Mind your head

Law firms can signal the value they place on optimal employee mental health by signing up to the Law Society’s Professional Wellbeing Charter. Mary Hallissey reports.

The Law Society has invited firms across Ireland to show their commitment to workplace wellbeing by signing up to its Professional Wellbeing Charter.

Health is now recognised as involving complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, and not simply the absence of disease or infirmity.

Health and wellbeing have also been recognised as key conditions for people to realise their potential, to achieve important life goals, and to contribute to society.

The charter is an initiative of the Society’s Professional Well-being Project, which is committed to the wellbeing of all members and the creation and maintenance of positive workplace cultures that support both wellbeing and psychological health.

Holistic

The Society’s professional wellbeing project coordinator, Julie Breen, points out that a proactive approach to these issues will help in retaining staff.

“Emerging law students now have a holistic and well-rounded approach to their careers, and they make it clear to employers that they want to work in a firm where good mental-health scaffolding is in place,” she says.

“Having the charter in place makes clear to employees that a firm really cares about mental health.”

The introduction of psychological services at the Blackhall Place Law School and the launch of the Professional Wellbeing Project in 2019 have had a de-stigmatising effect on the whole area of good mental health, Julie says.

Law School graduates are aware of the pitfalls of unsustainably long hours. They keep up to date on mental-health initiatives, know about the Wellbeing Project and are, generally, better informed.

Openness

Openness about good mental health is becoming more and more embedded in society, particularly as a result of the difficulties thrown up by the pandemic, Breen says.

“The charter should help to reduce stigma, but no one firm can do this on its own, since there has to be a collaborative effort across the legal profession.

“In terms of talent retention, there is absolutely a business gain to this. Productivity levels go up where there is psychological safety and where people feel more aligned to the purpose of the firm. That engenders a deep sense of belonging,” Julie points out.

The Law Society charter uses language that spells out the workplace values of trust, respect, honesty, fairness, compassion, and psychological safety.

“These things can’t be measured or put in an indicator frame, but it’s important to write them down on paper as realistic aspirations,” she says.

“Signing up to the charter will make these things easier for a law firm to actualise, because employees can look to these values to ground themselves.

“We know when we are in good hands, we know when we are in a place of safety and when it’s okay to make a mistake. That scaffolding means more innovation in the workplace, better productivity, and better teamwork,” Breen says.

A sense of psychological safety also means that employees are a lot less likely to go looking for another job.

It’s important for employees to know that there will be support in the event of psychological difficulties, and introducing mental-health safeguards in a firm will also reduce the risk of legal liability.

“It’s important to de-stigmatise the action of going to speak to someone in order to maintain mental-health equilibrium,” Breen says.

Philip Lee is a great example of a firm that champions an employee wellbeing programme. Despite the pandemic, the 2019 Law Firm of the Year has put in a sterling performance during the past year, with a surge in growth and full retention of its 140-strong staff.

HR manager Nicola McKenna points out: “The firm’s values are strong, in terms of loyalty, integrity, teamwork, respect and pride in our work – and those values nourish our culture.”

“It is imperative for us to have a culture at Philip Lee where every employee feels valued,” Nicola adds, pointing out that, while the firm has tiers of responsibility, it is not a hierarchical organisation.

A key objective of the Philip Lee employee wellbeing programme is that staff at all levels of the firm have a voice. And the concept of wellness has always been part of the firm’s ethos.

“We ultimately want our staff to feel healthy, positive and focused, and this is essential to the firm’s retention and growth strategy,” McKenna says.

“Signing up to the Law Society’s wellbeing charter simply reinforced our existing commitment to creating a positive workplace culture. And signing the charter is a visible marker that this is an environment where wellbeing is prioritised. We have fantastic, energetic leadership, and we are very lucky in having that commitment.”

No hesitation

For Wexford-based Catherine O’Connor (O’Connor Mullen), there was no hesitation in signing up to the charter.

“The charter values are important and mental wellbeing is important to label. This is part of our health-and-safety policy here at work,” O’Connor says.

It’s probably easier to be conscious of wellbeing in a small office, she notes – O’Connor Mullen is a two-partner firm with five employees: “There are only so many of us here, and it’s good to get on and have everyone fit and well and happy,” she says.

The firm opened in August 2017, with a very conscious culture that it would be a place where everyone wanted to be, and where work would fit in with family life.

“We are all human, we’re not robots, and we have to fit in our work with our families,” Catherine says, pointing out that it’s easy to be flexible – and possibly easier still in a smaller organisation.

The fear factor

The adversarial nature of the legal profession can lend itself to confrontation, Catherine says. “But not letting one’s defences down and not admitting to vulnerability can lead to a culture of fear,” she says.

“Fear is a wonderful commercial concept that makes money, and businesses thrive on it,” she adds.

“But deconstructing fear takes information, learning, language and understanding. People are reluctant to admit they are snowed under in work, or not making targets, but you have to appreciate you are dealing with human beings.

"Largely, people will try to do their best, but everybody needs downtime, and to recover.

“We have high levels of responsibility in our jobs.

"Every solicitor would have to admit that they have a fear of making mistakes – whether dealing with other people’s business affairs, their marriages, their property, or getting a bad outcome in criminal work.

"Nobody likes making mistakes, but everybody is human, and we will continue to make mistakes,” says Catherine.

“That potentially leads to an environment of being scared every day when you go into work. It’s very hard to function well in that environment, and it takes an honest person to step back when a mistake is made,” she says.

And in a culture where lawyers are supposed to ‘know everything’, it’s hard to admit that one needs guidance.

Catherine says that the Law Society’s charter is useful: “It’s short and simple – and that’s a good thing.”

Key resource

Callan Tansey partner Caroline McLaughlin points out that health and wellbeing have been recognised as a key resource for people to realise their potential, to achieve important life goals, and to contribute to society.

The Sligo-based firm wanted to make a public commitment to the creation and maintenance of a positive workplace culture that supports wellbeing and psychological health.

Caroline says: “We believe that promoting the wellbeing of our staff is critical in the successful operation of a busy legal practice. Our staff are our most valuable asset, and any steps we can take to support and encourage their wellbeing and psychological health is our main priority.

“As Richard Branson once remarked: ‘Take care of your employees and they will take care of your business’. It’s as simple as that. We would encourage all legal practices in Ireland to join us in becoming a signatory to the Professional Wellbeing Charter, in order to show their commitment to their own wellbeing and psychological health and to all the people across all roles within their organisations.”

“Our health is our wealth, and now, more than ever, we need to protect it,” Caroline concludes.

Mindful business

Michael Jackson, managing partner of Ireland’s biggest law firm, Matheson, says that the charter’s tenets resonate with the firm’s values and commitment to mindful business practice.

“We support its clear vision for leaders in the workplace to champion professional wellbeing, to reduce unnecessary stress, and to promote positive workplace culture. In fact, we believe that it is essential for the behaviours and practices envisaged by the charter to be led from the top,” says Jackson. 

“We have seen first-hand how committing to the tenets of mindful business and professional wellbeing can support increased openness, effective communication, respect for working hours, and mindful delegation,” he says. “The charter could not be more relevant, as all firms continue to seek to support their employees throughout the pandemic.

“I would very much like to commend the Law Society for its leadership in bringing the profession together on this important initiative.” 

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