Mental health and wellbeing – is your firm doing enough to support its employees?
Siân Riley, content & thought leadership associate at Access Legal, urges law firms to put mental health and wellbeing in the spotlight, offering some tips and tricks for the journey.
Covid-19 lockdowns have inevitably played a part in pushing mental health and wellbeing to the front of our consciousness, which is why it is important to have relevant policies and precedents so everyone knows what they should do if they are directly or indirectly affected by mental ill health, while also understanding the importance of maintaining positive wellbeing.
Yet, having a policy is not the be-all and end-all – having a supportive culture is also key, especially in relation to attracting and retaining staff.
Recent cases have highlighted key issues that negatively impact employees’ mental health. Common themes include fee earners under extreme pressure with high billing targets, who receive little or no support from their supervisors. Unsurprisingly, the firms in question have been criticised for failing to take adequate steps to safeguard employees’ wellbeing.
To help avoid mental-health issues, firms must ensure they adopt effective practices that work in reality.
It has been encouraging to see a shift from reactive management of mental-health issues in the workplace to a more proactive approach of prevention through promoting wellbeing and improving employee engagement. The UK Government’s Thriving at Work independent review of mental health and employers set down a number of core standards that were incorporated into the Mindful Business Charter – a collaborative, private-sector initiative with the commendable aim of removing unnecessary sources of stress and promoting better mental health and wellbeing in the workplace.
The pandemic has forced us into new working arrangements, pushing us to re-think the traditional office-based set up. While it is reassuring that many firms are planning to carry these ideas forward and make changes – such as offering more flexible hybrid working models – for the greater good, it is also important that we think of ways to stay connected and support each other when we are no longer together in the same office.
Our Mental Health for Lawyers training course – with a particular focus on how to manage stress in the legal profession – is another tool that we have available to provide practical support and guidance. We also recently released a mental health and wellbeing policy for law firms, which touches upon a wide range of areas – including workplace culture and digital wellbeing.
The aim is that these resources should work in tandem with wider changes and help to herald a new era – where these areas are a prime focus within law firms, where we have greater awareness, and where we are better equipped to support ourselves and each other.
Positive mental health and wellbeing is fundamental to a healthy, happy and successful life and it is time that it is given the recognition it so rightly deserves.
