Companies that invest in Mindfulness are more productive.

These are the advantages of applying Mindfulness in the organizational and professional environment.

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

In addition, the most admired universities in the world, such as Harvard, Oxford, Yale and 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 of work.

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

A chaotic environment full of distractions.

As time goes by, it is becoming increasingly clear that companies and organizations in general move in a highly volatile environment in which uncertainty, not knowing what will happen tomorrow, takes precedence. This constant ambiguity has a significant psychological impact on employees (regardless of their managerial position in the company), since they must always be aware of the latest changes, both in terms of strategic planning and in terms of their production processes, both in terms of employees and in terms of managers and leaders.

Thus, the need to become multi-skilled and multi-skilled is a must, the need to become multitaskingThe main problem is that, if you do not know how to manage the work flow, it accumulates on the desk (in the form of columns of documents) and this favors the appearance of stress problems and all that this entails (difficulty in writing a document, difficulty in answering a phone call, informing the supervisor of an incident, continuing to write while listening to a colleague's instructions, etc.). This means that if you do not know how to manage the work flow, it accumulates on the desk (in the form of columns of documents) and this favors the appearance of stress problems and all that this entails (difficulty in concentrating, lack of coordination, fatigue, etc.).

As a result, this unhealthy work dynamic leads to not finishing tasks and to performing them poorly, with errors.

In this context, much scientific research has shown that the use of Mindfulness programs in organizations significantly helps to better cope with pressure in the workplace, maintain a disposition of attention to detail, preserve the ability to be creative and adapt to challenges in real time and quickly, as well as strengthen cohesion among work teams.

In addition, this way promotes the formation of conscious leadersThis is also a way to promote the formation of conscious leaders, capable of drawing attention to the parts of the job that really matter, and inclined to face problems with serenity and without getting carried away by arbitrary decisions.

Mental gymnastics

Mindfulness, which can be translated into English as mindfulness.Mindfulness, is a process by which we adapt to the circumstances to focus our attention on the present moment, without making moral assessments that lead us to prejudge, and relating to reality while adopting the position of observers, without getting carried away by impulses.

Mindfulness can be enhanced through training programs to become a tool for personal development that allows us to cope with the problems of life, mitigating the effects of anxiety and stress and favoring the increase of productivity..

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

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

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

Mindfulness in the company: its advantages

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

Among the most significant reported benefits is the increase in productivity, estimated at 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 are much more likely to make optimal use of all the time spent at work, and not lose that 20%. Therefore, although for the moment it is not a widespread practice in this country, 8 out of 10 companies that know what Mindfulness is recognize that they have the need to implement training programs in mindfulness.

On the other hand, 80% of the organizations surveyed plan to train their employees in Mindfulness in the coming years.. This is natural, since among workers who already practice Mindfulness, 65% report a greater sense of calm at work. This has also led to a 78% reduction in days off work 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, this factor is a major challenge for company management teams, who are faced with the need to configureThis factor is, of course, a major challenge for company management teams, who need to shape the way they work in a way that makes employees feel comfortable in order to retain talent.

On the other hand, phenomena such as presenteeism lead to organizational climates in which demotivation, stress and hopelessness are the norm, as there is a feeling of stagnation and an inability to detach oneself from a way of working that wears down mental health. This obviously does not fit in well with the shift that has occurred in recent decades in business philosophy, according to which the professional sphere can be considered just another component of working life, with values in line with those we follow in the private sphere.

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

Moreover, the 2016 report of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) provided worrying data: the economic cost that stress generates at the level of companies is 136 billion euros per year mainly due to the sick leave it causes. This amount represents between 2.6 and 3.8% of the EU's GDP, which means that from this perspective, harmful psychological disorders are the second most common occupational health problem on the European continent.

Investing in emotional health pays off

Investing in psychological health within the context of work 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 lead to a reduction in the direct costs associated with health care, as well as in occupational accidents and job turnover.

All data invite companies to consider the importance of wellness policies in the organizational environment, and the use of Mindfulness is an excellent way to enhance the psychological well-being of those who are 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 Mindfulness training services to companies for some time now. Initiatives like this make mental health experts change work dynamics, leaving lasting effects on organizations. In the end, the pioneers of the use of Mindfulness at work in Spain have it easy: they only have to rely on the point of view of those who have spent years dedicated to it in his psychology office.