How to Beat Business Burnout with Mindfulness Training

Now that we’re deep into National Stress Awareness Month, it’s time to talk about burnout. New research named D.C., San Francisco, Houston, Seattle, and Los Angeles as the cities with the most burned out workforce. According to the American Institute of Stress, job-related anxiety has increased for decades with no signs of slowing. About 80 percent of workers are affected by vocational pressures, regardless of location. Nearly half say they need help in managing the rising levels of stress they experience, according to AIS research.

The “overwhelmed employee” represents the hallmark of today’s working standard, rather than an isolated phenomenon or individual struggle. That’s why some of the largest and most productive organizations, companies such as Pfizer and Google, are championing mindfulness initiatives as part of their overall wellness solutions. Let’s explore the realm of mindfulness and how contingent workforce leaders can launch their own efforts to revitalize and re-energize their programs.

What Is Mindfulness?

When we talk about mindfulness, what exactly do we mean? According to academic leaders at U.C. Berkeley, “Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment.” Beyond that, achieving a state of mindfulness involves acceptance -- paying close attention to our thoughts, motivations and feelings without judgment.

“Though it has its roots in Buddhist meditation,” Berkeley explains, “a secular practice of mindfulness has entered the American mainstream in recent years, in part through the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn and his Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program, which he launched at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in 1979. Since that time, thousands of studies have documented the physical and mental health benefits of mindfulness in general and MBSR in particular, inspiring countless programs to adapt the MBSR model for schools, prisons, hospitals, veterans centers, and beyond.”

Google adopted the practice at its own headquarters back in 2007, with the introduction of its transformative “Search Inside Yourself” program, conceived by engineer Chade-Meng Tan. He laid out a simple yet effective course that teaches people how to take charge of their emotional responses, think clearly, remain calm during anxious situations, listen actively, and pause before acting. The program covers five components of emotional intelligence: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills.

In its report ”Predictions for 2015: Redesigning the Organization for a Rapidly Changing Workforce,” Bersin by Deloitte also touted measurable benefits for companies that bring mindfulness into the corporate culture.

Bersin observes: “Companies, like Pfizer, now teach mindfulness in their leadership development programs. More and more celebrities are promoting the fact that health, sleep, and meditation are secrets to business success.”

Bersin researchers acknowledge that many enterprises still consider mindfulness programs to be fads or expensive perks offered by Silicon Valley markets to lure top talent. However, their findings didn’t support such claims:

“Our research disagrees -- more and more companies we talk with tell us that they save money and improve productivity by making the workplace more humane. Research shows that, when people feel more comfortable at work, they work harder, are more productive, and can tolerate longer working hours.”

Mindfulness in Action

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