By Kathryn McKenna
Susan Steele, Director of Performance Breakthrough, has devised a new app which aims to reduce stress, improve concentration and increase focus in the workplace - and Susan firmly believes it will enhance employee wellbeing, particularly in the thriving NI tech industry.
Speaking from a corporate event where she was demonstrating the concept of the new Perform It Better app, Susan Steele says the concept couldn’t be more simple.
“The employees here today cannot believe it takes just two minutes to complete the app’s task of the day. You can do it while you’re waiting on the kettle boiling and yet it is firing neurons together, creating new neural pathways and making life easier,” Susan explains to Sync NI.
Susan, who hails from Bangor, created the app together with her son just three months ago. It follows the success of Performance Breakthrough, the company which Susan developed 15 years ago, which the mother-of-two developed in response to challenges her sons were facing when it came to concentrating in school, along with traits of dyslexia.
In order to help her children, resourceful Susan, who had worked in financial services for 26-years, researched a specialised exercise programme which “turned their lives around.”
Susan explains: “They had problems with concentration as well as traits of dyslexia. I saw the differences and the improvements the exercises made for my children and I could not stop talking about it! I was so taken with it that I decided to give up my job and start providing the programme for other people.”
This determination and enthusiasm brought Susan all the way to Seattle, where she trained with its founder, Dr Frank Belgau, before bringing the programme to Northern Ireland in 2010.
READ MORE: 'Having low numbers of females in STEM is a repetitive cycle that needs to be dealt with'
Susan says she has been “bringing it to people ever since.” Recently, Susan and John, 29, Susan’s eldest son who now works alongside Susan at Performance Breakthrough, realised they needed to make the programme available to more teenagers and adults.
The app costs £150 per staff member, with Susan explaining: “We provide content for one year only as this is ample time to hardwire the positive changes within the brain and make them permanent. Employers are noticing positive changes within their staff members within six weeks of starting the beanbag challenges.
"It is inexpensive and takes just two minutes per day to complete. Our beanbag challenges calm the body and mind connection through regulation of the Vagus nerve. The rewiring of the brain becomes permanent through the science of neuroplasticity.
"Improvements can be seen once you calm the ‘chaos’ within the brain.”
Susan says she can tell “so much” from observing how someone throws and catches a bean bag. If their chest and upper arms are tight, this indicates they experience tension, stress or anxiousness.
If their eyes cannot watch the beanbag when it is thrown and caught, this indicates the individual finds it difficult to concentrate, procrastinates or starts tasks with great excitement - but doesn’t finish them.
All of these traits can lead to an employee feeling overwhelmed, which in turn can lead to absenteeism, work flows not being completed on time, headaches for managers and ultimately an increase in HR’s workload.
The app is already causing optimum changes for one corporate client’s staff. “We have started working with our first corporate client and they are already noticing positive differences in their staff,” Susan reveals.
“One challenge, employers are currently facing in the tech industry, is encouraging more staff back into the office.
“It’s really difficult to make employees go back into the office. They are used to working from home and not having to interact and speak to other people. We can almost forget how to interact with others if this continues for an extended period of time. Our app will enable a member of staff to realise that working from home permanently is not always good for their mental health and wellbeing.
“From experience, we know if an employee starts completing the Perform it Better app, their brain will process information differently. They will start remembering all the things they used to enjoy doing when they went into the office, such as lunch with colleagues, or just having a laugh with co-workers. They start to remember what it is like to be social. This results in a happier, more engaged and healthier employee coming back into the office, rather than a disengaged employee who has been forced back due to a compulsory office mandate.”
Susan, who has worked with teenagers for 15 years, explains she has seen similar changes in behaviour through implementing the programme with families. “Parents who have been struggling to get their teenagers to come out of their rooms report their teenagers start to engage with them again and actually choose to spend time with their family," she explains.
Pictured: For corporate clients, Susan and son, John conduct an induction with your team
For corporate clients, such as an employer who wishes to sign up on behalf of their staff, Susan and John conduct an induction with your team to register each staff member individually so that compliance can be monitored and reported to the employer.
Alternatively, if someone wants to sign up personally, which is also an option, they can find out more information here.
New users will immediately receive an instructional video explaining how and why the app works. Each morning they will receive an email with a link which includes their exercise video to be completed for that day which require just two minutes.
Susan is keen to emphasise that even if you miss a couple of days, you will not ‘fall behind.’ Your challenge will not move on until you are ready to get going again. The last thing we want to do is make someone even more overwhelmed as this is when you are more likely to give up!
if you would like to find out more about how you can enhance the wellbeing and mental health of your staff members contact Susan of Performance Breakthrough by mobile: 07790245145, or via email: susan@performancebreakthrough.co.uk.
Visit: performancebreakthrough.co.uk for more information.
Subscribe to Sync NI Newsletter for the latest technology news, jobs and upcoming events in N.I.
Read the magazine online for free here.
You can follow Sync NI online and across our socials on Twitter/'X', LinkedIn, and Facebook.
