Though there has been an increase in the studies on mindfulness in organizations, the studies around its process have been scant. Most of the studies use only quantitative methods by collecting data based on scale-based questionnaires and doing further analysis to assess the impact of mindfulness on the organizational effectiveness as a whole. This chapter is an effort to explore the concept of mindfulness so that we can utilize it most effectively. The authors tried to connect several theories to the phenomena of mindfulness, for example, trait activation theory and broad and build theory. They present an alternate theoretical lens based on ‘practical rationality,' which can substantiate the use of qualitative methods for collecting data on mindfulness and help develop a higher orientation of experience among individuals. The authors concluded that mindfulness is an individual-level process that workplace factors and systems can influence. In addition, the purpose of initiating mindfulness should not be towards more ‘hedonic' reasons like stress management. Instead, the purpose should be more ‘eudemonic.'
Top2. Literature Review
As mentioned above, mindfulness as a topic finds its roots in Eastern knowledge and traditions, which have been adopted and tailored to be applicable in a workplace setting. So, various clinical and non-clinical researchers have supported that being mindful is suitable for the individual, and the impact of it can be seen in various interrelated areas. This has been increasing over the period due to an increase in ‘attention overload’, ‘stressors’, and ‘increased connectivity,’ i.e., people can sit and conduct meetings anytime and from any location after the digital wave, and also an increase in multi-tasking (Reb et al., 2020). Most of the studies around mindfulness have looked at individual-level factors. Some individual-level factors studied as mediators include – ‘empathy’, ‘paranoid cognition’, ‘sleep quality’, ‘creative process engagement’, ‘emotional stability’, ‘self-esteem’ etc. Some moderators include – ‘perceived leader humility’, ‘work engagement’, and ‘work experience’. Workplace factors like ‘situational demands’, ‘job control’, ‘on-task attentional pull’, ‘off-task attentional pull’, ‘organisational caring climate’, ‘external challenges ‘, ‘supervisor support’, etc., have been studied as antecedents to mindfulness. From the perspective of outcomes, the factors have been both organisational and workplace levels, which include – ‘job satisfaction’, ‘turnover intention’, ‘anxiety’, ‘burnout’, ‘emotional exhaustion’ ‘, self-compassion, ‘employee creativity’, ‘job performance’, ‘task performance’ ‘prosocial behaviour’, ‘work engagement’ etc.