This week is Wellbeing Week in Law. Its aim is to:
“raise awareness about mental health and encourage action and innovation across the legal profession to improve wellbeing.”
Over the past few years, industry studies have painted a forbidding picture of the state of mental health and wellbeing in the legal profession. It is an occupation characterised in many ways by deeply embedded cultural norms and stress, burnout, and poor mental health sadly remain all too common. This is before factoring in the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
I am proud that Thomson Reuters has taken a lead in cultivating new professional norms and cultures that support wellbeing. I last blogged on this topic back in October 2020 when the company’s CEO, Steve Hasker, had recently announced the introduction of an annual mental health day, a day for staff to take time out and focus on their wellbeing. This initiative has inspired a host of other organisations to follow suit.
Thomson Reuters staff are now allocated two mental health days per year, with the first of these being on Friday 13 May, and the other in October.
But the commitment to wellbeing does not stop there. Great strides have been made by the company to break the stigma associated with mental health. Leaders have been encouraged to speak out on issues of wellness and mental health and share personal stories of mental health challenges.
We have also made innovations to the way that we work to support wellbeing, such as the introduction of shortened meetings to ensure scheduled breaks between back-to-back virtual meetings. In addition, the company provides all employees with access to a wealth of resources and support.
Practical Law has played its part in this important cultural shift for the legal profession. Our team of editors and contributors have created a wide range of resources on wellbeing, including the following practice notes:
- Mental health, stress and wellbeing in the legal profession: an introduction explores the nature of stress, its prevalence for lawyers, and the causes of stress for those employed in the legal profession.
- Managing pressure to avoid harmful stress: the importance of self-awareness outlines the differences between pressure and stress, the signs and symptoms of stress, and the different ways in which individuals respond to pressure.
- Looking after your mental wellbeing to avoid harmful stress: the six habits of resilience and wellbeing examines the six habits of resilience and wellbeing.
- Workplace stress: six habits to help you meet your management responsibilities looks at stress and wellbeing in the workplace from a manager’s perspective.
- An introduction to mindfulness: the mindful lawyer considers the nature of mindfulness, explores its relevance for lawyers, and explains some of the scientific and wider research evidence that supports its growing use.
- Leadership: how to lead your team effortlessly discusses what leading effortlessly looks and feels like, and how you can experience it yourself so that life, and leadership, feels effortless.
