Company: Fierce Inc., Seattle, WA
Company Description: Fierce Conversations is a global leadership development and training company, founded by best-selling author Susan Scott in 2001. Serving sixty percent of the Fortune 500, we partner with clients to transform organizational cultures by building employee conversational skills that spark curiosity, ignite innovation, invite cross-boundary collaboration, and solve their toughest business challenges.
Nomination Category: Company / Organization Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Innovation of the Year - Business Service Industries
 Nomination Title: The introduction of Pulse and Biometric Intelligence by Fierce Inc.
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes in length about the achievements of the nominated organization since January 1 2022, OR written answers to the questions for this category? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the nominated video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this first question: Briefly describe the nominated organization: its history and past performance (up to 200 words):
Total 200 words used.
Fierce is a performance improvement company that transforms individuals with technology that builds high-performing teams, creates agile leaders, inclusive cultures, and resilient workforces. Founded in 2001 by bestselling author, Susan Scott, the organization has coached >60% of the Fortune 500 on resilience, leadership, and stress management.
Prior to the pandemic, Fierce conducted its trainings predominantly in person. The worldwide shift to remote work forced the organization (along with its competitors) to shift to other training methods. While most leadership training companies simply modified trainings to be virtual or blended, though, Fierce saw this as an opportunity to invest in the future of learning - biometric intelligence and AI.
Biometric intelligence is an advancement in emotional intelligence. It's the science of using an individual's heart rate variability to flag stress triggers throughout each day. For the past series of years, the company has invested in groundbreaking behavioral research and AI development in order to build an app that can coach working professionals based on their stress triggers. This personalized coaching (using AI) has in the last twelve months been proven to reduce employee anxiety by as much as 16%. Studies have also shown this technology to reduce employee burnout by 8%.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this second question: Outline the organization's achievements since the beginning of 2022 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):
Total 248 words used.
In February 2023, Fierce introduced Pulse to the market.
Pulse is an app designed to improve employees' emotional intelligence and reduce stress through biometrics. The aggregate data of employees (excluding personal identifying information) is then populated in a predictive analytics dashboard for employers based on department, region, and the whole organization to track key measurements around culture, employee engagement, stress levels, and turnover.
Pulse syncs to employees’ smart watches to track their biometrics. Specifically, heart rate variability. Pulse transforms heart rate variability into an intuitive stress timeline. By charting each hour on a 1-4 scale, the app shows users a 24/7 timeline of their stress. Its AI chatbot then provides users with individualized, interactive coaching based on over twenty years of PhD research and Fierce's experience training >60% of the Fortune 500.
The app has generated one million in revenue to date. It has yielded the following results for employers (and their employees):
- 8% reduction in employee burnout
- 16% reduction in employee anxiety
- 8% reduction in perceived stress
- 4% improvement in employee cohesion
- 11% improvement in employee resilience
In February 2024, Pulse was tested by the Korn Ferry Institute (the industry's leading research organization). Results from the study showed, "... Clear reductions in biometrically measured stress with a 3% improvement in heart rate variability following the biometrically enabled coaching session. Results also showed improvements in self-reported measures such as reduced perceived stress (8% decrease), reduced anxiety (16% decrease), increased resilience (5% increase), and increased metacognition (7% increase)."
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this third question: Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the organization's past performance (up to 250 words):
Total 122 words used.
The consensus in the market has been that this comes at a crucial time for businesses. Organizations are actively constricting budgets and focusing on investments that can show trackable returns on investment. Pulse allows organizations to move beyond the intangibles of traditional emotional intelligence training (which has historically been considered a 'soft science'). With the app and its companywide analytics, businesses can now measure the real-time impact of trainings, culture initiatives, and employee engagement programs.
Biometric intelligence is the evolution of emotional intelligence. It empowers individuals and organizations with the hard data they need to pinpoint the root causes behind resilience, burnout, and stress (as opposed to emotional intelligence which focuses on the symptoms). This innovation redefines the emotional intelligence training market.
- You have the option to answer this final question: Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 36 words used.
Below are resources either referenced in the above questions or provided to give visual clarity:
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