Abstract
Employee stress is a current costly business challenge affecting profits, productivity, attrition, engagement, and overall wellbeing of employees. Furthermore, the effects of stress at work are a pressing concern among business leaders and scholar practitioners. Mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) meditation is an intervention that has been proven to reduce stress. However, assessments used to measure employee stress and intervention effectiveness remain unchanged and are not representative of the modern workforce population.
This study used a mixed methods convergent design to test an innovative stress measurement, gas discharge visualization (GVD), in conjunction with free writing related to qualitative self-reported perceived stress, as well as the effectiveness of the guided breathing meditation from an MBSR intervention in a field study for 3 consecutive months for 2 different company work teams; 1 workgroup within a F500 company and a second workgroup within a start-up company.
The quantitative findings indicated mixed results. For some months the paired t test did not show the data were statistically significant. However, for some months the paired t test did indicate a reduction in employee stress. Therefore, the data are inconclusive as to a definitive answer if the MBSR was truly effective or not. The qualitative analysis suggests that perceived stress is individualized and that coping skills used to address stressors are either favorable or adverse. The converged quantitative and qualitative analysis indicated mixed results. The first analysis was inconclusive. However, the second and more in-depth analysis showed a strong, statistically significant correlation.