Mindfulness: ensuring health and wellbeing of remote workers

Practising mindfulness has well documented benefits for mental wellbeing (reducing anxiety and depression), physical health (decreasing blood pressure), general wellbeing (supporting a positive mood), and interpersonal interactions, including communication with co-workers.

Team mindfulness and psychological safety are characterised by a sense of belonging and a belief that the team is safe, and members can trust their co-workers to not reject, invalidate or take advantage of them. These concepts are key determinants of performance and employee wellbeing.

A newly published study, conducted by researchers from the US entities Behavioural Research and Analytics, Arizona State University and Calm.com, examined the relationship between types of workforce engagement with an employer-provided mindfulness app and remote workers' perceptions of team mindfulness and psychological safety.

The study involved a cross-sectional survey of employees working for companies offering the use of the Calm mindfulness meditation app. It included 400 full-time remote workers from 180 different organisations.

From the three types of workplace app engagement the study examined, the researchers found that remote workers who felt their workplace provided opportunities to use Calm together during the work day (20%) reported a significantly greater perception of team mindfulness and psychological safety. They were also more likely to use and discuss Calm with their co-workers.

Workers who actually used Calm with their team members (7%) also perceived their team to be more mindful than those who had not used Calm with others.

Lastly, discussing Calm with team members (irrespective of whether they had actually used it with others), of which 46 per cent engaged in, was associated with perceptions of greater psychological safety. According to the authors, this suggests that by just discussing mindfulness a sense of trust and accountability can be developed.

The researchers say that by providing explicit opportunities and encouraging employees to use and discuss mindfulness apps, organisations can foster positive workplace environments where their remote workers develop a greater sense of team mindfulness and psychological safety.

However, they highlight that this requires a "top-down" approach, such as employers scheduling specific times of the day for their workers to use and discuss the app.

The researchers note that by creating a workplace that fosters a sense of psychological safety and team mindfulness, employers can expect to see many associated workplace benefits, such as: reduced interpersonal conflict; better communication; higher employee retention; lower levels of distraction; a positive team climate; and higher levels of motivation.

Some members of the research team acknowledge they receive payments from or hold stock with Calm, but claim their salary or equity are not dependent upon the results of their research.

Examining the associations of using the Calm app with team mindfulness and psychological safety on remote workers. Megan Puzia, et al, US, Environmental and Occupational Health Practice, published online June 2022, doi: 10.1539/eohp.2022-0001-OA.