Mental ill health costs employers in the UK £30 billion every year through lost absence, recruitment and productivity*. Mental health therefore, is an increasing concern and is the leading cause for sickness absence in the UK. Sickness accounts for 70 million absent days*, the need for that extra bit of support for staff within the workplace is higher than ever.
This last year saw a major increase of the importance of mindfulness to boost productivity and reduce stress. Many employers are now using mindfulness as way in which to help and support their staff when dealing with the pressures they face on a daily basis. Mindfulness encourages positive wellbeing and can help to reduce burnout; increase confidence and feelings of self-worth and ultimately manage stress. It affects the brain patterns underlying day-to-day stress, irritability and anxiety. Research suggests that employees can struggle to focus on the task at hand, mindfulness training can help to improve this and focus attention*.
Mindfulness can be applied in many different ways. Here are some top tips to consider: introducing the ‘7/11’ breathing technique that encourages staff to simply breathe in for seven counts and out for 11, in order to create a shift to calmer places of the mind*. The main notion of mindfulness is that it is small and simple changes that everyone can make in order to create a happier, more productive and engaged environment to work in. This technique can also be used with children but they should breathe in for 4.
Asking employees to regularly review these three questions:
- What is happening?
- What am I feeling?
- What do I want to change?
Encourage them to do something different – break routine, this could be a change to the staff meeting. Could you use music to relax staff? We use this in the Fusion office every Monday to shake off the Monday morning blues. By acknowledging worries you can reduce the stress they cause. Encourage open discussion, label issues in your mind or write them down. Then throw them away.
FusionHR supports mindfulness techniques to improve mental health and wellbeing for employees. If you need any guidance, help or information on mindfulness, please do not hesitate to contact one of the team, for information on mindfulness training or counselling support, by calling 01924 827869.
References:
*https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/nov/06/teachers-beat-stress-10-ideas
*http://oxfordmindfulness.org/news/mindfulness-workplace-effective-challenges/
