Science of The Heart:
Exploring the Role of the Heart in Human Performance

An Overview of Research Conducted by the Institute of HeartMath

1. Introduction
2. Heart Rate Variability
3. Entrainment, Coherence & Autonomic Balance
4. Head-Heart Interactions
5. Emotional Balance & Health
6. Music Research
7. HeartMath Technology in Business
8. HeartMath in Education
9. Clinical Research
10. Assessment Services
11. Scientific Advisory Board & Physics of Humanity Council
12. Bibliography

HeartMath Technology in Business

Occupational stress is pervasive and invasive. In a 1992 United Nations Report, "job stress" was cited as "the 20th century disease." A recent survey revealed that 75% of Americans describe their jobs as stressful, with more than one in four reporting experiencing high levels of stress ’nearly every day.’ It is currently estimated that 60% of all absenteeism from work is caused by stress, resulting in roughly 1 million persons absent each workday. Moreover, nearly one-fifth of employed adults now acknowledge that workplace stress has caused them to quit a job.

American businesses pay the price of workers who suffer from job-related stress. Recent estimates are that job stress costs employers more than $200 billion a year in absenteeism, tardiness, burnout, lower productivity, high turnover, worker’s compensation and medical insurance costs. To put this in perspective, this figure amounts to more than 10 times the cost of all strikes combined, or the sum total profits of the Fortune 500 companies.

Accelerating stress is clearly taking its toll on the health of the workforce. Dr. Paul J. Roach, President of the American Institute of Stress, reports that 75 to 90% of all visits to healthier providers result from stress-related disorders. Among the nation’s top executives, an estimated $10 to $20 billion is lost each year through absence, hospitalization and early death, much of it a direct result of stress. Multiple long-term studies involving thousands of workers have now demonstrated that people who perceive they have little control over their jobs have significantly increased likelihood of developing heart disease; this association is independent of conventional coronary risk factors, including smoking and high cholesterol levels.

It has become increasingly clear from these and other studies that the leading source of stress for adults is their work. The problem of job stress has become so ubiquitous and so severe it is now described by the United Nations’ International Labor Organization as a ’global epidemic,’ with no occupation and no nation proving to be exempt. In this ’information age,’ the world faces on the one hand, countless technological breakthroughs that promise unheard-of conveniences to make life easier for all, and on the other, the stark reality of a workforce that experiences ever-increasing levels of personal imbalance.

• Job stress costs employers more than $200 billion each year in absenteeism, tardiness, burnout, lower productivity, high turnover, worker ’s compensation and medical insurance costs.
  National Safety Council, 1995
• An estimated 60%of all absenteeism from work is caused by stress.
  C. Cooper & R. Payne, eds. Causes, Coping and Consequences of Stress at Work. 1988
• A recent study determined that employees ’ perceptions of the psychological climate at work influenced job involvement, work effort and work performance.
  S. Brown et al. J Appl Psychol 1996; 81(4)
• Depression,a common problem among workers, costs the U.S.$44 billion per year in lost productivity.
  National Foundation for Brain Research, 1999
• The California Worker’s Compensation Institute determined that job stress claims increased 700% from 1979 to 1988.
  M. Lehmer et al. J Occup Environ Med. 1997; 39(1)
• In a recent 3-year analysis of over 46,000 workers from six major U.S.companies, depression and unmanaged stress emerged as the top two most costly risk factors in terms of medical expenditures increasing health care costs by 2 to 7 times as much as physical risk factors such as smoking, obesity and poor exercise habits.
  R. Goetzel et al. J Occup Environ Med. 1998; 40(10)
• A nationwide survey conducted by the New York Business Group on Health revealed that each employee suffering from stress, anxiety or depression is estimated to lose 16 days of work per year, as compared to an average of 4 to 6 lost workdays for all employees.
  New York Business Group on Health, 1990
• In a study of over 10,000 government employees, workers who perceived they had little control over their jobs had nearly twice the likelihood of developing coronary heart disease as employees with high perceived job control.
  H. Bosma et al. British Medical Journal. 1997; 314(7080)
• In a national survey of 1,305 employed adults,13% reported that they or their coworkers had committed an act that they would describe as ’desk rage’ out of stress or anger, and nearly one in five had quit a job because of stress.
  Caravan Opinion Research Corp. Int’l/L.A. Times, Dec. 10, 2000
• Sustained positive emotion has been correlated with numerous organizationally-relevant benefits, including increased cognitive flexibility and innovative problem solving, improved decision making, negotiation style, creativity, job performance and achievement.
  B. Staw et al. Organization Science 1994; 5(1)

Limitations of Many Stress Management Approaches

Many stress-reduction approaches, such as exercise and fitness programs, time management techniques and nutritional education programs, have been implemented over the past ten to fifteen years to help people cope with increased stress in the workplace. Although some benefits have been realized from these programs, most have not resulted in the desired outcomes, and the level of stress experienced by workers has continued to rise. The proportion of workers who reported feeling "highly stressed" more than doubled from 1985 to 1990. Alarmingly, recent surveys reveal that workplace stress has driven a significant proportion of adults to cry, yell at coworkers, lose sleep, consume alcohol, damage workplace equipment or furniture, call in sick, and even quit their jobs. Increasing eruptions of hostile, explosive and violent behavior in the workplace, recently described as "desk rage," reflect a fundamental level of emotional turmoil among workers that remains unresolved.

While situations, encounters or events may seem intrinsically "stressful," it is truly how an individual perceives and reacts to an event that determines whether or not the stress response is activated. The main limitation of most stress-reduction approaches now in use is that while helpful, they do not target the real source of people’s stress, enabling them to transform their perceptions and reactions to potentially "stressful" situations in the moment they occur.

Inner Quality Management: Enhancing Human Performance and Organizational Effectiveness

Many businesses have been focusing on reengineering their organizations to enhance productivity and the bottom line. At IHM, researchers realized that any effort to unleash the full power of an organization would have to start with empowering the individual. When individuals are internally self-managed, they operate at their greatest potential, enabling the organization to maximize its productivity and quality. The HeartMath tools and techniques were specifically designed for practical use in the midst of life’s fast-paced situations and often unpredictable stresses. Their fundamental purpose-to enable people to transform draining reactions and function with maximum effectiveness in the mement – makes them ideally suited for the practical setting of the workplace, where, as the statistics have shown, they are most needed. To enable people to bring the increased coherence associated with heart-focused management of the mind and emotions into the practical setting of the workplace, IHM developed the Inner Quality Management Program, a training program specifically tailored to the needs of businesses and organizations.

IQM Program Modules

• Internal Self-Management: Managing stress and emotions to maximize individual flexibility, creativity and intelligence
• Coherent Communication: Enhancing information transfer between coworkers, with customers or constituents, and within oneself
• Boosting Organizational Climate: Creating a caring and healthy workplace culture – one that boosts productivity and effectiveness
• Strategic Processes & Renewal: Operationalizing the tools to build a coherent and self-renewing organization

Many companies have discovered that the information age requires a new type of intelligence for people to sort through, filter and effectively process an incredible flow of information. As laid out in the Introduction to this overview, the physiological incoherence created by unmanaged reactions to stress may actually inhibit brain function, reducing us to extremely limited perspectives. Sadly, many people have adapted so thoroughly to the stressful conditions around them that they hardly realize just how limited their perspectives actually are. The basic premise of Inner Quality Management (IQM) is that as individuals learn to maintain a coherent internal environment through mental/emotional management, the heart and brain synchronize, and a synergy of intellectual, intuitive and emotional intelligence takes place. This expands our perspectives, allowing us to transform stressful reactions into healthy responses and effective solutions. It becomes quickly obvious that the benefits extend far beyond stress reduction. Studies with many major organizations have revealed that the IQM tools, sincerely practiced, allow individuals to maximize their personal balance, physical health, intelligence and performance. These benefits, extended to the organization, lead to enhanced interpersonal communication and team dynamics, more effective creative and intuitive problem solving, improved planning and decision making, greater care for customers and coworkers, and over-all increased actualization of the organization’s full potential.

The following research studies demonstrate the profound impact that training in the IQM techniques has had on employees of diverse organizations. Major improvements were apparent in some cases after only six weeks’ practice of the tools learned. The trainings were highly effective in workers at all levels of employment, and proved instrumental in helping several organizations move through particularly difficult circumstances and stressful transitions with increased facility and minimized energy drain. Results indicate that practice of the techniques has not only significantly improved employees’ emotional balance and attitudes but has also affected their physical health, resulting in improved autonomic function, increased vitality and reductions in a variety of physical symptoms of stress (including sleeplessness, body aches, indigestion and rapid heartbeats). Notably, case studies show that hypertensive employees who used the HeartMath interventions were able to restore blood pressure levels to normal values without the aid of medication. Furthermore, the techniques have enabled employees to significantly increase their productivity, mental clarity, creativity and enjoyment of their work, improvements that profoundly impact overall workplace quality and effectiveness.

An Inner Quality Approach to Reducing Stress and Improving Physical and Emotional Well-Being at Work

Bob Barrios-Choplin, PhD, Rollin McCraty, PhD and Bruce Cryer, MA. Stress Medicine. 1997; 13 (3): 193-201.

Key findings: Motorola employees trained in the IQM techniques experienced increased contentment, job satisfaction and communication and decreased tension, anxiety, nervousness and physical symptoms of stress six months after the training program. Blood pressure in hypertensive individuals was restored to normal levels and there were overall improvements in autonomic activity.

Summary: This exploratory field study examined the impact of the Inner Quality Management program (IQM) on a sample of Motorola managers, engineers and factory workers. Both psychological and physiological measures were assessed. Emotional stressors and social attitudes, physical symptoms of stress and workplace effectiveness were measured by a survey conducted prior to, and three and six months following the training program. Autonomic activity, measured by short-term heart rate variability analysis, and blood pressure were also assessed before the training and again six months afterwards.

Results showed that caring, contentment, job satisfaction and communication significantly increased after the training, while tension, nervousness, anxiety and physical symptoms of stress significantly decreased. Of the 18 managers and engineers whose blood pressure was measured, five were classified as stage 1 or stage 2 hypertensive prior to the training. The number of participants with hypertension equaled 28% of the sample, which corresponds to the national average of 28% of the population with this disorder. None of these individuals were being treated by a doctor or taking any medications to control their hypertension.

At the end of the six months, all participants were classified as either normal or high normal. Further reductions in blood pressure were achieved when participants practiced the Freeze-Frame technique for five minutes after a resting blood pressure reading was taken (Figure 27). There was also a significant reduction in resting autonomic activity at the end of the six months.

This result supports the psychological changes measured, suggesting a shift in participants’ baseline emotional state to one of decreased tension and anxiety.

That improvements in the physical symptoms of stress and psychological parameters combined with reductions in blood pressure and improved heart rate variability occurred as a result of a self-management intervention illustrates the profound impact that stress can and does have on our physiology and work performance. By teaching participants how to manage their perceptions to control their emotional turmoil, the real source of stress was concurrently managed.

The Effect of Inner Quality Management Training on Change-Related Stress in a Government Agency

The effect of employee self-management training on personal and organizational quality.
Bob Barrios – Choplin, PhD, Rollin McCraty, PhD, Joseph Sundram, MEd and Mike Atkinson. HeartMath Research Center, Institute of HeartMath, Publication No. 99-083. Boulder Creek, CA, 1999.

Key findings: Training in the IQM techniques helped CalPERS employees effectively transform an environment of emotional turmoil that had developed in response to the implementation of major organizational change. Compared to an untrained comparison group, employees who learned HeartMath tools experienced significant reductions in anger, anxiety, distress, depression, sadness, fatigue and physical stress symptoms after a 6-week IQM training. Trained employees also demonstrated significant increases in productivity, goal clarity, peacefulness and vitality relative to the comparison group. Results suggest that the HeartMath training enhanced employees’ capacity to implement change with less resistance and friction.

Summary: This study investigated the impact of the IQM program on managers and staff within the Information Technology Services Division (ITSD) of the California Personnel Retirement System (CalPERS). The ITSD had recently initiated profound changes to meet the new realities in the information services marketplace. Shifting from a known technology that had outgrown its utility to a new technology requiring that the whole division learn new skills had proven to be a significant challenge. The stress generated by these changes, combined with simultaneous changes in the division’s leadership created an emotional atmosphere of fragmentation, misperception and miscommunication in the workplace environment. Many employees were reportedly experiencing anger, anxiety, anger and resentment. This combination of stress and negative affect was likened to an ’emotional virus,’ compromising the ability of the division to gracefully accept the changes and adapt to the new leadership style and technological direction.

Improvements in Stress,
Emotional Well-Being and Organizational
Effectiveness in a Government Agency

The Inner Quality Management training was delivered over the course of six weeks to 54 employees of the ITSD, along with some members of the Change Management Team and the Human Resources Division. Participants spent this time learning and applying the IQM tools and techniques to the issues, challenges and opportunities inherent in fundamental organizational change. A psychological survey measuring dimensions of stress, emotions and organizational effectiveness was administered pre and post training. Results were compared with a comparison group of 64 employees who were awaiting training.

After the completion of the training, seven weeks from the initial assessment, the HeartMath group demonstrated significant reductions in measures of stress and negative emotion, and significant increases in measures of positive emotion and organizational effectiveness in relation to the comparison group. Key findings after the training indicated significant decreases in anger (20%), distress (21%) depression (26%), sadness (22%), and fatigue (24%), and significant increases in peacefulness (23%) and vitality (10%). There was also a reduction in stress symptoms, including anxiety (21%), sleeplessness (24%) and rapid heartbeats (19%). Organizational quality assessment revealed significant gains in goal clarity (9%) and productivity (4%). These changes were noteworthy in the light of the major organizational and emotional challenges faced by the participants, and the relatively short time in which the improvements took place. Results suggest that by facilitating increased self-management of participants’ mental and emotional turmoil, the HeartMath interventions enhanced employees’ capacity to defuse personal and organizational stress. The division’s qualitative reports to the researchers indicated that these improvements were sustained over time and enabled a more efficient and harmonious change implementation process.

Impact of the HeartMath Self-Management Skills Program on Physiological and Psychological Stress in Police Officers

Rollin McCraty, PhD, Dana Tomasino, BA, Mike Atkinson and Joseph Sundram, MEd.
HeartMath Research Center, Institute of HeartMath, Publication No. 99-075. Boulder Creek, CA, 1999.

Key findings: Police officers trained in the HeartMath techniques experienced decreased stress, negative emotions and fatigue, increased calmness and clarity under the acute stress of simulated police calls, and more rapid recalibration following these high-stress scenarios, as compared to an untrained control group. Trained officers also demonstrated improvements in work performance, communication and cooperation at work, and relationships with family after learning and practicing the techniques.

Summary: The police officer is exposed to stress beyond the range of usual human experience. Without effective management, the various acute and chronic stressors inherent in police work impose a significant burden on physical and psychological health and may lead to adverse physiological, emotional and behavioral outcomes. Officers operating under severe and chronic stress are at greater risk of error, accidents and overreaction that can compromise performance, jeopardize public safety and pose significant liability costs to the organization. Research has also shown that police officers are more than twice as likely to develop cardiovascular disease as workers in other occupations. Furthermore, family relationships among law enforcement officers are often severely impacted by job-related stresses. However, police officers are rarely provided with effective stress management strategies to help alleviate these problems.

This study, sponsored by seven police chiefs and conducted in conjunction with Sunnyvale Public Safety (Sunnyvale, CA), explored the impact of the HeartMath interventions on the health and functioning of a group of police officers from seven different agencies in Santa Clara County, California. An Inner Quality Management training program, specifically tailored to address personal and work-related stressors faced by those in the law enforcement profession, was provided to an intervention group consisting of 29 officers. The training included instruction in Freeze-Frame, the Heart Lock-In and HeartMath techniques for effective communication. A waiting control group of 36 officers employed by the same agencies received the IQM training once the study was completed.

Key Benefits of the HeartMath Training for Santa Clara County Police Officers *

• Increased awareness and self-management of stress reactions
• Greater confidence, balance and clarity under acute stress
• Quicker physiological and psychological recalibration following acute stress
• Improved work performance
• Reduced competition, improved communication and greater cooperation within work teams
• Reduced distress, anger, sadness and fatigue
• Reduced sleeplessness and physical stress symptoms
• Increased peacefulness and vitality
• Improved listening and relationships with family

The study was conducted over a 16-week period. Participants were assessed before and after the intervention program in the following areas: physical symptoms and vitality; emotional well-being; coping and interpersonal skills; work performance; workplace effectiveness and climate; family relationships; and physiological and psychological recalibration following acute stress. Holter monitoring was used to obtain continuous ECG data throughout a series of very realistic simulated police calls used in police training (a building search, high-speed car chase and domestic violence scenario) in order to determine the cardiovascular impact of acutely stressful situations typically encountered on the job. Two of these scenarios were conducted before the self-management training intervention, and one was conducted after the completion of the program. Given the particularly high incidence of cardiovascular disease among police officers, 24-hour heart rate variability data collected by the Holter monitor was used to assess risk for cardiovascular disease and premature mortality. Blood pressure recordings were also obtained before and after the scenarios.

Results indicated that the HeartMath training improved officers’ capacity to recognize and manage stress and negative emotions in both work and personal contexts. Over the course of the study, officers trained in HeartMath techniques experienced reductions in stress, negative emotions, fatigue and physical symptoms of stress, as well as increases in positive emotions, peacefulness and physical vitality, as compared to the control group that had not received the training. In contrast, officers in the control group showed minimal positive changes and some indications of the worsening of symptoms over the same time period. Notably, feelings of depression rose 17% among the untrained officers, while the HeartMath-trained group demonstrated a 13% drop in depression during the same time period. Similarly, fatigue declined among the HeartMath group by 18% and distress by 20%, whereas the control group demonstrated only a 1% reduction in both these parameters. Enhanced work performance in the trained group was also noted, as well as improvements in strained family relationships and communication difficulties at work, two principal and well-recognized sources of stress in the policing profession.

Heart Rhythm of One Officer Using Freeze-Frame
After the Domestic Violence Scenario

Heart rate and blood pressure measurements taken during the simulated police calls (acutely stressful circumstances similar to those encountered by officers on the job) demonstrated a tremendous degree of physiological activation, with heart rates rising 40 to 55 beats per minute above baseline, and, on average, taking over one hour to restabilize to baseline levels. In several cases, systolic blood pressure rose to over 200 mm Hg during the simulations, reflecting increases in the range of 80-120 mm Hg above starting values. Activation such as this requires considerable time for the body to readjust to baseline levels. However, according to their responses in semi-structured interviews, the majority of participating officers felt that application of the HeartMath interventions increased their calmness, clarity and focus during the scenarios and facilitated a more rapid and fuller recovery, both physiologically and psychologically, following the acute stress. Trends in internally-con-ducted performance evaluations pre and post training were consistent with these self-reported improvements, as were blood pressure responses. Figure 31 shows an example of the change in heart rate experienced by one officer who used the Freeze-Frame technique to recalibrate after the domestic violence scenario, which participants rated as the most stressful of the simulations.

Autonomic nervous system assessment based on HRV analysis revealed that 11% of the police officers tested were at high risk for cardiovascular disease and premature mortality, more than twice the ratio of at-risk individuals expected to be found in the general population. These findings underscore the importance and potential long-term health implications of providing effective self-management interventions to individuals in high-stress professions such as law enforcement. The integration of such interventions in police training may enable officers to perform their jobs with greater effectiveness, to preserve and enhance their physical and emotional health, and ultimately to provide better protection to the citizens whom they serve.

The Effect of Inner Quality Management Training on Employees’ Tension

Independent study conducted by Bob Barrios-Choplin, PhD.

Key findings: Employees of Mainstream Access trained in the IQM techniques were able to alter their cognitive styles so as to significantly reduce their tension levels in the face of stress during the year following the training. Tension, in turn, was found to be significantly related to levels of burnout, anger, happiness and job satisfaction.

Summary: This longitudinal study examined the effects of the IQM program on employees of Mainstream Access, a Canadian human resource management consulting firm. The CEO of this organization became concerned that many of his employees were experiencing high levels of tension and in some instances might be approaching burnout. He felt one cause was the growth of the firm and resulting fast pace at work, and another source might be the employees overidentifying with clients who were experiencing problems. This latter source of stress, sometimes termed ’overcare,’ occurs in many helping professions, as professionals become so concerned with their clients’ emotions and problems that their own efficiency diminishes. The CEO decided to train his entire organization in techniques which would not only reduce current levels of tension, but also make employees more resilient in the face of future stressors.

Seventy employees attended an IQM training program. Participants completed a psychological survey to assess levels of tension and their relationship to feelings of burnout, anger, happiness and job satisfaction before the training and again three months and one year after the training.

There was a significant reduction in participants’ tension over the course of the study. This was particularly notable in the light of company officials’ assessments that stressors continued to increase over that period of time. Results showed that tension was positively related to burnout and anger, and negatively related to happiness and job satisfaction.

A widely accepted model of the stress process proposes that the frequency and intensity of stress reactions experienced by individuals are moderated by their appraisals of potential stressors, which, in turn, are influenced by their cognitive styles (modes of perceiving and interpreting reality). The results of this study suggest that these styles are not fixed, and that the revision of cognitive styles need not require lengthy and costly interventions. Instead, employees did make major shifts in their cognitive styles, as evidenced by lower levels of tension in the face of potentially highly stressful conditions, following a 2-day seminar and practice of the IQM techniques. Further, reduced tension can affect burnout, mood states and job satisfaction in the workplace, resulting in a healthier and more productive work environment.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC)

Independent, internally conducted study.

Key findings: Employees of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce trained in the Freeze-Frame technique showed an extremely high level of retention and consistent application of the technique both in business and personal life one year after the training. Employees placed high value on the technique, with most feeling it significantly affected their behavior and improved their health and overall well being.

Summary: This study was conducted internally by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), Canada’s second largest financial institution. The bank had five employees trained to be certified in teaching the Freeze-Frame technique. These trainers subsequently delivered the Freeze-Frame portion of the IQM seminar to 1200 middle and senior-level employees, representing a cross-section of age, background and education. Employees were surveyed at several intervals after the training to determine the extent of their use of Freeze-Frame and the self-assessed effects of the technique on behavior, health and overall well-being.

Particularly striking was the high level of retention and continuous application of the Freeze-Frame technique even one year after the training, with no further instruction or follow-up. Results indicated that 71% of the employees continue to use Freeze-Frame one year after they were trained. Of the users, 86% practice the technique in business, 55% use it in personal life and 41% apply it to both business and personal issues. 73% feel that their behavior has changed as a result of using Freeze-Frame, and 82% feel that Freeze-Frame improves their overall health and well-being. At this point over 2,000 CIBC employees have participated in customized HeartMath programs. The impact that the HeartMath program has had on workplace effectiveness within this organization is summed up by a comment made by the Director of the Bank’s Leadership Center: "(As a result of HeartMath), we are seeing tremendous growth in our team focus, communication and effectiveness. Overall there is a greater sense of coherence within our team. We see the universal application of this excellent program fitting into more of our existing Leadership trainings as well as using it as a stand-alone program that supports the needs of our business."

CIBC – Use of IQM Tools

CIBC – Health and Behavior Improvements

Royal Dutch Shell

Independent study conducted by Alan D. Watkins, MBBS.

Key findings: A group of Royal Dutch Shell employees experienced significant reductions in physical symptoms of stress, decreased negative affect, increased positive affect, marked reductions in blood pressure and significant improvements in a variety of measures of workplace effectiveness after implementing the IQM technology.

Summary: Seventeen members of the Senior Management Team of the Estates Division of Shell International participated in the IQM training program in London. Participants were middle and senior managers and included the Head of Human Relations and the Head of the company’s Head Office in London. One week prior to the 2-day program, participants completed an extensive questionnaire covering both individual and business issues. Parameters assessed included physical and emotional symptoms of stress, positive affect, communication, goal clarity, productivity, decision making and job satisfaction. The majority of participants also had their blood pressure measured at this time. The psychometric and blood pressure measurements were taken again six weeks after the training to determine the impact of the IQM program. The analysis was conducted jointly with the company’s own medical team.

Changes were culled from the subset of individuals exhibiting the strongest negative effects of stress on health and performance. Among this group, there were marked improvements six weeks following the IQM training in nearly all parameters assessed. Physical symptoms of stress significantly improved; rapid heartbeats declined by 38%, tension by 65% and aches and pains by 70%. These participants were 65% less angry, 70% less worried, 87% less fatigued and 68% happier. There was a 44% decrease in their desire to leave the company and a 52% decrease in the desire to quit their jobs. Their listening skills rose by 65%, intuitive decision making increased by 100%, alignment between personal and organizational goals increased by 107%, their meetings were 107% more organized, and the clarity of organizational goals increased by 197%. They experienced a 34% increase in focus, an 86% increase in efficiency, and a 119% increase in creativity and results. Notably, the company’s own worldwide Employee Satisfaction Survey correlated very well with the pre-training data, adding additional validity to the findings.

Of the 14 individuals who had their blood pressure monitored, seven (50%) had borderline or high readings prior to the program. The group average prior to the program was 126/80 mm Hg. Six weeks after the IQM training, with no other lifestyle changes, the average blood pressure had fallen to 118/78 mm Hg. One particular individual whose blood pressure was very high prior to the program (160/100 mm Hg), had a normal reading (130/80 mm Hg) for the first time in 15 years, according to the Chief Occupational Health Physician, six weeks after the IQM program. These results are in keeping with the marked improvements in blood pressure measured after the IQM program in the Motorola case study, described earlier in this section.

A follow-up psychometric analysis performed six months after the training was also completed. Results indicate that the improvements in personal and organizational effectiveness have been sustained through participants’ application of the IQM technology in their day-to-day work and life experiences. In many areas, further improvements have been achieved over time.

Stressful Traits

often / most of the time

Stress Symptoms

often / most of the time

Physical Stress Symptoms

often / most of the time