Take advantage of companies
To remain competitive in today’s marketplace, successful businesses need:
- To have a clear vision of their objectives
- Inspiration to be innovative in their approach to delivering products and services
- Leadership to guide individuals to success
- Teamwork to enable employees to keep pace in today’s global marketplace
The practice of meditation helps make all this possible. Harvard Business School and INSEAD – Europe’s leading business school – have concluded from their research that the two most effective business tools for executives in the 21st century are meditation and intuition. The benefits of meditation in the workplace are cumulative; they build on each other, starting with the individual and from there they positively impact the performance of the company as a whole.
The role of the individual
The success of any company starts with the individual, because innovation and inspiration arise at the individual level. The potential for greatness lies in every person who realizes that there are infinite possibilities all around them, and that their creativity is limitless. Unfortunately, most people find their potential severely limited by stress, which:
- Block creativity, inspiration and mental clarity
- Damage relationships with others, which in turn negatively affects teamwork
- Cause insomnia, which leads to a decrease in new thinking, inspiration and innovation
- Cause anxiety, which can make it difficult to work in a team that requires patience and cooperation
- Causes individuals to doubt their true talents, which can lead to limiting thoughts and hinder drive and passion
Meditation in the workplace
Meditation has been around for thousands of years and has survived all this time because it works. My passion for bringing meditation to the workplace stems from the time I spent in the workplace experiencing the negative effects of stress almost every day of my working life. Not only was I unproductive and difficult to work with, I also felt tired and irritable most of the time. I was sick very often, and the creativity I possessed was nowhere to be found. There was no clarity or peace in my personal life, which also led to my work life.
These days, I consider myself a “stress survivor,” thanks to my meditation practice. As living proof, I know that meditation can benefit any individual or business in limitless ways. Here are the top five benefits I believe meditation brings to the business world:
1. Clarity and focus
Every time we encounter an obstacle in achieving our goals, we face stress. It has been documented that most people face a “fight or flight” decision an average of twelve times a day. The ‘fight or flight’ state is an acute stress response that can negatively impact digestion, heart rate, breathing rate and the overall effectiveness of the immune system. If employees are busy simply trying to survive, their minds will become foggy in everything they do.
It’s no secret that people only function at about five percent of their mental capacity, and it sometimes seems like we’re comfortable with that limitation. Clarity and the ability to focus on goals are crucial to the success of any business. Both are a byproduct of the inner peace and tranquility that meditation brings.
2. Increased employee loyalty
A company that offers meditation as part of an employee wellness program shows that it cares about its employees and will gain the loyalty of employees at every level, resulting in reduced employee turnover and increased employee retention. Loyal employees are less likely to test the job market and will generally stay with a company longer. Loyal employees will also tend to feel that the success of the company they work for is directly related to their own success, and will therefore work harder to achieve the company’s goals.
3. Improved communication
A clear mind will express clear thoughts. Clear, effective communication between managers and employees is crucial to the smooth running of any business operation. Unfortunately, effective communication at all levels is an area where many companies need improvement. Clear communication is the result of the clarity and focus that meditation brings to the workplace.
4. Reduced absenteeism due to illness
In today’s fast-paced business world, there is no way to avoid stress. However, meditation allows the individual to deal with stress effectively, which helps to improve overall health, reducing the risk of heart disease, stroke, clinical depression and numerous other conditions that cause employee absenteeism.
5. Increased productivity
The practice of meditation will help improve overall productivity in businesses of any size or sector. By helping employees at all levels to deal with their stress effectively; focus more clearly on one’s own objectives and the objectives of the company; and communicate clearly with the other members of their team; employee productivity will improve. And when productivity improves at the individual level, the overall productivity of the company also improves… leading to higher profits and a healthier bottom line.
Whether a company employs 25 or 25,000 people, it can reap enormous benefits by offering meditation instruction to its employees as part of their employee development program.