Mindfulness: bringing your head and your heart into the office

Mindfulness in the workplace can mean many things, from meditation and yoga to taking time out to focus on tasks.

MetLife chief executive Deanne Stewart says everyone should have a digital day off once a week.

Mindfulness in the workplace can mean many things, from meditation and yoga to taking time out to focus on tasks.

But MetLife Australia chief executive Deanne Stewart says mindfulness is about bringing your head and your heart into the office, and ensuring leadership teams understand staff and their personalities, to help them work better as teams.

“A big part of me taking this role was how do I create an environment that you feel very present in, and that’s a big part of mindfulness — you can be authentic and compassionate,” Stewart says.

“It’s connecting to people and letting them bring their true self to work.”

Mindfulness — which promotes clarity of thought, calmness and connection to others — is widespread in the US and promoted as a way to help white-collar employees relax and focus on work. The calmer and more present staff are, the less likely they are to be disengaged and the likelier they are to be productive, with fewer sick leave days.

A 2013 Safe Work Australia report found mental stress to be the most expensive form of workers’ compensation claims because of the typical lengthy periods of absence.

Stewart says workplace stress and anxiety are on the rise, and much of it has to do with being connected around the clock.

There is constant pressure from some employers to reply to text messages or emails after hours and on days off, and Stewart says it is important for workers to be able to feel they can switch off and be digital-free.

Stewart switches off her dev­ices after work at night when she is feeding and settling her children, and switches back on only when they are in bed. She has digital-free Saturdays to take her children to sport and for social activities with her family.

“Everyone, one day a week, should have a digital day off,” she says. “I rarely check my mobile or iPad on a Saturday.”

But she says it is unrealistic for some staff at some organisations to switch off completely, and in that case guidelines should be set about what is acceptable.

Stewart says allowing employees to switch off completely after work, and not pick up digital dev­ices, results in a more productive workplace.

Introducing mindfulness at MetLife, which has involved some yoga and team-building workshops once a quarter, Stewart says the emphasis is on getting back to basics and finding out what makes staff happy.

“If you give them extra bonuses or extra benefits that’s going to make them happy or engaged in the short term, but if you look at the companies that are great ­places to work you look at leadership — can you trust them, are they authentic — and then in turn can I bring that to work,” she says. “What people crave is coming to work feeling that they’re adding value and making a difference, that they’re connecting with people at work and collaborating, and that they go home and feel good about it.”

People also crave recognition and others knowing they have put in an effort, and she says the company’s new Woo Board, where people can praise good work, has been extremely popular.

The company uses a social media platform and Stewart says people quickly began “liking” other posts and giving each other backslaps for jobs well done.

She also created a film festival after she took on the role a year ago, and teams created 20 short films depicting the company’s purpose and why staff came to work, helping to define the spirit of the insurance organisation.

“We’re connecting and we’re collaborating — people want to feel connected,” she says. “There were too many silos, we’ve tried to break them down and create virtual teams.”

Working mindfully begins at the top, Stewart says, and she has involved her leadership teams in 360-degree appraisals where all staff can provide feedback on performance reviews to their managers and colleagues.

She also provides additional training for leaders who have been autocratic or focused on achieving at any cost rather than collaborative.

Mindfulness is not just the yoga, relaxing music, candles and breathing exercises, with independent performance coach and recruiter Mike Irving saying embracing spirituality can help productivity.

Irving has developed an energy unification system that allows people to tap into their spiritual being and remove negative energy while at work.

He recommends people be present in the moment, build three strategies around intention, awareness and attention, be willing to think and act outside the square, and understand how to handle situations at any given moment.

“I believe only 1 per cent of business owners are tapping into their spiritual awareness but I expect that figure will grow rapidly as people become aware of the positive impact it’s having on success and finances,” Irving says.

“It’s that negativity that makes people anxious and highly emotional, often leading to poor treatment of staff and bad financial decisions.”

Psychologist and consultant Olivia Downing says mindfulness is about letting go of judgment and channelling compassion.

She says much of the multi-million-dollar spending on organisational and leadership pro­grams is wasted because people are not taught to concentrate.

Paying attention, concentrating on work and having clear thoughts can be beneficial, she says, and the more people focus on their work the more they can achieve and with fewer work-related anxieties.

That also includes people responding productively in meetings rather than allowing their minds to wander.