As a product engineer at Comcast, Joe Godley ensures their employees have the hardware they need to do their job. It also often requires troubleshooting urgent equipment problems throughout the day. Thanks to Calm, Joe has significantly reduced the stress and anxiety that come with being a self-described “people pleaser.”
To help manage his stress and anxiety a few years ago, Joe experimented with several meditation apps before selecting Calm as his favorite. During the pandemic, he joined the Calm Business Ambassador Community as a Brand Ambassador and was appreciative of its virtual support network during a trying time.
“There were several Calm Business Ambassador Community virtual events that discussed timely topics which was a great avenue to hear how people were coping on their own terms. The closed community environment also cultivated a safe space for me and others to freely exchange our thoughts and opinions about current events. It was a really helpful support community for me during the pandemic when I was working remotely,” shared Joe.
After his positive interaction with Calm, Joe advocated adopting Calm Business as a preventive benefit for mental health with his direct manager and department lead. Comcast’s leaders saw the benefit of implementing a mental health tool to address stress and anxiety and, six months later, rolled out Calm Business company-wide.
How Comcast integrates Calm into the workday
Joe and his team leaders used short Calm meditations at the beginning of meetings to help Comcast employees feel less stressed and more grounded.
Joe explained, “I use Calm’s meditation sessions when I need to create space in between the day-to-day challenges. My favorite definition of “meditation” comes from Eric Zimmer, who points to the famous Viktor Frankl quote: Between stimulus and response lies a space. In that space lie our freedom and power to choose a response. In our response lies our growth and our happiness.”
“Essentially, as I deepen my meditation practice with Calm, the space between stimulus and response increases. It’s one of the key factors that has helped me become more patient and resilient despite my job’s fast pace,” continued Joe. “I am a people pleaser and it creates added stress as I try to keep everyone happy. Calm’s meditation sessions really help bring my anxiety levels down a notch.”
How Comcast creates a supportive culture
Comcast is focused on creating a positive culture to support their employees’ well-being. During the pandemic, the company took extra care to communicate and roll out supportive benefits and resources across the organization.
“My Executive Director was really supportive. She listened to our feedback on the kind of support we needed and then championed bringing on a mental health tool like Calm,” said Joe. “I love working at Comcast because our team culture is special. We laugh a lot and we have created a family-like culture. It’s why I stay working here. My teammates and leaders are really supportive and we have fun together while getting stuff done.”
Comcast has been consistently making the effort over the years to create a place where its employees can enjoy the work they do while feeling supported. Given the proactive nature of Comcast and its dedication to its employees’ well-being, Calm Business was an ideal preventive tool to support its employees’ mental health.
For more resources to help your employees manage their mental health at the workplace, check out the Work–Life collection in the Calm mobile app.
