Creating Environments Where Employees Thrive

By Kirsten Blume

Workplace engagement can include feeling passionate, invigorated, or absorbed in the work being done. Workplaces and leadership can take proactive steps to create environments where wellness thrives, by prioritizing employee flexibility, autonomy, input, and the ability to align with personal values. Space for creativity, curiosity, learning, and problem-solving can increase collective satisfaction and intellectual growth.

What helps you feel engaged and present in your work life? Join us Wednesday, May 15, from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. as OSB President David Rosen, along with fellow members of the legal community, discuss the intersection of engagement, mindfulness, and professional well-being.

Things to read, watch, and listen to this week –

• Mental Health America provides resources and ideas about improving workplace mental wellness; and

• a case for shifting the paradigm from reactive workplace approaches to a work culture grounded in prevention and care.  
   
• Mindfulness in the workplace can be a tool to increase creativity and well-being.

Things to Try –

• Try taking an intentional break by setting an alarm and pausing to recharge. It might just make you feel more focused when you return to your work. Check out this article from Harvard Business Review on what kind of breaks recharge us the most (consider taking a walk outside, cuddling a furry companion, or some intentional stretching)
   
• Explore which values feel most important to you, related to work and career in this moment.
   
• Reflect and align your values, strengths, and skills in a job crafting exercise.