Workplace stress is the silent killer of personal and corporate profitability.
Research shows that nearly one third of Australian workforce are suffering from stress, anxiety and depression.
Although short term stress can be good and pushes us to our peak performance, prolonged stress is detrimental. Stress has a direct impact on employees’ health and increases risk to physical and mental illnesses. It can result in lack of sleep and contribute to high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, anxiety, depression and more.
Moreover, stress affects the employees’ productivity. According to SafeWork Australia,“poor psychological health and safety costs Australian organisations $6 billion per annum in lost productivity.”
Stress is costing the employees, companies and the society.
But it doesn’t have to be so. There is a simple technique that can be adopted by any individual or company to reduce the harmful effects of stress. And that is meditation.
Meditation is a mental exercise that trains our mind to be focused. It is a simple skill, yet a profound and scientific process. By training our mind to learn to be focused we can have control on our thoughts, emotions and performance in life.
Science shows that meditation not only releases stress, it strengthens key areas of the brain associated with focus, creativity, decision making and empathy.
Research increasingly confirms that to foster a more creative and a more profitable team, companies need to facilitate mind training programs, such as meditation and mindfulness, to contribute to more productive, happier and healthier employees.
A study by Aetna, one of America’s 100 largest companies by revenue, showed that when they offered free mind training programs to their employees, there was on average a 28% reduction in stress, a 20% improvement in sleep quality and a 10% reduction in pain. Participants also gained an average of 62 minutes of productivity per week, which Aetna estimated is worth $3,000 per employee each year.
Moreover, this program brought Aetna about $9 million in savings for paid medical claims in 2012. “If we can create a healthier you, we can create a healthier world and healthier company,” said Mr. Bertolini, CEO of Aetna.
Today forward-thinking leaders are recognising the benefit of meditation as a key strategy to build healthier, happier and more productive workforce. This translates to tangible profitability.
When people meditate they become more resilient. They take fewer sick leaves, have better team work and stay with organisations longer.
I was myself experiencing excessive stress at work years ago. When stress started affecting my health and my performance, I started seeking effective solutions to help me manage my stress and I encountered meditation. Meditation helped me become happier, healthier and more productive. It had such a profound effect on my life that I was inspired to become a certified meditation teacher to share with others the simple and highly effective techniques that changed my own life so others can benefit too.
Now I am an internationally published author, a certified meditation teacher and a life coach. I coach individuals and companies to grow their mind and grow their life and delete their stress.
When you are ready to grow in your personal life or in your organisation, contact me here.
