Although it may seem like an overused buzzword, mindfulness is actually a powerful way to combat stress, mental clutter, and distraction. When your employees practice mindfulness, they’ll become more present at work, enhancing their well-being, increasing productivity, and contributing to a more positive office environment.

If you’re new to the concept of mindfulness, learning more about this practice, its benefits, and how to implement it in the workplace will help you improve your office’s overall health and wellness. Let’s start by defining mindfulness before diving into its benefits, practices, and applications in the workplace.

What is Mindfulness?

According to Mindful—an organization dedicated to raising awareness of mindfulness—mindfulness is a rudimentary ability to connect with one’s feelings and surroundings. Often described as “being present,” the goal of mindfulness is to ground oneself and appreciate the moment at hand. While everyone can achieve this state, we must learn to access it by stepping back and letting go of negative thoughts and worries.

Mindfulness may sound incongruous with the typical hustle and bustle of the workplace. However, considering 83% of employees in the United States suffer from daily work-related stress and about 1 million workers are absent every day due to stress, mindfulness can actually mitigate the negative impact of workplace stressors and help employees keep up with their hectic schedules in a healthy way.

The Benefits of Mindfulness on Office Culture

When practicing mindfulness, individuals can pause to build awareness and understanding of their thoughts and feelings. This connection to the self can provide numerous benefits for your office culture, including:

  • Reduced stress levels. Mindfulness can help employees manage their work-related stress, allowing them to feel more at ease in the workplace.
  • Enhanced focus and concentration. Practicing mindfulness often leads to better focus and concentration, which enables employees to be more productive during the workday.
  • Better emotional well-being. When employees can better regulate their emotions, they can channel more energy into their work and positively contribute to the work environment.
  • Stronger communication. Shedding internal and external distractions allows mindful employees to apply their skills to office interactions and activities, leading to more productive conversations and workplace relationships.
  • Higher employee retention rates. Astron Solutions explains that an effective way to retain employees is by “creating an inclusive, purpose-driven environment in which you actively value their well-being and interests.” Promoting employee well-being via mindfulness can enhance your office environment and encourage employees to stick around.

Additionally, describing your mindfulness practices and other employee well-being initiatives in your job postings can help you attract like-minded individuals who can continue to build upon your positive internal culture. Gen Z especially prioritizes social wellness and responsibility, so highlighting your office mindfulness practices can entice newer members of the workforce to apply for your open positions.

Valuable Mindful Practices in the Workplace

Now that you have a better understanding of mindfulness and how it can improve your workplace environment, you may be wondering how to put it into practice. Your team can achieve mindfulness in the workplace through several practices, including:

  • Brief meditation: Mindfulness doesn’t have to take long to be effective. Incorporate five-minute-long meditations throughout the work day. Between tasks, employees can benefit from simply pausing, noticing their breathing, and setting aside intrusive thoughts. This practice can also apply to processing creative work and making big decisions. Returning to the task at hand, employees often unlock a refreshed mental state that elevates their performance.
  • Mindful stretching: Stretching can be as easy as standing, relaxing tense muscles, and taking a few deep breaths. Rather than hunching over their phones or stressing over external distractions, employees can practice mindful stretching during those “in-between” moments. Paying attention to the body and drawing attention away from obsessive thoughts offers a much-needed reprieve from physical tension and mental stress.
  • Environment change: Consciously or unconsciously, multitasking between activities can cause brain fog and decrease productivity. That said, employees can benefit from practicing mindfulness in a few different environments every day. Doing so might involve taking a walk outside between meetings or tasks and using the opportunity to notice how the new surroundings affect the body.
  • Active listening: Communications often go in one ear and out the other. Active listening, on the other hand, implies mindfulness: truly hearing, thinking about, and connecting with what another person says. A regular mental reminder to actively listen helps foster a culture of open, productive communication and understanding.
  • Mindful focus: Beyond indirectly affecting workplace output, mindfulness can also apply more directly to work tasks. A clear, focused mind allows employees to immerse themselves in their work. By following the principles of the above practices and making a conscious effort to stay on task, employees can see boosts in productivity, creativity, and overall happiness.

Try testing out a combination of these mindful practices with your team. Then, send them a survey so you can gauge the effectiveness of these strategies and decide which ones to prioritize moving forward.

How to Manage Workplace Mindfulness

Fortunately for organizations seeking to implement mindfulness, several apps exist that can help you create and implement wellness campaigns. For instance, a business might adopt a wellness challenge app to introduce and facilitate the mindfulness exercises mentioned above as workplace contests. Turning mindfulness into a friendly competition can motivate employees to participate and reap the benefits of this practice.

Moreover, by offering rewards in the form of charitable donations to their favorite nonprofits, you can incentivize both in-person and remote employees to engage in mindfulness practices. This way, intrinsic workforce motivation promotes the wellness of your employees, community, management, and organization. Be sure to outline any mindfulness challenges and associated intrinsic rewards in your incentive plans so employees are aware and can take full advantage of these opportunities.

If your employees enjoy this opportunity to contribute to worthy causes, you may consider expanding upon your workplace giving programs. For instance, Double the Donation recommends implementing matching gifts, volunteer grants, and payroll deductions to incentivize giving back. When combined with mindfulness challenges, workplace giving can also help you promote a socially responsible company culture that caters to employees’ passions and well-being.

Download Givhero and Promote Your Workplace Health and Wellness Program

Givhero is a corporate wellness app available to all organizations looking to make a difference. Through individualized goals, out-of-the-box challenges, real-time leaderboards, custom reports, and over 2 million charities to contribute to, Givhero makes workplace health and wellness easy.

Create your organization’s wellness-focused culture with automation and structure from Givhero. For more information about our health and well-being offerings, contact us online or at (240) 801-5927.