Mindfulness at work (Glomb, Duffy et al, 2012) - Human Resources

146THERESA M. GLOMB ET AL.training programs for leaders is promising (Shambhala Sun Foundation,2010a). For instance, leaders participating in the mindfulness trainingprogram in General Mills have experienced dramatic improvement oflistening attentiveness and decision-making quality (General Mills, 2010).Additional research using rigorous methodologies is needed.We also considered the possibility that organizations might experienceunintended consequences from mindfulness. Given that mindfulnessincreases individuals’ ability to control their thoughts, emotions, andbehaviors, to be more aware of their personal goals and values, and to bemore attuned to others’ needs, a more mindful employee may act in waysthat are counter to the organization’s best interests, by favoring family,personal connections, or a slower work pace. For example, in the case ofcitizenship behaviors, an organization might benefit because a mindfulemployee is more likely to notice that a coworker needs help (via greaterattention to the employee and increased empathy), but the mindfulemployee may also be more attuned to costs associated with helping (e.g.,less time for family) or more aware of task goals and, as a result, choose notto help. This small example raises an important issue: The behaviors of moremindful employees will be more intentional, but they may not always lead toself-regulation that is consistent with organizational goals.We also suspect that mindfulness is easier to cultivate in certainoccupations or organizational contexts. One might argue that mindfulnessis diametrically opposed to organizational cultures that value working fast,multitasking, and being hyper busy. Perhaps mindfulness would improvework quality but decrease quantity of work. There are a number ofinteresting questions to ask: What would an organizational culture thatpromotes mindfulness look like? How do people enter into mindful states atwork? Do certain conditions in the work environment make a mindful statemore likely?We also believe that there may be certain conditions where the effects ofmindfulness will be particularly strong, including situations when employeesare dealing with challenging roles, when emotional regulation is required, orduring times of transition. For example, mindfulness might be helpful incross cultural situations when response flexibility and affective regulationare critical. Mindful, nonjudgmental attention to cultural differences mightimprove the odds of successful expatriate adjustment, because consciousawareness of differences should result in better adaptation to culturalnorms, and because of the increased resilience and improved socialrelationships that we expect to result from a more mindful orientation. Asimilar rationale would apply to employees in new roles, such as moving