Mindfulness in the Workplace

Mental ill health is the leading cause of sickness absence in the UK: MPs investigate how mindfulness training can benefit health and wellbeing in the workplace, while developing focus, creativity, and decision-making

On 28 October business leaders and prominent thinkers will meet to discuss the role of mindfulness in creating a more healthy, productive and creative working culture across the UK.

The event is part of the launch activity for MINDFUL NATION UK, a report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on how mindfulness can benefit different areas of society including healthcare, criminal justice, schools and the workplace. Within the workplace, this is a significant move by policy makers to consider the potential benefits of mindfulness in a working climate where mental ill health accounts for 70 million or more lost working days each year.1 Mindfulness for the workplace has garnered intense interest, experimentation and media coverage in recent years, generating some concerns about the rapid spread of programmes without a clear understanding of best practice. The Mindful Nation UK workplace report lays out promising evidence and makes substantive recommendations as to how mindfulness can improve wellbeing and help meet objectives in this area, while addressing issues of teaching quality. Recommendations include:  Commissioning research to close the gap between the proliferation of workplace mindfulness programmes and evidence for their benefit. Employers, universities and government bodies should collaborate on high-quality research to understand best practice.  Training government staff in mindfulness, especially in the health, education and criminal justice sectors. The report emphasises that mindfulness will only realise its full potential as part of a well-designed organisational culture which takes employee wellbeing seriously. The Mindfulness in the Workplace launch will take place on Wednesday 28 October 2015 at 7:30pm at Second Home, Hanbury Street, London. Speakers include: John Amaechi, OBE - former NBA basketball player and organisational consultant Nancy Hey - Director, What Works Centre for Wellbeing Tim Munden, Vice President, Human Resources, Unilever UK & IRL Jamie Bristow, Sarah Post, Tessa Watt - The Mindfulness Initiative Kate Unsworth - CEO, Kovert Designs Mindfulness and its benefits for the workplace Mindfulness means directing awareness to our experience with openness, curiosity and care . It helps us to become more aware of our thoughts and feelings so we can manage them more skilfully. Mindfulness practice trains this mental capacity in the same way that physical exercise develops fitness and strength. Scientific
Page 2 of 4interest in the benefits of mindfulness training is booming, with 500+ peer-reviewed scientific journal papers published on the subject each year. A number of randomised controlled trials of mindfulness programmes have found positive effects on burnout, wellbeing and stress.2 Correlation has also been established with skills and qualities as diverse as decision-making, creative problem-solving, emotional resilience, work-life balance, job performance, empathy, honesty and emotional intelligence.  It has been shown that even brief periods of mindfulness practice can lead to objectively measured higher cognitive skills such as improved reaction times, comprehension scores, working memory functioning and decision-making.3 Researchers tested creative problem-solving skills and found that participants who had practised mindfulness for just 10 minutes before these tests generated significantly more creative strategies.4  Research suggests that employees of leaders in a range of settings who practise mindfulness have less emotional exhaustion, better work-life balance and better job performance ratings. They are also more likely to show concern towards co-workers and express opinions honestly.5  Mindfulness practised throughout an organisation can help generate high reliability organizations (HROs), through paying close attention to day-to-day operations, discussing mistakes and seeking alternatives.6 The government’s Foresight7 report argues that the UK's future prosperity will depend on developing our 'mental capital' - the cognitive and emotional resources that ensure resilience in the face of stress, and the flexibility of mind and learning skills to adapt to a fast-changing employment market and longer working lives. Qualitative research shows that mindfulness develops exactly these aspects of mental capital.8 This should be of real interest to policymakers given the importance of improving productivity, and nurturing creativity and innovation in the UK economy. Mindful workplaces A wide range of major UK organisations across the public, private and voluntary sectors have introduced mindfulness projects within the past few years including a number of NHS trusts9, the Department of Health10, civil service departments11, BT, Unilever, Barclays, Capital One, Starcom MediaVest Group and Goldman Sachs. Sally Boyle, HR Director at Goldman Sachs maintains that, "In years to come we’ll be talking about mindfulness as we talk about exercise now".12 ENDS A copy of the Mindful Nation UK report can be accessed at themindfulnessinitiative.org.uk from October 20th. To request more details or embargoed copies of the report in advance of Oct 20th, or to arrange an interview, please contact Paula Seaborne - paula@mindfulnessinitiative.org.uk / 07747 664 294. About the Mindfulness APPG The Mindfulness APPG grew out of a programme in Westminster for teaching mindfulness to parliamentarians (so far 115 MPs and peers, and 80 staff have completed the 8-week MBSR course). In 2013, leading academics began presenting the scientific evidence to ministers, MPs and senior policy advisors. In early 2014 cross party group of parliamentarians set up the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Mindfulness and established an inquiry into how mindfulness can be incorporated into UK services and institutions. The founding co-chairs of the Mindfulness APPG were Lorely Burt (former Liberal Democrat MP), Tracey Crouch MP (Conservative) and Chris Ruane (former Labour MP), who provided inspirational leadership in the setting up of this inquiry. The current co-chairs are Tim Loughton MP (Conservative) and Jessica Morden MP (Labour).
Page 3 of 4About The Mindfulness Initiative The Mindfulness Initiative is an advocacy organisation founded by Madeleine Bunting and Chris Cullen in November 2013. A small team of associates, advisors and volunteers includes several professors, authors and leading teachers in the field. The Mindfulness Initiative is partnered with the four main mindfulness training and research centres at Oxford, Exeter, Bangor and Sussex universities, as well as the University of Cambridge Well- being Institute and the Mental Health Foundation. Patrons are Jon Kabat Zinn and Ruby Wax. About Second Home (event hosts) Second Home is a cultural venue and workspace that brings together thinkers, makers, artists and entrepreneurs. They believe that wellbeing, productivity and creativity are fundamentally interrelated. The design of the building is informed by evolutionary psychology and biophilia to create an environment that mimics nature in various ways - for example by having virtually no straight lines, and by containing over 1,000 plants and trees. As part of its broader wellbeing agenda, Second Home is committed to encouraging mindfulness amongst members and the wider community. Since opening in November 2014, they have hosted a number of events on mindfulness, and have created a tranquil Hanging Garden space in which electronic devices are banned. Their members Kovert Designs, have initiated daily mindfulness sessions in the Hanging Gardens space, and invite all other members to take part. Quotes “Mindfulness is best understood as a natural human capacity that is associated with positive qualities, like better decision-making and psychological resilience. We can cultivate this capacity through mindfulness training. The Mindful Nation UK report is the first document of its kind anywhere in the world to make a serious case for mindfulness in public policy.” Jamie Bristow, Director, The Mindfulness Initiative “I became interested in the possibilities of mindfulness in policy after experiencing a training course in Parliament. The quality and range of evidence for the benefits of mindfulness is very impressive, and we believe it has the potential to help many people to better health and wellbeing.” Jessica Morden MP, Labour, Co-chair of the Mindfulness APPG "The nature of my job means that I have to juggle multiple tasks and work with people on customer calls. The volume of work left me feeling rather stressed and anxious....Mindfulness taught me to take a breathing space between activities. I learned to step away from the situation in my head and to focus on right now. Then I could revisit what I was doing, but with a calmer and relaxed approach." Kate McGregor, Team Manager RWE npower – Customer Service Domestic department 1 Davies SC. Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer 2013, Public Mental Health Priorities: Investing in the Evidence. London: Department of Health; 2014.