET team that has a high-performance center in Braga, Portugal chose Performetric as a management platform for fatigue and mental performance, with the aim of investing in the high-performance development of its players.

Performetric team visiting OFFSET High Performance Center

Why Performetric:

A first impression we find very interesting platform and we believe that will improve the performance of our players. The investment in improving the working conditions of the team is our main priority. Fatigue management will be instrumental in helping to reduce errors and contribute to success in a more competitive and demanding environment. We want to be at the forefront of technology, believing the team can win with it. - Luís Arantes, CEO of OFFSET Esports

About Offset Esports: Currently compete in the Worten Game Ring Master League PT at the ESEA Main Division and qualify for the final stages of OMEN Eurogamer CS: GO Challenge and Famalicão Extreme Gaming CS: GO Cup.

About Performetric Esports: Performetric is real-time, adaptive system that monitors and allow to manage mental fatigue and human performance in a non-invasive way.

The explosive growth of esports has led to rapid development in all areas of the industry, from improvements in broadcasting technology and increasingly impressive live event presentations to innovative ways of monetizing the esports audience to advanced game analytics that enhance professional teams’ match preparation. With ever-increasing prize pools on the line and skyrocketing team valuations, it has never been more important for esports organizations to protect and grow their investment by managing the wellbeing and training efficiency of their most valuable resource: their athletes.

Recognizing the importance of player management, Performetric partnered with Shadow, the industry-defining esports analytics platform relied on by the world’s best professional esports teams, as well as FlyQuest, a professional esports organization that participates in the North American League of Legends Championship Series, to conduct a pilot project. The goal of the partnership was to test and study the application of Performetric’s fatigue measurement technology within professional esports.

The study attempted to answer the following questions:

• Can we measure an esports athlete’s current “fitness level,” meaning their alertness and physical condition as it relates to their ability to play League of Legends at peak performance, using the mouse and keyboard?
• Based on what we detect, can we recommend useful actions for players and coaches to improve their performance and the effectiveness of their practice time?

For the full results, request the whitepaper.

Sleep is essential for a person’s health and well-being, according to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF).
Individual sleep needs range from being 6 to 8 hours. However, it is recommended in adulthood 8 hours of sleep. And, contrary to common myth, the need for sleep doesn't decline with age but the ability to sleep for six to eight hours at one time may be reduced. (Van Dongen & Dinges, Principles & Practice of Sleep Medicine, 2000).
Good sleep habits bring visible benefits not only to health, but also to productivity and attention / concentration.
Some examples of more concrete benefits are:

1. Sleep helps reduce stress (the lack of rest hours can lead to the production of a high level of stress hormones; deep and regular sleep can help prevent this).
2. Sleep can improve your memory (memory is badly affected when your sleeping hours are not enough, because when your body is at rest your brain is processing and storing your memories).
3. Sleep could reduce your chances of diabetes (some research studies have shown that not getting enough sleep may lead to type 2 diabetes by affecting how your body processes glucose).
4. Sleep helps your body to strengthen your immune system (your body produces extra protein molecules that can strengthen your ability to fight infections while you sleep).

Most people are not aware of the importance of sleeping on a daily basis and how it impacts negatively on their quality of life and their productivity throughout the day, whether at work or on other tasks.
The question that arises is:”Have you ever thought about the importance that a good night's sleep can have on your day and your productivity over the same day?”
Dan Pardi, researcher on the thematic of sleep and CEO of the human of humanOS.me, a personal health performance platform states “A good sleep regimen can practically turn one employee into two. It’s not just that we get more work done, we also have far better access to mental performance needed to do our hardest work — like writing, dynamic speaking, or innovative creativity.” With this statement Pardi demonstrates the relationship between his sleeping habits and his performance at work.

Situations such as irritability with co-workers, lack of concentration and feeling of permanent tiredness are examples of consequences of lack of sleep.
With this, we can see that there is a growing need for gauging and measuring our mental fatigue so that we can manage our energies.

Many companies are already sensitized to this topic, starting to investing on technical tools to optimize their workers performance.
An example of an existing application in the market for this specifically purpose is Perfometric. This application allows you to control your tiredness levels in real time, generating alerts and optimizing breaks for peak performance.

This performance enhancement software uses computer interaction metrics and advanced machine learning system to get the actual results and thus to correctly detect the level of fatigue and thus contribute to a correct allocation of energy, so as to achieve a better performance by combining a correct break and rest routine.

Sources:

• http://www.apa.org/topics/sleep/why.aspx
• https://www.dreams.co.uk/sleep-matters-club/top-10-benefits-good-nights-sleep/
• https://thenextweb.com/futureofwork/2018/08/27/how-to-sleep-better-technology/

The end of the holidays and the entry into the routine is a factor that causes stress, anxiety and a sense of fatigue for many people, bringing with it all the agitation associated with discipline with schedules, workload, and routines with children. Restarting the routine may lead to stress, and a strong sense of fatigue can be felt initially because your body is getting used to another rhythm again.

Katherine Nordal, Ph.D., executive director of professional practice at the American Psychological Association (APA) defines holidays blues as

"Our body slowed down during the holidays and the body develops a new, slower rhythm, which it enjoys much more. We recharge batteries on a physical and emotional level and it is normal for us to be resilient to accelerate again. We are not programmed to live at such a rapid pace, and our body and mind try to tell us this ".

Through the study conducted by the American Psychological Association uncovered some interesting data about the holiday blues:

• Most people identify feelings of positive feelings (happiness, love, and good mood) during the holidays, these emotions were often accompanied by feelings of fatigue, stress, irritability, bloating and sadness.
• Unexpectedly, 56 percent of respondents reported experiencing the greatest amount of stress at work after their vacations. Only 29 percent experienced greater amounts of stress at home.

However, it is possible to use tools that can help prevent post-vacation stress and entry into the routine in a calm and quiet way:

1. Set goals

The arrival at work after a vacations is synonymous with a lot of work accumulated and many hours in front of the computer to be able to follow all the developments occurred. A S.M.A.R.T definition of objectives is crucial to avoid post-vacation stress. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Bound – S.M.A.R.T. Do it in a fragmented and correct way so it can have the desired results. Certain rules must be taken into account, such as:

• Don’t create a long to-do list;
• Set a timing to accomplish them;
• You should be able to measure them;
• Do not complicate and revise the goals you have set each day to create a sense of accomplishment when you see them being hit.

2. Remember moments

Try to remember a particular moment of your holiday that will awaken the sense of peace. It could be when a looked at the sea, our a moment when walking on the mountain or simply a family dinner.

3. Increase sleep and relax time

Due to the extra effort that is required in adapting to the rhythm of work again and to all the tasks of the day to day… Our advice is: get at least 8 hours of sleep, this way your body can return and adapt to the routine, in a healthy way.

4. Track your performance in Real Time

The use of applications can be an essential aid in our day to day routine, as it provides useful information for our physical and psychological well-being. There are several examples of applications for the most diverse objectives. Performetric's application is a good example of an application that can help you track your performance by giving you real-time information about your fatigue levels and giving you warnings about when it is time to take a break and stay productive.

Sources:

• https://lifestyle.sapo.pt/saude/bem-estar/artigos/sindrome-pos-ferias-2
• https://www.saudebemestar.pt/pt/blog-saude/stress/
• https://www.economias.pt/depressao-pos-ferias/
• https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/evidence-based-living/201712/what-we-know-about-the-holiday-blues
• http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2009/12/holiday-blues.aspx
• https://www.stress.org/

Let’s start with a simple definition for “corporate culture”, most authors agree that it “refers to the set of values, beliefs, and behavior patterns that form the core identity of an organization.”

Corporate Culture and ROI

Daniel R. Denison, in his article “Bringing Corporate Culture to the Bottom Line”, answers the following question:

“Do firms that organize their work well and involve employees in decision making really perform any better than firms that do not? If so, how much better, and under what conditions?”

He compares 34 large American firms using survey data and Standard and Poor’s financial ratios as indicators, in order to begin to test the relationship between corporate culture and performance.

“The results, presented in terms of return on investment and other financial indicators, indicate that companies with a participative culture reap a return on investment (ROI) that averages nearly twice as high as those in firms with less efficient cultures. The data presented here provide hard evidence that the cultural and behavioral aspects of organizations are intimately linked to both short-term performance and long-term survival.”

How to Assess Corporate Culture?

If the result can be “nearly twice as high”, I think the first thing you should be wondering is how can you assess your corporate culture and from there establish some improvable objectives.

Furthermore, we share the tested notion of what should be considered a strong corporate culture presented by Daniel R. Denison in his article:

“A “strong” culture that encourages the participation and involvement of an organization’s members appears to be one of its most important assets.”

Another important thought was written by Fridman and Ostholthoff, "the roots of your culture grow deep and they can't be manipulated. Leaders can only act as catalysts for change, they cannot be dictators of change."

Assess the three corporate levels: individual, team, and organization. Through individual and intense interviews or through an external consultant/firm to conduct interviews or to develop internal (online or written) surveys.

Question that help to Assess Corporate Culture

We share the 15 great question to assess corporate culture shared by Alison Davis on inc.com:

Individual level

Understand how the organization's values and purpose align with the goal and purpose of each employee:

1. Which activities bring you satisfaction regardless of whether you receive rewards and recognition? What part of your role inspires you the most?

2. Are there personal habits you believe they need to start, stop or continue to better align with the goals of the organization?

Team level

Analyse how the culture influences how employees work together as teams:

1. How does culture shape how your team manages goals and responsibilities?
2. Do any values have unintended consequences on how employees work together?

Organizational level

Discover how an employee views the overall culture of your organization:

1. What actions are needed to improve the current culture?
2. Is the company's purpose/mission memorable?
3. How about the values? Are they distinctive and memorable?
4. What does each value mean to you?
5. How do leaders exert their authority through formal practices?
6. What are some informal practices leaders rely on to get work done?
7. How is success rewarded?
8. How is failure addressed?
9. Do leaders behave in a way that's consistent with the company values?
10. What motivates leaders?
11. If we could do one thing to improve our culture, what would it be?
    After collecting all the answers, analyse them, identify the necessary improvements needed to achieve a “strong” corporate culture, then create the needed milestones to ensure that the objectives, in the long-term, are achieved by at the 3 corporate levels.

Sources:

• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0090261684900159
• https://www.inc.com/alison-davis/these-15-questions-will-assess-your-companys-culture-and-help-you-decide-how-to-improve-it.html

Humans use emotions and intuition to extrapolate and create scenarios in order to make decisions that allow anticipating the future and, hopefully, lead the company to the best results possible and reduce Candidate Bias.

When humans try to interact with each other Bias can tend to influence the result of the decision.

During the recruiting process, HR professionals tend to stereotype and make uninformed choices based on gender, ethnicity and so on.

“Unconscious racism, ageism, and sexism play a big role in whom we hire.”

Artificial Intelligence can be defined to be blinded to these and other traits.

To surpass this and other sources of Candidate Bias, in 2015 Google started using qDroid, an internal recruitment tool which provides interviewers with more reliable and unbiased questions that disregard background. The head of Human Resources said that this provided a “reliable basis for sifting the superb candidates from the merely great.” Other companies use other bias-reducing Artificial Intelligence software that allow to host digital blind auditions (to see past keywords on a resume) or to analyze recruiting adds and ensure that the add is appealing to the target candidates.

These AIs help HR professionals to select promising candidates from a large number of applicants. But still leaves a heavy workload of multiple stages where data can be gathered and used to make better decisions and better-selected algorithms. With more data and more results, the Artificial Intelligence can be taught to select better candidates in the early stages of candidate selection, improving the number of hires (in case of Selection Firms).

Nowadays Artificial Intelligence already allows for example:

• “to scan candidates’ profiles and posts on social network platforms like Facebook, Linked-In, and GitHub to automatically update old resumes.”
• “can help to tell the company if the candidate is good, bad or average depending on its past hiring patterns.”
• An AI-based platform can “analyze interviews on the basis of facial expressions, words being used, voice inflection and micro gestures to assess a candidate.”

Human Resources experts aim with Artificial Intelligence to be able “to combine past data, candidate psychology, and engagement analytics to predict the likelihood of a candidate dropping out.”

Human Resources experts aim with Artificial Intelligence to be able “to combine past data, candidate psychology, and engagement analytics to predict the likelihood of a candidate dropping out.”

On the other hand, Artificial Intelligence can also be used to reduce Candidate Bias and improve employee relations by faster and more adequate replies to employee questions. By programming automated email or instant messaging replies to common questions, the workload for Human Resources departments can be reduced increasing the Human Resources team available time for more complex questions and positive engagement with the team.

Overall, Artificial Intelligence interactions are unbiased and can add value to all personal interactions by providing more available time to HR professionals so that they can have richer interactions and focus their time on higher value tasks.

By leaving routine and monitoring tasks to the Artificial Intelligence, HR Professionals can take action faster since the Artificial Intelligence can detect the patterns faster and earlier most of the times.

Sources:

• http://bigdata-madesimple.com/5-ways-to-use-artificial-intelligence-ai-in-human-resources/
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2018/05/09/how-ai-is-transforming-hr-departments/#c31f8971c0f6
• https://www.cmswire.com/digital-workplace/7-ways-artificial-intelligence-is-reinventing-human-resources/
• https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/jobs/how-artificial-intelligence-is-reshaping-recruitment-and-what-it-means-for-the-future-of-jobs/articleshow/60985946.cms
• https://www.inc.com/avi-savar/3-ways-that-ai-is-transforming-hr-and-recruiting.html
• https://hbr.org/2017/06/7-practical-ways-to-reduce-bias-in-your-hiring-process

Artificial intelligence is partnering up with HR professionals to simplify processes and evolve to data-driven decision making as collateral for that unique gut feeling developed during years of experience.

From the candidate selection to employee retention and early warning of team members on the way out.

Starting with Talent Acquisition, AI can handle stressful and monotonous work that usually demands a lot from HR professionals. Artificial intelligence can read more data points than a human can and detect trends and patterns that can quickly reduce the list by 75%. The Artificial intelligence can help the professional to make better decisions both by reducing the number of applicants to analyze and by reducing the number of poor hiring decisions.

After selecting the most promising candidate, there’s the task of onboarding. Some companies have onboarding procedures and welcome books to help new employees to adapt and have a soft landing in the new ecosystem and new job. The AI can help:

• by determining customized onboarding procedures for every single position;
• by providing mentoring to a new employee, makes onboarding much smoother thought mentoring software’s;
• with an “Onboarding Buddy” – an AI chatbot – like a “veteran employee” “that allows a brand new employee to ask the "dumb" questions they might otherwise feel embarrassed to ask their boss, but still need to somehow figure out”;

This can increase the retention rates when compared to candidates who didn’t have the onboarding procedures and programs.

By reading more data points and extrapolating information from all the patterns, even the most tenuous ones the Artificial intelligence can successfully plan, organize and coordinate trading programs for all the positions in the company. By managing more information than humans can, the AI can determine the best timeframe for new courses and schedule lessons according to the individual preferences of the employees.

When on the job, the AI can help HR professionals to find individuals who are engaged and highly productive by monitoring their behavior and analyze their performance indicators. Artificial intelligence can evaluate how employees live up to the objectives set by the HR professionals. These tools serve to improve productivity, detect early signs of fatigue and detect team members who show a prolonged lack of engagement.

Companies tend to try and keep the best employees. These are difficult to hire and hard to keep in the team. “Almost 60% of organizations consider employee retention their biggest problem”. Artificial intelligence can determine team member’s individual affinities and needs in order to determine who deserves a raise and who might need help to get their life into balance again. This allows for proactive actions on behalf of the HR team that gets the chance to solve a problem before it occurs.

Some platforms are designed to identify the those who may be heading for the exit by separating the fatigued, the burned out or the ones who are just heading out.

Advanced Artificial intelligence platforms are a very loyal and hardworking assistance to detect fatigue and many other trends that make the life easier for HR professional helping in most tasks and above all collecting data, using machine learning to analyze patterns, this will help to detect, predict and prevent in real-time an issue before it gets out of hand.

As a consequence will help to increase employee engagement, improving employee retention and productivity levels.

Sources:

• http://bigdata-madesimple.com/5-ways-to-use-artificial-intelligence-ai-in-human-resources/

• https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2018/05/09/how-ai-is-transforming-hr-departments/#c31f8971c0f6

• https://www.cmswire.com/digital-workplace/7-ways-artificial-intelligence-is-reinventing-human-resources/

• https://www.inc.com/bill-carmody/how-ai-will-change-hr-in-onboarding-and-managing-t.html

• https://www.inc.com/avi-savar/3-ways-that-ai-is-transforming-hr-and-recruiting.html

Every year the same thing happens, summer comes, School Holidays begin, your Facebook and Instagram feed gets full of all your so-called friend at glorious beaches, pools, exotic locations, boats and god knows where else. And where are you? Sitting at the office looking at your backlog and fighting to get everything done and struggling to avoid a strong feeling of fatigue.

It doesn’t have to be a nightmare nor does it has to make you sad, feeling alone and the only one in the world not having a glorious time. Most of us don’t get to have such a luxurious holiday and some of the week days post feed ware, in fact, taken during the weekend just to make your “friends” jealous.

Suggestion nº1 – Take a break from social media! Read a book instead. Especially if you can do it at a nice café in the sun.

If you spot someone on your team with the summer blues give them a hand!

Suggestion nº2 – Go and avoid the ant bites while you have lunch outdoors on a fabulous green lawn. BTW don’t forget to take lots of sunscreen with you. The UVs are killers.

If you look around on the internet you are sure to find great Ideas to “enjoy the summer when you’re trapped in the office” such as:

• “Make fruit-infused water” – It might not get you out of the office and into the sun, but you’ll surely get hydrated. Something that is very important if you are trying to get out on time while finishing your tasks and avoiding Fatigue or Burnout.

• “Brighten your Desk” – The work will be the same, the light the same, the UV protection also and thankfully no bugs or ants to bite you at your nice and colorful desk.

• “Get outside every day” – Do try to have some fresh air every day. Jokes aside, if you work from home it can be quite easy to stay at home and get everything delivered. This is great on a cold and rainy winter day, but on a warm summer day, it is a must! Just go for a short walk, get some vitamin D. “The sunshine vitamin may protect against a host of diseases, including osteoporosis, heart disease, and cancers of the breast, prostate, and colon. What's more, sunlight has other hidden benefits—like protecting against depression, insomnia, and an overactive immune system.”

• “Bring popsicles for your office” – Great idea! Everyone will be extra happy to get nice sticky colored popsicle drops on their desk! If you do try to do this:

Suggestion nº3 – Get extra tissues… people will use them.

Summer is here, we can make a short change in our bad habits or take the opportunity to change our lives one small thing at a time. Trying to finish early to enjoy the sunlight, do outdoor exercise, change the commute, play daily outdoor with your kids or just change the way you think about managing your stress, fatigue and will to change your life.

Someone once said: “Change the way you think and change your life”!

If you need some help with managing your breaks and improving your performance so you can get more done in less time, give us a call. We will love to help you get the best out of Performetric.

Sources:

• https://www.themuse.com/advice/15-little-ways-to-enjoy-the-summer-when-youre-trapped-in-the-office

• https://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/heart/articles/2008/06/23/time-in-the-sun-how-much-is-needed-for-vitamin-d#close-modal

• http://textalyser.net/index.php?lang=en#analysis

A simple definition for machine learning could be that it “is an application of artificial intelligence (AI) that provides systems the ability to automatically learn and improve from experience (without explicitly being programmed to do so). Machine learning focuses on developing computer programs that can access data, analyze it and use it to learn.”

It’s innovation and business potential is not restricted to company’s like Google and Facebook, to help us find better search results or to suggest, a person to add to our Facebook list of fans, or a video that might be of interest to us.

Actually the role of machine learning and Artificial Intelligence is much more exciting, and with a huge potential in areas like healthcare, for instance:

• to diagnose cancer https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2017/05/16/how-ai-and-deep-learning-is-now-used-to-diagnose-cancer/#11ebc308c783 ) thought “teach (with a lot of data) how to spot images which indicate danger. In this case, this data would be previous CT scans which led to a diagnosis of lung cancer.”

• to spot suicidal users on Facebook (https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-39126027 ) - “The social network has developed algorithms that spot warning signs in users' posts and the comments their friends leave in response.”

Machine learning also turned the concept of real-time into a reality, allowing “companies to analyze tons of data in real time, 24/7, getting deep insights.”

Machine Learning in HR

Nowadays machine learning already does some repetitive and time-consuming HR functions, that can save us a lot of time to allocate, for example in human interactions or on projects that need a more strategic approach.
We leave bellow a list of some examples, that you can explore in detail here, (https://gethppy.com/hrtrends/the-impact-of-machine-learning-in-hr) of functions that Artificial intelligence software’s already can do:

• Scheduling of HR functions such as interviews, performance appraisals, group meetings and a host of other regular HR tasks.
• Analytics and reporting on relevant HR data
• Streamlining workflows
• Improve recruitment procedures
• Reducing staff-turnover
• Personalize training
• Measure and manage engagement
• Enhance rewards and recognition programs

A middle ground between Artificial Intelligence and Preventing mental health problems at work

This technology has a really exciting potential. To think that machine learning can help detect earlier stages of cancer is really something.

However, it does need you to have some routine exams or due to any other reason for data to be available for processing.

Somewhere in between routine health checks and our daily life, there’s work to be done.

And in our daily lives, we often have the feeling of being exhausted due to mental or physical work, and those permanent patterns can lead to some predictable health issues.

All because sometimes we lack a good management of working hours. We often don’t remember/don’t know when to stop or, even worse, the company policy/culture doesn’t see it with good eyes.

But machine learning applications can help HR in preventing some work-related health issues.

Performetric (https://performetric.net/product) application, for example, does the learning through user interaction patterns with the computer interfaces (keyboard and mouse interaction) and then has the ability to identify and alert users (in real-time) at the onset of fatigue and burnout, providing recommendations that can prevent mental fatigue, fatigue or mental health problems.

It will also help the employees to improve their performance: reducing stress, preventing accidents and reducing errors. It’s a win-win situation, where employee engagement increases and by consequence productivity increases too.

Sources:

• https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2017/05/16/how-ai-and-deep-learning-is-now-used-to-diagnose-cancer/#3eece20c7839
• https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/300713
• https://gethppy.com/hrtrends/the-impact-of-machine-learning-in-hr
• https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-39126027

A productive workplace is crucial to business success. It doesn't matter if you are a simple operator, assistant or the CEO, everyone plays a part in getting your company to reach its goals each month.

Tired employees, no matter how much you try to motivate them. They are exhausted.

They can be underproductive and even dangerous in critical situations causing harm to themselves and others through impaired judgment and reduced capacity to perform their work. Workers who are fatigued may have a slower reaction time or be unable to make good decisions. Fatigue can also lower the immune system, leading to illness.

“Leaders that can spot those fatigued workers can address the issue before it gets out of hand.”

We leave some key warning signs that can help leaders to identify those workers.

5 warning signs of employee fatigue

1. Unusual emotion — Be aware of employees acting out of character, such as showing emotional distress, moodiness or having a bad attitude in the workplace.
2. Consistent lateness — Some employees will run late in every aspect of their lives out of bad habit. However, if a normally punctual employee arrives late to work every morning, it can indicate poor work-life balance.
3. A cluttered workspace — Pay attention to employees’ desks and workstations. While some people prefer a more chaotic environment, a messy workspace can be a symptom of overwork.
4. Forgetfulness and disregard for the team at large — Ongoing forgetfulness can affect an entire team. It can waste other employees’ time and hinder their performance. It can also be a sign that the employee in question has too many things to think about and isn’t on top of their workload.
5. Productivity dips despite longer hours — The more hours you work, the less you get done. Productivity often decreases the longer employees spend at work.

Those signs are more likely to be experienced by workers that:

• undertake shift work;
• have excessive working hours, e.g. 10–12 hours per day or more than 50 hours per week;
• have significant demands outside the workplace, e.g. family or carer’s responsibilities; or
• have an illness or injury;
• have sleep difficulties.

Other external signs that can help to identify fatigued workers are:

• excessive yawning;
• red eyes;
• irritability;
• lack of focus;
• slow response times;
• poor work performance; and
• workers taking microsleeps (short periods of sleep lasting 4–5 seconds).

Ultimately, what should you do if a worker is fatigued?

In the first place, try to identify potentially fatigued employees or habits that lead to it and prevent workers from extreme fatigue or even burnout. Here Performetric software, can help you to identified and prevent, mental fatigue in your workplace. Thought machine learning in real-time analyses of the user interaction patterns with the computer.

As a leader, if you identify potentially fatigued employees, ask them about their workloads and make the necessary adjustments. If necessary, consider suggesting a time off.

“Investing in workforce management software can eliminate overscheduling employees to prevent workplace fatigue, and protect both employees and the business’s bottom line by notifying managers when employees have worked too many hours or not had a long enough break between shifts.”

Sources:

• https://www.safetysolutions.net.au/content/business/article/five-warning-signs-of-employee-fatigue-223819626
• https://www.healthandsafetyhandbook.com.au/dangers-of-worker-fatigue-7-warning-signs/
• http://www.optalert.com/news/reasons-youre-having-trouble-falling-asleep-at-night
• https://www.smart-pa.com/uk/smart-thinking/post/do-you-recognise-the-8-warning-signs-of-an-unproductive-office
• https://www.kochiesbusinessbuilders.com.au/five-warning-signs-employee-fatigue/
• https://management.co.nz/article/five-warning-signs-employee-fatigue
• https://performetric.net/

Recently an advertising campaign stated, “Find out how a good break can improve your company”. We couldn’t agree more. Do take a Break!

All our work is developed to ensure you keep your team at top performance and peak shape. Performetric by evaluating the fatigue levels prevents burnout, prevents high levels of absenteeism, and promotes performance and lower stress levels.

Did you know that if you take a break at the right moment you can actually prevent mental fatigue for much longer periods of time?

It isn’t that “productivity science seems like an organized conspiracy to justify laziness” like the atlantic states in their article “A Formula for Perfect Productivity: Work for 52 Minutes, Break for 17” we believe that the break length and frequency can’t be structured in a “one size fits all” even if calculated from the top 10% habits. We totally agree that when they take a break the duration should be “spent away from the computer, said Julia Gifford at The Muse, by talking a walk, doing exercises, or talking to coworkers”.

In Japan, “corporations, realizing that more exercise could possibly make their employees healthier and more productive, began to schedule exercise programmes during work hours”with a discipline know to these very dedicated and disciplined workers. They can take a break when they need and are encouraged to nap.

But, anyone who tried it has found the difference after taking a short break and, instead of browsing their social feeds, hiding in the bathroom for a nice stretch. Well it is kind of limited to the stool size… none the less even the recommended neck and pack (discreet) stretching exercises can have a huge impact difference. Lifehack does have some nice suggestions. Some would be really nice to do in the office but the people around would find it strange and some comments would be sure to arise. A few of them can actually be done discreetly and still relieve muscle stiffness such as:

• The wrist stretch - place your wrists on the desk so they face away from you, and apply pressure until you feel the stretch (easier if you stand);
• Stress Ball Squeeze – Hold it for 30” at a time and then release or feel free to pump the stress out of it. You’ll move hands and forearms improving circulation, strength and mobility|;
• Eagle arm twist – “Stay seated and extend your arms in front of you at shoulder level. Cross your right arm over your left, raise your forearms and twist your palms inwards. Hold, and then repeat with your left arm over your right.”;
• Spinal twist – Really nice to say hi to the college behind you, “Keeping seated with your knees in line with one another, place your left hand on your right knee and twist your entire upper body to the right, looking behind your shoulder. Hold, then twist back and repeat on the other side”. This will keep your spine flexible.

Then, after a nice stretch, get up and walk around, have a nice break.

Sources:

• https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/09/science-tells-you-how-many-minutes-should-you-take-a-break-for-work-17/380369

• https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/exercise-workplace-what-japanese-companies-can-teach-us-scott-lister

In recent news, the title of the article was: “Only 41% of employers have a strategy to protect the health of workers”, and the article ends with the following conclusion: “increasingly aware of the direct link between the well-being of employees and their level of productivity and commitment to the company, as well as the relationship with behaviours associated with less healthy lifestyles - namely, sedentary lifestyle, stress, and obesity. What remains now is: moving into practice.”

As suggested in a 2007 publication by the Regional Office for Europe of the World Health Organization, “Steps to Health. A European framework to promote physical activity for health”, the way to “moving into practice” is by “making the healthy choice the easier choice - Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, 1986”.

According to the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, 1986, “the health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over and improve their health. Health is seen as a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living. Health promotion is not just the responsibility of the health sector but goes beyond healthy lifestyles to wellbeing. The fundamental conditions and resources needed for good health are:

• Peace
• Shelter
• Education
• Food
• Income
• A stable ecosystem
• Sustainable resources
• Social justice and equity”

Moving into practice is all about the framework: See+Believe+Think+Act:

• Be transparent and help the individuals to See the big picture, create, organize and explain the route to structure your work and your workplace as a future-oriented instrument to promote health in your business.

• Then to help them Believe, create “arguments for and “win-win” messages to encourage the participation.” As an example of a workplace context: “The “win-win” impacts are the Regular physical activity which improves health and has a positive effect on sick leave. Improved employee health is reported to be associated with increased productivity, better employee relations, and improved team spirit.”

• Set realistic goals, proven strategies, and metrics and adapt them to your local workplace environment, speak their language, adapt to them. As a leader, you can involve your employees into the planning and decision-making process and give them the opportunity to think deeper about the Theory to Practice process, explore the stages of Why, What, Who and How. This is also a win-win situation, here the leader receives the help to transform his plans into a language that can be absorbed and, at the same time, engages the participants as vital members of a team.

• Then lead by example, and act as well. Act as a catalyst, by providing information that empower them and by facilitating skills development.

Lastly, is important to remember that it may be difficult for the individuals to move into practice if they do not feel control over their environment and their personal circumstances. So, do not forget to empower your team with a salutogenic perspective: meaningfulness, manageability, and understandability.

Seek to promote and create a supportive environment in your workplace: improving the capacities of individuals, improving the social and economic conditions and the physical environments in which people live.

Enable people to make sound choices. Empower them to move into practice.

Performetric is an example of how a software can help you to empower your team, it allows users to analyze their individual metrics (in real-time) measuring and detecting fatigue-related problems (burnout, stress, etc...).

Based on the users’ interaction patterns with the computer, as the artificial intelligence techniques, the software provides recommendations to prevent potential behavioral changes related to fatigue or stress. It's worth a try..

Sources:

• https://www.publico.pt/2018/05/18/sociedade/noticia/so-41-das-empresas-tem-estrategia-de-saude-definida-para-os-trabalhadores-1830466

• http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/101684/E90191.pdf

• https://www.dgs.pt/documentos-e-publicacoes/estrategia-nacional-para-a-promocao-da-atividade-fisica-da-saude-e-do-bem-estar-pdf.aspx

• https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/servicesandsupport/ottawa-charter-for-health-promotion?viewAsPdf=true

• http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/129532/Ottawa_Charter.pdf?ua=1

• https://www.nature.com/articles/1602168

Mental health problems (burnout, mental fatigue, depression, self-deprivation, loneliness, insomnia…) lead to the loss of productivity.

Those losses represent big cost to companies, and to the individuals affected by it.

Francisco Miranda Rodrigues, member of the Order of Psychologists (Portuguese Psychologists Association), said that the loss of productivity caused by mental health problems can represent an approximate cost of €212 million per year to small and medium-sized enterprises and €117 millions to big companies.
We can say that mental health problems can cost €329 million per year to companies, but you have to evaluate the other side:

• How much does the workplace’s culture and environment cost’s to employees as individuals per year? Together, both values (companies costs plus employees costs) may help managers to evaluate the financial implications and what is the budget allocated to rethink the cultural environment that is being promoted in their workplaces.

How to avoid mental health problem?

First of all, remember that any cultural/environmental change in a workplace is done individual by individual, one at the time.
Then think about your workplace, imagine that you have a mental health issue.

• With which people would you speak to about it?

• Imagine their reaction in this kind of situation.

• Would you feel free to talk openly about your experiences without fear of judgement?

Probably not.

Why not?

Because the great majority of people have a stigma about mental health and will judge you weather they mean to or not.

A fact is that: Long hours of work, excessive workload, poor relationships with colleagues and a lack of support from managers, colleagues, and fear from judgments, leads to serious mental health problems in your team, sooner or later.

António Horta-Osório, chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group, shared in a recent opinion article the mindset that Lloyds Banking Group is working on adopting and embedding in the company cultural environment:

“The action we have taken in recent years has been based on talking to our colleagues. We have learned lessons along the way, which I believe can be adopted by any employer, of any size. We share our personal experiences, and our culture is one of mutual support. "

António Horta-Osório also shared that:

"Last year we launched a competition on social media for colleagues to share their top tips for improving mental wellbeing at work, which continues to be a live conversation today. More than 2,000 colleagues shared entries, which included simple tips such as understanding nutrition, getting enough sleep, or simply having a walk during lunch breaks.”

As a result, of their effort to change their company mindset, for example, an employee felt able to share how he was feeling with his line manager, and "together they worked on a recovery plan. They discussed workloads and pressure points, and met regularly to keep on top of things.”

• Would you like to be able to do the same, as an employee?

• As a manager, would you like that your team felt free to do the same?

Keep in mind: Changing the corporate mindset about mental health is the most fundamental step for change to begin in your workplace, because, if we create the right environment, we get the right performance of a person.

Sources:

• https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/may/01/removeing-taboo-mental-health-work-lloyds-banking-group-antonio-horta-osorio

• http://expresso.sapo.pt/economia/2018-05-12-Burnout-custa-329-milhoes-por-ano-as-empresas#gs.e=ph3OY

• http://www.cityam.com/273427/lloyds-bank-chief-executive-antonio-horta-osorio-stress

• https://performetric.net/