Organisations are investing in corporate mindfulness as they seek to improve employee wellbeing, engagement, retention rates and a positive culture. Leading organisations realise that investing in their people’s wellbeing is vital to building a positive organisational culture and becoming an employer of choice.

Furthermore, leading organisations know the proven benefits of workplace mindfulness to improve focus, performance, creativity and innovation.

Corporate mindfulness has been studied extensively and has been shown to provide a range of benefits in the workplace:

Performance: Staff who develop a regular mindfulness practice exhibit tangible improvements in their ability to sustain a clear and stable focus on the task at hand, meaning they are less prone to mind wandering and therefore less likely to make errors produced by lapses of attention and to complete tasks quickly, efficiently and accurately.

Relationships: Workplace mindfulness affects interpersonal behaviour and the quality of relationships by cultivating greater attention to others, improved listening skills, reduced conflict, reduced emotional reactivity and greater compassion and empathy.

Leadership: Corporate mindfulness has a particular benefit for leaders. These benefits include enhanced leadership flexibility, significantly improved wellbeing, improved objective thinking, improved management competence, improved work relationship quality, and empowerment in the use of leadership styles.

Furthermore, leader mindfulness has been shown to enhance a follower’s job performance and well-being even if the follower does not practice mindfulness!

From stress to wellbeing: Ongoing stress reduces the body’s physiological, attentional and emotional coping mechanisms, and reduces our ability to cope with future challenges.

This directly impacts organisations through staff disengagement, attentional deficits, absenteeism and working while unwell, and leads to role adjustments and workers’ compensation claims.

Mindfulness is associated with a number of mechanisms involved in stress reduction, including a reduction in cortisol levels in response to threats, and faster recovery to baseline levels after a stressful incident occurs. These effects have, in turn, been linked to outcomes that include improved sleep.

Suggested reading:

Mesmer-Magnus, et al 2017. Trait mindfulness at work: A meta-analysis of the personal and professional correlates of trait mindfulness.

Good, et al 2016. Contemplating Mindfulness at Work: An Integrative Review

Zhou, et al 2022. Being “there and aware”: a meta-analysis of the literature on leader mindfulness.

Many leading organisation provide workplace mindfulness programs for their teams. The large and growing list of companies providing mindfulness education to their employees includes household names like Goldman Sachs, Intel and Nike, as well as the famously progressive staff-focused folk at Google.

The level of training offered ranges from semi-regular one-off training sessions, to approaches that seek to embed mindfulness into the fabric of organisational life.

For example, at global food manufacturer General Mills mindfulness education has become an integral part of the company’s mission to create a healthy work environment and culture, including on-site mindfulness meditation rooms.

Computer giant Intel has a company-wide employee wellness policy in which mindfulness training features prominently. This includes an expertly-facilitated mindfulness program called Awake@Intel, and allocated time for meditation.

The return on investment (ROI) for corporate mindfulness programs is varied and positive.

World-leading software solutions provider SAP have reported a 200% return on investment from mindfulness initiatives. This return has come from improvements in critical areas, like wellness, focus, a decrease in stress, and an increase in creativity and collaboration - correlated directly to business outcomes on which they could put a dollar value.

Aetna, a US health insurer, has trained 13,000 employees on mindfulness practices, resulting in a reported reduction in stress levels of 28%. Annual productivity improvements are estimated at $3,000 per employee. In the first year of implementing a mindfulness program, healthcare costs fell 7%, saving the company over $6 million. Aetna’s study also found that mindfulness increased job effectiveness, with employees gaining an average of 62 minutes of productivity per week.

References:

https://www.bcg.com/publications/2018/unleashing-power-of-mindfulness-in-corporations

https://www.siyglobal.com/resources/roi-mindfulness

pause offers a wide-range of corporate mindfulness services to suit any sized organisation or purpose.

Our workplace education provides tailored workshops that can be delivered face-to-face or online to empower your teams to understand and develop mindfulness skills. These sessions can be delivered as a 90-minute, half-day or full-day workshop.

Our mindfulness-based leadership development supports organisations to develop highly skilled, compassionate, confident leaders who manage their own wellbeing and support others to do the same. Mindful leadership sessions can delivered face-to-face or remotely with a mix of group and 1:1 sessions.

Our conference presentations are designed to inspire and support delegates to pause and refresh, enable them to experience a mindful break and learn new skills to support their own wellbeing.

Requesting a quote is easy. Simply click here to contact our team, and we'll provide you with a personalised quote tailored to your organisation's needs.