The Workplace Wellbeing Survey 2024 Analysis and Discussion report stems from a survey conducted by the IBA in July 2024, which collected responses from 236 IBA members across 68 jurisdictions.

The report revealed a concerning disconnect between the acknowledgement of mental health issues and the actual steps taken to tackle them, merely offering “lip service” to wellbeing initiatives.

According to the findings, while 62.56 per cent of respondents indicated that their firms had incorporated wellbeing initiatives into their organisational strategy, only 39.21 per cent reported that these programs were “actively monitored” or assessed for their effectiveness.

In addition, nearly half (47.84 per cent) of the participants expressed doubts about the effectiveness of law firms in their jurisdiction when it comes to supporting staff members facing mental health challenges or overall wellbeing issues. Furthermore, 57.69 per cent believed their firms were not successful in preventing work-related mental health and wellbeing problems from occurring.

The report outlined multiple recommendations for firms to adopt based on its findings and the prevailing attitudes within the legal profession regarding how effectively their firms are addressing workplace wellbeing. These include:

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• Creating strategies that allow them to “move from a reactive to an engaged and proactive approach to workplace wellbeing”.

• Managers must receive “sufficient training, resources and support to enable them to appropriately foster and promote positive workplace wellbeing”.

• Those engaged in the legal field, including bar associations, law societies and other organisations, need to “support law firms in adopting a new approach to wellbeing through the provision of training and support and the dissemination of relevant information, evidence and examples of good practice”.

One of the key authors of the IBA report and a member of the Professional Wellbeing Commission, Chris Owen, emphasised that employee wellbeing is not just a moral obligation; it’s a business imperative.

He noted that “a growing body of research evidence points to the strong links between employee wellbeing and key business outcomes such as recruitment, retention and performance”.

However, achieving this, as Owen explained, relies heavily on the “quality and effectiveness of managerial support and their willingness to proactively engage with individuals within the team or group”.

“It is only with this proactive level of engagement that many of these individuals are willing to vocalise their need for help and support,” he added.

Dr Emma Jones, the other principal drafter of the report, echoed these sentiments but emphasised the dual burden faced by such managers, noting how “they are also vulnerable to wellbeing challenges themselves if they are not provided with the necessary training, support and resources to enable them to do this”.