Have you heard the term Mindful Butter?
It’s rather apt when you think that in the past wee while Mindfulness has really come into the mainstream — Into it’s own — & it’s spreading around the world, n’est pas?
In 2015 it was officially recognised as a Global Trend which is not bad going for something that’s been over 3000 years (& counting) in the churning!
Business leaders now call it their new secret weapon. Whilst Mindful Leadership has become a hot topic, generating lots of heat and academic interest; and Mindfulness is also spreading into schools across the world, with dramatic impacts upon classroom behaviour and attainment levels.
But if you’re an employer, or a hard-pressed, forever-squeezed manager, do you buy into all this? Do you wonder whether maybe it’s all rather too good to be true? Or perhaps it’s just another fad?
Well according to the science and an increasing tome of research, the Jury has been out, deliberated and returned with it’s verdict.
The results are unequivocal. It works!
With as little as 5 minutes of Mindful Breathing practice every day for just 8 weeks you can begin to notice and feel a very real difference.
A difference in how you think, focus, make decisions. A difference in how you respond to stress. A difference in your personal relationships and a difference in the workplace. A difference in employee engagement, in employee performance and in a whole range of working, management and leadership practices.
Exciting, non?
Here are a few things we need to take seriously
In recent years research into business and workplace practices have provided an array of hard data that we should all be taking more seriously.
For example, findings from surveys conducted across Europe, the USA and Brazil, suggest that 85% of employees at all levels experience some degree of conflict in the workplace; 84% of senior leaders believe that disengaged employees are one of the three biggest threats facing their business; and employees with the highest levels of commitment are 20% more productive than their less committed colleagues and 87% less likely to leave the organisation.
So, I would suggest that the stage is now set for introducing Mindfulness into the workplace, because there is an increasing recognition among employers that a high stress & non-supportive working environment is highly toxic — And it doesn’t just affect performance and productivity, it also ramps up turnover costs too!
The Psychological Contract
If employees don’t feel respected, connected, trusted, this adds to the toxicity and erodes that tacit, but all important psychological contract that exists in the workplace between an employee and their employer.
And if this breaks down, the employee is very likely to walk — Or, worse still, STAY!
As the Leadership author and Business Professor Stephen Covey all too clearly recognised:
“Almost everywhere we turn, trust is on the decline. Trust in our culture at large, in our institutions, and in our companies is significantly lower than a generation ago”
I would argue that taking steps to introduce Mindfulness into the workplace is crucial to building and nurturing trust, creating harmony and stimulating both performance and productivity, and that is why employers who are already ahead of the game here are seeing results like:
- 28% reduction in stress levels
- 71% fall in the number of days taken for stress related conditions
- Productivity increases averaging 62 minutes per employee, per week; & an
- 80% increase in employees reporting greater job satisfaction
And these & similar results are being found by employers from all sectors.
It’s a no-brainer really, don’t you think? So, join me and start spreading that #MindfulButter!
I am all about making the complex less complex, the tough stuff not so tough and putting the unreachable within reach of everyone. I am author of ‘Uncovering Mindfulness: In Search Of A Life More Meaningful’ available on Amazon and www.bookboon.com; the ‘Coffee & A Cup of Mindfulness’ and the ‘Mindful Hacks For Mindful Living & Mindful Working’ series. I am also a Contributing Author to The Huffington Post and a Contributing Writer to Thrive Global. I can be contacted at [email protected] and you can follow the continuing journey Uncovering Mindfulness on Twitter @TheMindfulBook and at @Paul_Mudd
Originally published at medium.com