Organisations that care for their employees have lower employee turnover, higher employee satisfaction and an organisational culture that promotes getting things done. Supporting your employees to live and work mindfully could be the most useful bonus you give them. The practice of mindfulness builds the emotional intelligence and resilience of staff – vital in these uncertain and demanding times. Mindfulness training in organisations is a growing trend.
Organisations can engage with mindfulness in many different ways. Starting with a one-off workshop for staff, organisations may later choose a deeper commitment and become a Mindful Organisation. Working with your organisation’s leadership team and staff we tailor an approach, action plan and review process that will work for you.
Our track record
Since 2014 we have worked with a variety of organisations including the University of Western Australia, Edith Cowan University, WA Council of Social Services, Hope Community Services Inc., WA Bar Association (barristers), Telethon Type 1 Diabetes Family Centre, Cancer Council (health professionals), Leadership WA, Advocare, Bethesda Hospital, Employment Law Centre, Entrepreneurs’ Organization, NKH Knight, LGISWA, WA Police, Royal Perth Hospital, Bentley Health Service and more. The format suits the needs of the organisation from multi-week courses to full-day workshops and shorter seminars.
The way forward – working with you
Contact us to have an informal conversation about how to bring Mindfulness into your workplace. Working with your leadership team we can advise and support your organisation become a mindful organisation. A package could include workshops tailored to the particular needs of your organisation, one-on-one mindfulness coaching for staff, and advice on formal and informal mindfulness practices that can be incorporated into a working day.
Mindfulness in the workplace globally
Google has an ongoing in-house course called “Search Inside Yourself” where the benefits of Mindfulness are taught and practised – the waiting list of employees wanting to do the course is testimony to its benefit. Google embraced Mindfulness through the appointment of Chade-Meng Tan to a novel job description: “Enlighten minds, open hearts, create world peace”. Meng previously worked at Google as an engineer and helped build Google’s first mobile search service, and headed the team that kept a vigilant eye on Google’s search quality. Other companies such as Nike, General Mills and Target encourage time out of a busy work day to sit and meditate with classes to show them how.
I’d like to thank you again for your informative and practical session [half-day workshop]. I returned to the office armed with some practical tools as to how to incorporate mindfulness into my everyday routine and plan to give it a go. Gemma (Solicitor) Thank you for an excellent mindfulness course [5 weeks x 90 minutes]. Your experience and knowledge made it a really worthwhile course. Although I feel that I have a long way to go, I think that mindfulness practice is helping me to be more objective and less emotional at work and in my dealings with other people. Faith (University staff member) I am sure there could have been 50 mindfulness trainers in Perth but Kathryn was THE REAL DEAL. Credible, authentic, holistic and spoke of practical and theoretical. Fantastic choice of speaker for this topic. Participant from Entrepreneurs’ Organization
Research into mindfulness in the workplace
For scientific research into the effects of Mindfulness in the workplace, check out the journal article by Wolever R, Bobinet K, Baime M, et al. “Effective and viable mind-body stress reduction in the workplace: A randomized controlled trial.” Journal Of Occupational Health Psychology [serial online]. April 2012;17(2):246-258.
Recent research published in the TQM Journal evaluating connections between the practice of mindfulness meditation and individual and organisational wellbeing concluded: “The comparison and analysis of results showed that the group of participants taking part in the meditation training obtained a significant increase in certain indicators relating in particular to subjectively perceived well-being, as regards attention and concentration as well as in a physiological indicator measuring stress reduction.”
For a more Australian take on the effects of Mindfulness in the workplace, Mindfulness at Work by Dr Stephen McKenzie may provide what you’re looking for.
How is well-being in your organisation?
For workplace well-being, contact us to discuss how we can facilitate mindfulness training for your team here in Perth or regional Western Australia. For monthly updates please sign up here.