Being an employer often means that you have mainly responsibilities to consider. You have to think about the business, the projections you have and the big decisions that may need to be made daily.

There are often other responsibilities that you may be more aware of such as having staff members and ensuring that they are doing their job properly and productively.

However, one thing you may not consider is an area that you can improve is mindfulness, but this can be very essential in the workplace. 

Happy staff members means that you automatically get a more productive and fulfilling workforce. People will want to be doing their jobs, and will feel physically and mentally able to do it.

But, as a business, have you got things in place that can encourage mindfulness in your workplace? With that in mind, here are some of the best suggestions that you may be able to implement into your business to help your staff feel valued and respected. 

Flexible working options

Your staff members could have very different family backgrounds, skill sets and working solutions, and as an employer, if you want to keep your staff members feeling respected, valued and fulfilled, then offering flexible working options could be a great way to do that. This could be in the way of offering working from home solutions.

With amazing video conferencing applications that you can use and technology making it easier than ever to communicate, working from home can be such a flexible way to ensure that your staff members can have a great family life as well as being productive in the workplace.

Another great way to help with flexible working options is to allow working hours to be more suitable around shifts and home life. It could be that you allow staff to condense hours and have longer days and extra days off to help work around their family lives.

Flexible working options allows staff to feel respected and valued in their jobs, as well as encouraging them to make the most out of the different solutions that they have. 

Taking care of general wellbeing in a workplace outside 

Some working environments include being outside, this is especially apparent in construction and building work forces. It can be harder to try and encourage mindfulness outside, especially if the weather is cold and not so great.

But as an employer, you could add special areas like site welfare units that could be an excellent place for workers to go when they need a break and some recreational time.

It can often be the small things such as that, which can make a big difference to how a worker feels. Labour intensive roles can be very tough, especially during the winter, so having a place for them to go could be a lifeline. 

Keeping up to date with your staff members

A simple act that can be massively successful is to encourage more communication with your staff members on a personal level. Getting to know them, their families, what is important to them and striking up conversations at break times can help your staff members feel like you care.

If we feel valued, then our mindset is more positive as work and doesn't become such a chore as we want to succeed. It may sound like such a simple thing to do, but it can make such a big difference to how your staff feel.

Why not try stroking up a conversation today? One minute of your time could be the difference between a happy and unhappy workforce. 

Encourage staff to practice mindfulness in work

A great tip is to consider encouraging staff members to kick-start their day with the right mental attitude. Some staff members may have a long commute to work, they may have a young family meaning they aren’t getting too much sleep, and they could be going through personal issues that they are trying to leave away from their work.

If as an employer you can encourage staff to practice mindfulness. A great suggestion would be to do this at the begging of the day or at the start of a shift.

An option might be short breathing exercises that can take just ten minutes to calm the mind and get into the right mindset for work. As an employer, you would ask your staff members to focus on their breathing for just ten minutes of the day at the beginning.

You would also encourage them to enjoy this time where they have no responsibility to the day other than to focus on their breathing and to get into a positive headspace and mindset ready to tackle their jobs.

It can be a simple thing to do, but it can certainly help staff members to create the right mental attitude ready for the day. 

Introduce a quiet space in an indoor working environment 

If your work and company requires many staff members to work in an inside space or office, then you could introduce a quiet space within that area that staff members can retire to on their breaks or lunchtime periods.

This could be where they could do things like meditation, or maybe things like breathing exercises or just to enjoy some quiet time to read without any distractions of mobile phones or televisions.

Meditation is a great way to encourage mindfulness, and if you could create an area where staff members feel relaxed enough for them to practice the art of it, then you may notice a change in attitude and also how they feel. 

Of course, meditation isn’t always what people want to do and some employers may not believe in it. But a quiet space in your workplace can be hugely beneficial, because it will allow your staff members a chance to step away from distractions, either on a personal level as well as work related. 

Regular breaks for your staff and employees

You may want to get the very best out of your staff members, so a great way to ensure that you do this is to encourage regular breaks. This is especially important if your staff and employees are staring at a computer screen or doing something that is quite labour intensive like construction or building work.

Offering them the chance to recuperate and gather their thoughts, rest themselves physically and also mentally. These regular breaks don’t need to last too long, aside from a lunch period the regular breaks can last ten to fifteen minutes.

But you will see a big improvement in the productivity levels of your staff members by encouraging them to take these breaks seriously and make the most of them. 

Having a robust health and safety policy in place

As an employer, you have a responsibility to ensure that your staff members and employees feel safe and secure when they are doing their job and on the workplace premises.

Conducting regular risk assessments will help you as a business to do your bit to ensure that staff members can feel assured that they are safe doing their jobs.

In turn, this can allow your employees to feel positive about their working environment and feel at ease that they have the tools for the job and are able to conduct their role professionally and also safely. This can help to put their minds at ease and allow them to feel happy and fulfilled.

Encourage a healthy lifestyle in terms of food options

Another great way to encourage mindfulness in the workplace is to consider things such as encouraging a healthy lifestyle. A way that as an employer can do this is through healthy food choices.

Your workplace may have things such as a vending machine or drinks option, but offering healthy alternatives to carbonated and caffeinated drinks, crisps and chocolates, you could look at adding water machines and healthy protein bars as alternatives.

If your workplace has a canteen or kitchen, then you could ensure that anyone creating food choices will go down a healthy route that includes vegetables, salads and fruit.

However, if your workplace doesn’t offer food as such, a kitchen area where your staff can prepare, store and heat up their lunches and food can be a great way to encourage them to maintain their energy levels and make the right healthy choices. 

Team meetings, one to ones and positive words of encouragement

Finally, a great way to encourage mindfulness and positivity in the workplace is to have more communication with your staff. We have already mentioned that you should talk on a personal level, but this is from a business perspective.

Team meetings that you communicate news and goings on regularly can help your staff to feel up to date and also valued members of the team. In the meetings, sousing positive language and using it as an opportunity to praise staff members can be excellent encouragement tactics.

You should also consider regular one to one meetings where you’d discus performance with your employees. This helps you to identify training and also encourages them through positive language and praise. Identifying areas of improvement helps your business to be more productive. 

Let’s hope these tips help you to encourage mindfulness in the workplace.