Mindful Pensions, a new initiative led by David Butcher, a pensions trustee and mindfulness coach with over 40 years of experience, has launched.
The venture intends to introduce the benefits of mindfulness to the pensions sector, helping businesses support employee wellbeing, reduce stress, increase productivity, and eventually improve decision-making for pension savers.
According to Butcher, self-awareness that involves deliberate attention to the present moment without passing judgment, curiosity, and openness is known as mindfulness. This form of self-awareness assists individuals in becoming more attuned to their thoughts, feelings, sensations, and behaviours. He highlights the importance of self-awareness in promoting diversity, inclusivity, and sound decision-making within the industry.
Butcher says: “The impact that stress has on productivity and wellbeing is well documented, and the numbers are staggering. Figures suggest that 76 per cent of employees feel moderate to high levels of stress which is worrying as a worried workforce can’t be a productive or resilient workforce. We also know that stress costs UK PLC over £5 billion annually and causes over 15 million lost days of work. And with 79 per cent of UK employees experiencing burnout, and 35 per cent reporting extreme levels of burnout it’s clear that the time for action is now.
“I’ve used mindfulness for the past 40 years to help me deal with some highly stressful work and personal circumstances. And it has underpinned my approach to becoming the trustee that I am today. The fundamental problem is that we all tend to lack awareness in the present moment, raking over the past in our minds, fretting endlessly about the future and wasting huge amounts of energy in the process. Mindfulness is about releasing all that energy by being in the present moment.
“In setting up Mindful Pensions and blending my mindfulness experience with my experience of holding senior pensions industry roles, I hope to do my bit in helping the industry be a healthier, more fulfilling and more productive place to work – ultimately making a positive difference to millions of savers.”
