Companies that invest in Mindfulness are more productive

What do internationally recognized companies like Nike, Heineken, Apple, Procter & Gamble, Google, Coca Cola, Starbucks or Deustche Bank have in common? Among other things, that they have incorporated into their way of working programs based on Mindfulness with the objective of optimizing its productivity and having a positive impact on the well-being of its workers.

In addition, the most admired universities in the world, such as Harvard, Oxford Yale or Cambridge also offer an interesting repertoire of Mindfulness programs to improve the well-being and performance of their students and thus prepare them for their leap into the world labor.

Why is Mindfulness gaining so many followers in the business world?

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A chaotic environment full of distractions

As time goes on, it is becoming increasingly clear that companies and organizations in general They operate in a very volatile environment in which uncertainty prevails, not knowing what will happen tomorrow. This constant ambiguity has a significant psychological impact on workers (regardless of their managerial position in the company), since they must remain always aware of the latest changes, both in relation to strategic planning and in relation to its production processes, both in employees and managers and leaders.

So that, the need to become multitasking prevails: stop writing a document to attend a phone call, inform the supervisor of an incident, continue writing while paying attention to the instructions of a colleague, etc. This means that if you do not know how to handle the workflow, it accumulates on the table (in the form of columns of documents) and this favors the appearance of stress problems and all that this entails (difficulty concentrating, lack of coordination, tiredness, etc.).

As a result, these insane work dynamics lead to not completing tasks and executing them poorly, with errors.

In this context, there are many scientific investigations that have yielded evidence that the use of Mindfulness programs in the organizations significantly helps to better cope with pressure in the workplace, maintain a provision of attention to detail, preserve the ability to be creative and adapt to challenges in real time and quickly, as well as strengthen cohesion between teams of job.

Also, in this way the formation of conscious leaders is promoted, able to draw attention to the parts of the work that really matter, and prone to tackling problems while remaining calm and not being carried away by arbitrary decisions.

Mental gymnastics

Mindfulness, which can be translated into Spanish as mindfulness, is a process by which we adapt to circumstances to focus our attention on the present moment, without making assessments morals that lead us to prejudge, and relating to reality at the same time that we adopt the position of observers, without letting ourselves be carried away by impulses.

Mindfulness can be enhanced through training programs to become a tool for personal development that allows you to face the problems of life, mitigating the effects of anxiety and stress and promoting increased productivity.

In other words, the habit of using Mindfulness leads us to decrease the frequency of the appearance of certain mental processes based on the emotional imprint left by past experiences that, if not managed, can block us in the Present.

For this reason, mindfulness has become ** one of the most used resources in Western countries (despite being based on the traditional meditation of certain regions of Asia) and with more interesting and practical results both at work and in life personal.

Of course, in Spain, the practice of Mindfulness is still a relatively minority and has only been launched in certain companies that highly value the health of workers, or those who want to adapt to new times making the work environment a much more place comfortable.

Mindfulness in the company: its advantages

According to a survey carried out by Adecco Training and whose results reflect data from 2016, only 5% of workers Spaniards have the habit of practicing Mindfulness, despite its advantages and the positive impact it has on performance labor.

Among the most significant advantages reported is the increase in productivity, which is estimated to be 20%. In addition, it is estimated that on average, each worker in a company loses about an hour and a half due to distractions, which translates into about eight hours lost per week. Approximately 20% of the working day is wasted.

Thus, those who practice Mindfulness have a much better chance of optimally using all the time dedicated to work, and not losing that 20%. Therefore, despite the fact that at the moment it is not a widespread practice in this country, 8 out of 10 companies that They know what Mindfulness is, they recognize that they have the need to implement care training programs full.

On the other hand, 80% of the organizations consulted plan to train their workers in Mindfulness in the coming years. It is natural, because among the workers who already practice it, 65% affirm that they have a greater sense of calm at work. This has also led to a 78% reduction in days off due to anxiety or depression in companies that promote Mindfulness practice initiatives.

One of the answers to the lack of job satisfaction

A report by the consulting firm Accenture shows that the job satisfaction index in Spain has dropped, from 52% in 2013 to 44% in 2014; dissatisfaction is already the majority psychological state among workers. Of course, that factor represents an important challenge for the management teams of companies, who see the need to configure their work mode in a way that workers feel comfortable in order to retain talent.

On the other hand, phenomena such as presentism at work promote organizational climates in which lack of motivation, stress and Hopelessness is the norm, since the feeling of stagnation and inability to detach from a way of working that wears out one's mental health. This, obviously, does not fit well with the turn that has occurred in recent decades in company philosophy, according to which the field Professional can be considered one more component of working life, with values ​​in line with those we follow in the field private.

It has also been seen that those who are habitually subjected to contexts that generate stress have it very difficult to be creative or be positively predisposed towards teamwork, since in these situations the human brain is full of cortisol (the stress hormone) whose effects work against the confidence hormone, the oxytocin.

In addition, the 2016 report of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) produced worrying data: the cost The economic stress that stress generates in the field of companies is 136,000 million euros a year, mainly due to sick leave that auspicious. This amount represents between 2.6 and 3.8% of the Community GDP, which implies that from this perspective the Harmful psychological alterations are the second most common occupational health problem on the continent European.

Investing in emotional health pays off

Investing in psychological health from the context of work it is in itself a goal to which all large companies aspire, both to generate adequate spaces for professional performance and to be more competitive and retain talent. Studies carried out in several countries on different continents show that occupational health programs carry to a reduction in direct costs associated with healthcare, as well as occupational accidents and turnover labor.

All the data invites companies to consider the importance of wellness policies in the environment organizational, and the use of Mindfulness is an excellent way to enhance the psychological well-being of those who train part of the team.

This need has been taken very seriously by psychological assistance organizations such as the Barcelona Psychology Center PsicoTools, which has been offering the Mindfulness training service to companies for a long time. Initiatives like this make mental health experts change work dynamics, leaving lasting effects on organizations. After all, the pioneers of the use of Mindfulness at work in Spain have it easy: just They must have the point of view of those who have spent years dedicating themselves to it in their psychology.