How pioneers are showing that mindfulness can work for every culture

By the Headspace Team

If you’re researching how to improve culture and well-being at your organization, you’ve probably seen convincing evidence that mindfulness can be an effective tool. However, the question of whether it works is very different from the question of whether it will work for your business. Company cultures are unique, after all, and supporting them needs specifically considered support. 

That’s why different sectors (and different businesses within them) take such different approaches to employee benefits. Some professionals will look for a career expecting benefits packages to focus on bonuses and benefit-in-kind offers. Others might anticipate their workplace to support them with additional leave, volunteering days, and dedicated time for personal and professional development. For many, the norm will be to highlight services like health and dental insurance or pension schemes.

These decisions, of course, are influenced both by what makes sense for their style of working — performance-related bonuses, for example, might not be applicable in the healthcare sector — and by how companies in the sector compete for talent.

However, there are also trends and challenges which have effects across industries much more generally, which every organization must respond to. Today, a constellation of concerns around stress, burnout, well-being, and staff retention is being felt across every industry. This has led to a surge of research into how mindfulness can be applied in different working contexts, and the results are showing how universal the practice of mindfulness really can be.

Read on to learn more about how mindful culture pioneers are making a proven difference in their workforces.

BP

BP had a specific trigger for turning to Headspace: a major divestment of operations in 2019 meant that the company’s 75,000-strong workforce was going through a period of real disruption and uncertainty — putting staff at risk of stress and burnout. The business chose to trial Headspace as a solution, focusing a pilot program on field-based staff and using clinical-grade stress and sleep metrics at the beginning and end of the three-month test period. As well as achieving a usage rate 10 times higher than the average for Employee Assistance Programs, Headspace resulted in a significant reduction in levels of perceived stress and a 34% decrease in poor sleep quality.

To learn more about how BP and Headspace did it, read the full case study here.

JPS Health Network

Like many healthcare organizations, JPS Health Network faced challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as employees reporting high levels of stress, concerns over work-life balance, and increased turnover. To address these, leaders searched for ways to provide employees with effective and free mental health support through its wellness program, JPS Enliven, and partnered with Headspace. With Headspace, JPS Health Network has extended its benefit offerings and provided another valuable option for employees to improve their mental well-being – JPS saw a 100% increase in Headspace engagement after just one month.

If you want to find out more about mental well-being at JPS, the case study is available here.

Ericsson

It’s difficult for most people to recognize the extent to which stress impacts the body throughout the day – and how it can impact the way you work and live. Because of this, Headspace invited Ericsson employees to participate in a scientific study evaluating the effects of a 10-day mindfulness program on heart rate variability (HRV), stress, and sleep quality. The study allowed the participating employees — and the Ericsson corporation at-large — to understand how mindfulness physiologically impacts their sleep quality, resilience to stress, and overall well-being. Levels of physiological stress declined and sleep quality increased, showing that Headspace is an effective tool for managing stress.

Discover how Ericsson is tackling stress with mindfulness in the case study here.