I was invited to present an introduction of mindfulness to a chamber of commerce group recently, and I’ve used this as an opportunity to revisit meditation from the most pragmatic perspective possible. So if words like love, kindness, and compassion feature less in this article it is not my intention to diminish or exclude those thoughts, but rather to present with some clarity (I hope) how mindfulness can meaningfully impact the bottom line of a business.

The commonly accepted productivity ratio:

I’m not asking anyone to believe in much more than simple math – if we reduce the input cost relative to the output achieved we will increase productivity and make each dollar/rupee/shekel spent return more profit. If, as is true in much knowledge driven industry, the labor units contribute the greatest input cost, then a more efficient thinker is also a better money-maker!  

Research by The School of Life (https://www.theschooloflife.com) suggests that productivity can increase by 30% when a workforce is both healthier and happier. A cynic might suppose that statistics can tell you anything you want to hear, but if you’re willing to believe that healthier happier people can work more effectively than sick miserable ones then buckle up buttercup – here’s a whistle-stop tour of the possible benefits of regular meditation…

Neuroscience

Disclaimer: I’m going to skip the scholarly articles and research study references to respect the reader's time,  but more detailed and supporting references are available on request.

Stress

Stress is a response to danger which allows us to react quickly by releasing chemicals called cortisol and epinephrine into the bloodstream from our adrenal glands. This response was likely evolved as primary defense to keep us alive when the predominant threats were to our physical well-being (e.g. caveman meets sabre toothed tiger). In the modern world we are more often faced with mental threats (e.g. office politics, customer complaints), but our brain sees those as an equivalent threat.

Cortisol, while giving us the ability to react physically beyond normal operating parameters (by increasing heart rate and blood flow), can cause long term physical damage when it remains present in the body too long. 

Meditation lessens the inflammatory response, particularly when practiced over a long period of time (i.e. regularly for several years). Neuroscientific research also shows decreased activity in the amygdala of subjects (the lower region of the brain responsible for instant reactions to external stimuli) and increased connectivity between the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex (higher region of the brain responsible for reason). The overall result is that for less impactful events (i.e. something much less dramatic than oncoming traffic), the mindfulness practitioner is more able to make a reasoned decision as to whether there is anything requiring a stress response.

Mental health

Specific conditions where meditation has shown improvement are:

• Anxiety

• Depression

• Post-traumatic stress disorder

• Chronic pain

Attention

Studies show an increased ability to focus on a task, a reduction in the tendency to daydream, and an increase in problem solving ability (measured as time to solution).

Memory

A Harvard Medical School study involving fMRI determined that regular meditation could increase the cortical thickness of strands in the hippocampus – the part of our brains associated with long-term memory and learning. This is effectively widening the storage capacity and processing bandwidth at once.

Physical Health

I’ve already mentioned that long-term meditation seems to buffer people from the inflammatory response to stress. In addition, meditators seem to have increased activity of telomerase, an enzyme implicated in longer cell life, therefore promoting improved physical health and longevity.

Relationship Health

Cortisol, as mentioned earlier, assumes raised levels as part of our stress response. Research involving couples where both subjects practiced regular meditation showed that in discussion exercises cortisol levels returned to normal more quickly which resulted in calmer more productive conversation. 

Compassion

Because meditation lessens amygdala activity it also makes us less inclined to feel negative feelings when others are suffering. Psychologically this is likely to increase our ability to feel empathy because we can avoid experiencing the suffering of others as traumatically when we remain able to apply reason in determining our response. This makes us less likely to shut down or withdraw from others in difficulty and increases our willingness to act to help alleviate that suffering.

Bias

Mindfulness seems to reduce our natural tendency to focus on the negative aspect of events. Using FMRI scans across subject groups who either meditated or didn’t it is possible to measure emotional responses objectively when subjects were shown images of negative or traumatic events. Mindful subjects showed higher indications of positive feelings and lower levels of negative feelings. This indicates a decrease in negativity bias.

Sunk-cost bias, which is our tendency to stay invested in a losing proposition, has been shown to decrease in studies where meditation was introduced.

Where do I sign?

Your inner accountant might well be questioning this. After all, if it was that easy wouldn’t every company be busy making it happen? 

Confession: It isn’t exactly easy. Obtaining real tangible benefits from regular meditation takes time and practice – the more you do, the better you feel. The good news however is that it is quite simple, and you can begin to see some benefit in just a few weeks of structured practice. It’s also relatively cheap, and for the agile practitioners in the audience it is experiment driven and allows incremental investment based on value recognised.

So, let’s break this down into manageable steps.

Step 1

Offer your employees (a small group to start) an 8-week program in meditation. This is easy to organise and can be achieved in a relatively low-cost way. A good example of a program that has shown proven neurological benefits is mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), developed at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center by Professor Jon Kabat-Zinn.

The program is available both live and online with qualified teachers for less than USD$600. It’s also available as a free course with sample materials which you could follow as a group within a business, reducing the implementation cost to the time required (2.5 hours per week for 8 weeks).  

The program includes materials to help participants understand and measure the impact training has on their ability to pay attention and to separate awareness from reactivity (essential to managing stress).

Step 2

Offer ongoing mindfulness coaching to your employees. You can do this by building a small cohort of people within the business who have undergone the same training and established a regular routine of meditation. Initially this group will support each other, but with time they will have the confidence and experience to support other groups of employees.

If you can afford to go a step further, offer your fledgling mindfulness coaches advanced MBSR training to create a group of qualified MBSR instructors who can teach courses as well as supporting groups in their ongoing journey after the initial course completes.

Step 3

Make space within every workday for meditation sessions (hosted by one of your mindfulness coaches). Encourage employees to set aside the time every day for this. As leaders it is crucial that you participate so that everyone understands how important the time is, and that you both believe and ascribe to its positive benefits.

Step 4

Over a longer period, include training and support to develop micro-meditation practices both in and out of the office. My own experiments with this approach along with foundational neuroscientific research has shown increased energy levels and attention span for minimal time input once there is an established long term daily practice to build upon.

…On the dotted line of course

Having written this article an epiphany occurs: human resource functions delivering and espousing mindfulness training from the top and across all levels could make redundant many of the control mechanisms that restrict innovation and growth. Increased mental capacity combined with more energy and greater ability to attend and discern will reduce error rates and inspire proactive self-leadership. 

Mindfulness helps people exchange fear for awareness, acceptance, and joy, regardless of their struggles, and creates a constant positive reinforcement cycle – feeling less stressed and more cognisant makes us more productive, which in turn reduces stress and creates space to grow and experience joy and have time for deeper thought. This in turn…well you see where I’m going I’m sure.

So, are you wanting to increase employee productivity, satisfaction, happiness, and retention, all while reducing overheads? Do you know someone who is?

Check out our YouTube Channel to catch up on Series 5 on Mindfulness. Bring a team and join us for The Art of Mindful Leadership as an in-person retreat or a 12-week group coaching program. OR contact us today to schedule a consultation to discuss your individual corporate needs.

About the Author:

KYLE RICHARDSON

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