Background

The theory on organizational mindfulness is mostly informed by studies conducted in high reliability organizations (HROs), such as nuclear power plants or airlines, that are positively deviant in their nearly error-free performance. A growing body of evidence shows the positive impact mindful thinking and action has on reliability and safety related outcomes. However, there is a shortage of empirical evidence to support the usefulness of mindful organizing (MO) in ordinary business settings. Moreover, very little is known about employees’ subjective experience of working in contexts engaging in MO, especially about the attitudinal and behavioral responses of employees.

Aims

The aim of our study was to examine the employees’ reactions to MO in ordinary business settings. Ultimately, we ask the question about how MO affects motivation to work, organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), that is attitudes and behavior associated with positive organizational outcomes in previous research. We also make an attempt to contextualize the employee-related effects of MO and study the moderating effect of the organization’s environment on the examined relationships as several researchers (e.g. Vogus & Sutcliffe, 2012) argue that the effectiveness of MO may be higher under uncertain environments with constant changes.

Method

We surveyed 307 employees from many industries using paper-and-pencil questionnaires. A series of hierarchical regression analyses and structural equation models were performed to test our hypotheses.

Results

The results reveal that MO has a positive and significant impact on employees’ commitment, motivation to work and OCB. Contrary to expectations, our study did not confirm that organizations’ environment affect the attitudinal and behavioral results of MO. We also found that OC to some extent explains the relationships between MO and motivation as well as between MO and OCB.

Conclusion

The findings demonstrate that organizations situated in a less demanding environment than HRO’s could also benefit from MO. Moreover, the study offers some insight into how MO affects employees’ attitudes and behaviors.