I remember my time working in a Corporate setting when the company I was employed with started offering wellness programs. Ironically they were offering meditation in the environment where the executives were mostly ego driven, money hungry individuals focused daily on the bottom line.
Why offer Corporate Wellness Programs?
Speaking from my personal experience, they (the corporation) desires an easy,
effectual wellness program to help employees reduce stress and create a healthier lifestyle. In turn this should help eliminate some of the days off due to illness. It may also increase job performance and build camaraderie increasing productivity. This is the Corporations goal.
The challenge to this type of program? Employees may have some experience in meditation or yoga, however most don't. For those already meditating and practicing yoga, this will probably be a nice break in their day. Those who are new to meditating and in the corporation environment it is close to impossible, but a small percentage will have improvements in their well-being. Meditation is hard enough to do in a quiet space, let alone in a place where you have 30 minutes to quiet the mind then it is back to dealing with trying co-workers and possibly a bully boss.
Yes, the workforce is the life force of a business.
It starts from the top down and it always has. If the people running the business are greedy, out of balanced individuals who have their focus strictly on the bottom line, the corporate wellness program will not work as intended. However, if a peaceful, productive, team running a corporation is a part of the meditation, yoga or whatever the wellness program offers there is a better chance at achieving the end goal of a balanced workplace.
It's a proactive program, but it has to start from the top. The leaders must be individuals who hold themselves accountable for delivering their best personalities and talents to their team on a daily basis. This means in order to have the best chance at the business goals listed above, the leader of the Wellness Program must also have the ability to challenge leadership and heads of departments.
Times have changed and with a focus on mental and overall health, employees are not willing to work hard for an employer who causes stress, tension, unhappiness and or misery in their lives, especially if they can barely pay their bills. Young people are willing to make less and live with less money at times in order to be in a healthful or less stressful work environment.
So, yes, I believe meditation can blossom in the work place, but it starts at the top, the middle and the bottom and once all employees gain trust in the program, they will be able to relax enough mentally to actually benefit from it if the circumstances of the company are balanced enough to support the process.
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