The new year brings new beginnings, new opportunities, and brighter days. Given the impact the pandemic is having on everyone’s wellbeing, this could be the perfect time for your firm to take a step back, plan and introduce fresh ideas that will support your employees’ wellbeing and mental health in 2021.

Where to start?

• Develop an understanding at leadership level around why employee wellbeing and mental health is important.
• Grow leadership’s commitment and engagement in wellbeing and mental health.
• Suggest to leadership that your firm signs up to the Law Society’s Professional Wellbeing Charter as a first step.

And then?

• Consult with employees across different departments to review current policies and procedures around employee wellbeing and mental health.
• Examine these policies, procedures, and your firm’s culture to make sure your workplace is supportive of people with mental health problems. Make changes if required or develop new policies and procedures if these are lacking.
• Think of all the different roles your organisation has, and the different groups your firm has contact with. How can you engage these individuals and groups to challenge mental health stigma?

Walking the walk

• Understand employee’s needs and desires in terms of wellbeing and mental health by gathering meaningful data. As part of this, consider line managers’ needs when supporting employees with mental health issues, and establish if training is needed.
• Develop a wellbeing and mental health action / operation plan based on data gathered. Choose what interventions will work best for your firm’s employees and culture, and start implementing them.
• Communicate effectively to employees about what your firm is doing for wellbeing and mental health and ensure regular communication of this in your firm-wide communication strategy.

Professional Wellbeing Charter

Today, you can take one small step towards creating a happier workplace by signing up to the Law Society’s Professional Wellbeing Charter. This will start your firm on the right path; providing a foundation to lean on when planning for wellbeing in 2021.

By signing the Charter, your firm pledges to lead, uphold and promote the Charter commitments to improve professional wellbeing in the workplace. The commitments set out achievable goals to improve leadership and champion behaviours, skills and practices that promote and enable professional wellbeing at all levels and across all roles in firms.
For further details on the Professional Wellbeing Charter or the Professional Wellbeing Project and Professional Wellbeing Hub, you can contact Julie Breen.

eNewsletters

This article originally appeared in the 12 January Member eZine. For more information, and to subscribe, visit eNewsletters.