Organizations

Today's business world is extremely competitive and many workers tend to suffer from stress. Either because the job is very demanding and/or the person has set very ambitious goals; or because the job offers neither autonomy nor opportunities to develop creativity.

In addition to work conditions, most people spend little time being truly conscious, usually finding ourselves fantasizing about situations in the past or future. Matthew Killingsworth and Daniel Gilbert (2010) evaluated a sample of 2,250 people, and found that 49.6% of the time their thinking was disconnected from the task they were apparently engaged in. Which implies a large number of errors, as well as lack of productivity. At the same time, this study states that people felt less happy when their mind was wandering than when they were focused on their present reality.

The demands of the workplace, the excessive stimulation to which we are currently subjected and our continuous mental wandering limit our creativity, leading us to react rather than respond: making impulsive decisions and committing a greater number of errors. This accumulation of circumstances also promotes health problems, which develop through fatigue and moodiness, if not aggressiveness.

Mindfulness

The practice of Mindfulness has much to contribute in this regard, since its essence is based on being attentive to the present, and leads to a state of harmony and peace of mind. Mindfulness can help people who are part of an organization to be more satisfied, and perform their tasks more effectively and efficiently.

Mindfulness is a concept that has been gestated in the heart of the university, erected through scientific studies. Its foundations are in line with the rational perspective established by companies. One of these studies (Dane & Brummer, 2014) positively correlates a "mindful" work practice with performance and reduced intentions to change jobs. Likewise, Grégoire & Lachance (2014) found that after the participation of some workers in a Canadian call center (call center) in a brief mindfulness program not only facilitated the reduction of their stress levels but the increase in customer satisfaction.

Benefits

It is important for an organization that its workers feel satisfied and with greater resources to face their tasks, but not only because of the implications for production, but also because the greatest treasure of a company is its human capital (although in many cases this fact is not usually honored). The degree of credibility given to a person's opinion of a company or service is much greater and more valuable than that provided by the company itself in the form of advertising. It is the employees themselves who can have the greatest impact on society with respect to the goodness of their organization. They should be your main customers.

In short, to foster engagement with your target audience, you have to start from within. And the most efficient care that a company can offer its employees, and therefore itself, is a culture of "conscious and healthy work".

More dynamic and productive teamwork (flexibility, empathy and rapport).

Better use of training (attention and openness).

Meditation generates pleasant sensations of calm and joy, which are perceived by the people with whom you interact. It is a contagious state!

Improvement in physical and emotional health (stress, psychosomatic symptoms, etc...).

Ability to evoke a state of calm and concentration.

Greater creative capacity.

Improvement in the worker-client relationship.

Strengthening of Conscious Leadership skills.

Companies

There are a growing number of organizations large and small that are incorporating a conscious work culture. Some of them, such as Google, have their own programs (Search Inside Yourself).

These are some of the best known: Apple, Google, Deutsche Bank, General Mills, Aetna, Yahoo!, Nike, Comcast, BlackRock, Ford, Toyota, Disney, Harvard Business School, NHS (National Health System of England), Caser, Repsol, etc.

Training for your organization, team or yourself.

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Bibliographic References

Dane, E., & Brummel, B. J. (2014). Examining workplace mindfulness and its relations to job performance and turnover intention. Human Relations, 67(1), 105-128.

Grégoire, S., & Lachance, L. (2014). Evaluation of a Brief Mindfulness-Based Intervention to Reduce Psychological Distress in the Workplace.Mindfulness, 1-12.

Killingsworth, M. A., and Gilbert, D. T. (2010). A wandering mind is an unhappy mind. Science 330, 932-932. doi: 10.1126/science. 1192439