The Bottom Line on a More Mindful Workplace

It’s true. Recent research on mental training and mindfulness has confirmed that you can leverage neural plasticity to re-wire the way your brain works . Whether your goal is more focus or greater happiness, you can train your brain and actually see results.

But how can the mental training of mindfulness training support corporate strategy? Being “mindful” sounds appealing – calm, focused, clear — but how does sitting still and breathing grow the bottom line?

In our 8 years of experience working with large corporations around the world, The Potential Project International has discovered three broad areas of benefit for corporate mindfulness training. In offering mindfulness training as an adjunctive component within a larger corporate initiative, management is given a framework for measuring success and calculating ROI.

1. Performance and Efficiency: Focus, Productivity and Engagement

Mindfulness training directly impacts the human factor of doing business. By training employees to “be here now,” intentionally managing focus and observing activity with greater self awareness, corporations gain in collaborative teamwork, improved emotional intelligence, increased engagement and enhanced productivity. Imagine the impact – what if your employees were fully present when operating the call center, interviewing a new candidate, installing the new IT system, repairing the power lines, or servicing your customers.

Mindfulness training for productivity and efficiency is all about “working smarter, not harder.”

2. Creativity and Innovation: Priming for More “Aha” Moments

Mindfulness training makes the most of your big brain talent. All the expertise in the world is useless if the inner landscape of an individual is scattered, distracted or overwhelmed. Teaching leaders and creative professionals how to still the mind, to carve out time for reflection and open awareness, provides access to the kind of thinking that results in those “aha!” moment of insight. New project design, innovative business solutions, complex decision making and strategic insight all require mental clarity, and all are impossible in an “always on” state of reactivity. Improved self management also helps prevent the burnout of your most experienced high performers.

Mindfulness training for creativity and insight is all about making the most of your employee brain bank.

3. Wellness and Resiliency: Personal Buoyancy and Stress Management

Mindfulness training is frequently associated with “stress reduction.” Stress reduction is, in fact, a natural by-product of mindfulness training as it enables individuals to distance themselves from the emotional toll of the always on, information overload, high distraction, high pressure work environment. Mindfulness training gives employees a framework and methodology for cultivating an internal sense ease in the face of change and uncertainty. Mental strategies like acceptance and letting go help employees “bounce back,” while mitigating the health cost of adrenal burnout, anxiety and depression.

Mindfulness training for wellness and resiliency is all about self-care from the inside out, moving from strive to thrive.

So the next time you consider your business challenges, imagine the power of mental training for a more effective, more creative, more resilient workforce.