While employers are prioritizing adding mental health benefits in 2023, a key part of rolling out any new benefits is to ensure employees actually use and reap the benefit from these mental health resources. Recent studies show that while 88% of employees prioritize mental health and work-life balance over a paycheck, more than half said they haven’t taken advantage of their mental health benefit and 10% said they were unaware of the offering at their organization.
So how can HR and benefits leaders improve the odds of employees using their mental health benefits to help them reduce stress and anxiety? Integrating mental health benefits as part of your employees’ daily routine and workplace culture will increase both awareness and utilization, and should be a part of your benefits communications and promotion strategy.
Infusing mental health breaks in your employees’ day-to-day
Infusing mental health breaks into the workday is a critical step toward ensuring a healthy mind at work. Kicking off your meetings with a short meditation or breathing exercise can help formalize mental health breaks as an appropriate part of your employees’ daily routine at work. New research demonstrates that meditation can reduce anxiety just as effectively as medication but without the side effects of pills. Studies have also shown that breaks can positively affect an individual, reducing work stress, improving productivity, and boosting moods. Our brains need downtime to improve not only our decision-making abilities but also our creative skills, which can help boost a company’s innovation and bottom line.
While zen break rooms might work for fully on-site employees, how can you support employees in the new remote, hybrid world of work? As part of our continuous effort to support this new world of work, we’re working together with Zoom Video Communications, Inc. and bringing Calm Business for Zoom Meetings to your workplace. This works within your Zoom Meeting and can be used by organizations on our Enterprise and Business plans and their employees.
Employees will be able to play Calm content directly within their Zoom Meetings and take mental health breaks collectively. Calm Business for Zoom Meetings will also encourage employees to explore other Calm content outside their workday and to continue to take care of their mental health anytime, anywhere. For more information on how Calm Business customers can implement the Zoom integration for your organization, check out our FAQ.
5 easy ways to integrate mental health breaks into work
We’ve curated a variety of Calm content to help your employees integrate mental health breaks into their workday and start leveraging our new Zoom integration. They’ll be able to play Calm content before, during, or after their Zoom Meetings. Share the following resources with your managers and employees today:
1. Kick-start Zoom Meetings with Pre-Meeting Meditations
Ready to try something different for your Zoom meetings? Kick off your meeting with our Pre-Meeting Meditations collection led by Chibs Okereke and Megan Reitz. You can choose between 60- or 90-second meditations to unplug, show up, and meet well as a team.
2. Reset the team with the 60-second Reboot
In back-to-back meetings all day? Help your team reset before starting a meeting with the 60-second Reboot session led by Chibs Okereke. You’ll go through a quick guided meditation, which can help you and your team to regain clarity and boost productivity.
3. Take a midday stretch break with the Daily Move
Feeling some tension in your body? It’s time to integrate small mindful movements in your meeting with our Daily Move series led by Mel Mah. In just under 6 minutes, you and your team can feel relaxed and energized to tackle work projects again. Incorporate these gentle exercises as many times as you need during the workday!
4. Reflect after a tough meeting with Reframing Difficult Thoughts
Having negative thoughts after a tough meeting? Re-center yourself with the Reframing Difficult Thoughts session led by Chibs Okereke. During this 5-minute guided meditation, you’ll start cultivating feelings of positivity and create an overall sense of well-being. It’s highly recommended to continue this practice regularly so you don’t let negativity impact your work on a daily basis.
5. Wrap up the work day with the Daily Jay
Had a mentally draining day? Close out the workday with our Daily Jay series led by Jay Shetty. In 7 minutes, Jay will share a guided meditation practice along with an inspiring story to help you feel rejuvenated and create the capacity to take care of yourself again.
Taking a proactive approach to employee well-being
When your employees are deeply focused on their day-to-day at work, it can be difficult to find time for mental health breaks or to leverage their mental health benefits. But it only takes one minute to reset and recalibrate ourselves during a busy workday.
As HR and benefits leaders, you can make it easy for your employees to take those one-minute breaks by integrating Calm Business for Zoom Meetings into your workplace. They will be able to start reaping the benefits of meditation during their meetings with their colleagues.
Start moving forward in your efforts to develop an organizational culture that makes mental health and employee well-being a priority by leveraging the new integration. Let’s all work together in building happier and healthier workplaces for years to come.
Did you know? Calm is also available through Microsoft Teams!
For more information on how your employees can continue to deepen their mental health practices, connect with our Calm specialists and let’s create a customized solution for your organization’s unique needs.
