The advantages of mindfulness at work
Unmotivated employees, a tense workplace environment, and performance that just doesn’t cut it are all familiar to any manager. One way to fix this is by adopting mindfulness at work, which can help improve employee productivity, motivation, and overall wellbeing. In this Pacific Prime Hong Kong article, we explore the advantages of mindfulness at work.
What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness essentially means being presently aware of your feelings, thoughts, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment. It’s common for us to become distracted from what we are doing at any given moment. Your mind starts doing its own thing, you forget what your body is doing, and the next thing you know, you’re consumed with obsessive thoughts about the past, the future, or both.
Regardless of how far your mind wanders, mindfulness is the key to reel everything back in and tune into what you are currently doing and how you are currently feeling. Luckily, mindfulness is a quality that all of us already possess. You simply have to learn how to tap into it.
To help you get a deeper understanding, let’s take a look at how mindfulness programs can be advantageous in a workplace environment.
Why is mindfulness in the workplace important?
The workplace has gone through many changes in recent years. Stressful workdays have become the norm for many people. Whether you’re dealing with tight deadlines, a to-do list that never seems to end, distractions, or interruptions, working under pressure seems to be increasingly common.
Most people do what they can to push through the hardship – by putting their heads down and attempting to work harder, longer, and faster just to get everything done. What’s more, the line between the end of the workday and personal time has started to blur. Technology and the around-the-clock timeline means many people cannot escape work no matter where they go.
While this approach may work in the short-term, it is by no means a long-term solution. In fact, this overload is likely to result in stress, burnout, or illness at some point. Since mindfulness training has been found to improve wellbeing and health, it can give employees the tools they need to handle stressful situations with ease and adopt the skills they need to work in high-pressure environments.
Benefits of mindfulness in the workplace
When mindfulness is incorporated into a workplace environment, boosting team motivation and achieving business goals becomes a whole lot easier. Issues that affect productivity, such as leadership challenges, a fast-paced work environment, and low employee morale, are dealt with more calmly and effectively. The following are some advantages of mindfulness at work.
Greater awareness
In order to solve a problem, you first have to be aware that there is one. In many modern offices, cubicles are used to divide team members. The physical divide makes it easier for them to lose touch with their surroundings. As a result, social groups are formed by individuals who share similarities, while those who are reluctant to join such groups stay isolated.
Management can integrate mindfulness to help unite all the groups as well as help them understand their purpose in the company. Once they understand their goals, teams will find it easier to take the necessary steps to improve their outlook on work and life.
Less stress
Many HR managers view stress as a trivial issue and regard it as being part of the job. However, if it isn’t dealt with properly it can lead to sick leaves, high absenteeism, and resignation – all of which compromise productivity. HR managers can introduce mindfulness programs to help with just that.
One of the most desirable things about mindfulness is that it teaches us to become less reactive and to develop various techniques of physical and mental exercises. You learn to channel stress through simple activities such as walking and moving. Likewise, taking some time to practice meditation can help you relax.
Since we are more mindful and aware of stress reduction, our performance only improves.
More productive
Behind every successful business lies a productive workforce. If the workforce is not working at its desirable level, then productivity is compromised. That’s also when mindfulness can step in to save the day. Aside from improving performance, introducing mindfulness into the workforce also increases productivity.
When employees are stress-free, they are more capable of absorbing information, understanding their roles in the company, and finding the motivation to perform optimally. Additionally, their clearer minds make it easier to solve problems and come up with creative ideas.
Improve focus
Mindfulness improves focus and enhances mental sharpness and creativity. Team members who meditate are able to shift their focus away from chaos and distractions and focus on positive and productive thoughts instead, which is ideal for modern work environments.
Despite heavy workloads and tight deadlines, employees will find it easier to stay calm and focus on the outcome. To top it off, being mentally stable improves their decision-making skills and job satisfaction.
Enhance wellbeing
Organizations spend a lot of money on medical allowances for group health insurance, when they should also be spending some on mindfulness programs. Mindfulness programs are ideal employee benefits that, when staged like an intervention, helps improve energy and resilience and reduces stress as well. A mindfulness regimen encourages employees to take breaks during a stressful workday, such as to meditate or exercise.
Management that encourages this offers employees a healthy way to enhance their wellbeing. Plus, adding a gym facility or meditation/nap room costs much less than medical care.
Employee engagement
As employees become more mindful and aware of the people in their workplace, they are likely to become more empathetic and compassionate towards others. This happens because we are more willing to hear the ideas and suggestions of those we value and connect with.
Moreover, when employees and management communicate freely, their channels of communication become wider than just official ‘work talk’. Topics surrounding work challenges or problems at home are no longer seen as taboo. Employees feel comfortable enough to talk to managers and look for solutions to their problems together.
No matter how you look at it, mindfulness can be an integral part of any organization’s retention strategy. Employees who are happy and healthy work better together and will want to stay with the organization longer. What company wouldn’t want more of that?
Interested in learning more?
Specializing in employee benefits in Hong Kong, Pacific Prime Hong Kong can help you choose and tailor the right insurance solutions for your workforce. We are also experts in insurance and can help match your company with comprehensive health insurance plans with added benefits that can make your employees feel cared for.
If you have any questions or would like a no-obligation, free quote or plan comparison, contact us today.
Jantra curates and reports on the results of Pacific Prime’s monthly newsletters, as well as manages Pacific Prime’s Deputy Global CEO’s LinkedIn posts. Complemented by her background in business writing, Jantra’s passion for health, insurance, and employee benefits helps her create engaging content - no matter how complex the subject is.
Growing up as a third-culture kid has given her a multicultural perspective that helps her relate to expats and their families while 8 years of working remotely have given her unique insight into hybrid work arrangements and enthusiasm for employee benefits.
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