Clifford Chance

We recognise that our high-performance environment demands a lot from our people, and that it is important to protect and enhance wellbeing to enable everyone to be the best they can be at work and beyond.

Our Global People Survey (summarised in our Responsible Business Report 2024, page 14) showed we are doing well across several health-promoting dimensions, including our people feeling energised by doing interesting work that makes good use of their skills and abilities, and feeling able to manage their workload. As reported earlier, we need to create a positive and engaging experience for everyone. We also recognise the importance of actively promoting and supporting mental health and wellbeing. This is an area where our growing Mental Health Champion network plays a key role.

Mental Health Champions

Mental Health Champions are colleagues committed to driving change by increasing transparency and engagement on mental health and wellbeing, role modelling good practice and offering a safe space for colleagues to reach out should they need to. Our Mental Health Champions network is sponsored by a member of the Executive Leadership Group.

Colleagues at all levels, including partners, associates and business professionals are part of the network and our vision is to ensure that there is at least one Mental Health Champion in each of our locations. Anyone can apply, but as a responsible business, we ensure that we are only appointing people equipped to carry out the role without any detriment to themselves.

All our Mental Health Champions receive training to equip them for the role, for example, in mental health first aid. They also take part in periodic, firm-wide networking sessions where they receive guidance from mental health professionals and get the opportunity to share best practice with their peers.

Globalising the network

We are making progress with rolling out this network globally and there are more than 170 colleagues signed up, well towards our goal of 350 (around one Mental Health Champion for every 20 colleagues in the firm). While the application process and governance are the same throughout the firm, we work with each jurisdiction to ensure cultural alignment.

Our Mental Health Champions are proven to play an invaluable role in the context of a volatile and uncertain world. When the tragic conflict in the Middle East started, we mobilised our Mental Health Champions to be available proactively for colleagues who may have been directly or indirectly affected by the conflict, enabling them through tailored training by a mental health expert.

Knowing that 'It's OK not to be OK'

Ultimately, aligned with the firm's global wellbeing strategy, our aim is to create a consistent culture in all locations where people feel comfortable talking openly about it and know that 'it's OK not to be OK'. Our global Mental Health Champions are key to that.

Workspaces that prioritise wellbeing

We are taking steps to make sure that the design of our workplaces prioritises the wellbeing of our people, which is why we signed up for the WELL at scale (the world's leading healthy building certification) programme in FY24 and instituted our own accessibility standards based on industry best practice. That means including features such as hearing loops, spaces to rest and reflect, and multi-faith rooms across our real estate portfolio where we can, making spaces fully accessible and taking account of neurodiversity.

The WELL at scale programme is being rolled out as we move offices. The goal is for all our offices to adopt the standard and all new office moves are expected to achieve this threshold.