Law firms now have additional help to combat professional stress. The Madrid Bar Association (ICAM) has put a mental health kit in your hands to deal with a reality: the anxiety that six out of ten legal professionals admit to suffering from. The prevention manual includes a digital disconnection plan that seeks to limit the use of professional email outside of working hours and guarantee rest outside of working hours.
Furthermore, to help lawyers with symptoms of extreme fatigue, difficulties managing stress, demotivation or alterations in work performance, the ICAM has prepared – within the framework of Mental Health Week – a psychological first aid manual to try stop them at the first warning signs. All these teaching tools will also be available through the ICAM Cortina Foundation website.
To combat the hyperconnectivity that increasingly affects legal professionals, the plan proposes guidelines to improve work-life balance, starting with establishing clear limits on work hours. Because, he warns, “far from improving productivity, the blurring of the boundaries between work and personal life causes cognitive overload that prevents lawyers from making complex decisions clearly.” Limiting the use of email outside of working hours, providing regular breaks and restricting remote access to work platforms outside of established hours are some of the main indications.
Likewise, opt for the automation of responses to emails outside of working hours, the use of tools that allow you to deactivate notifications on mobile devices or the use of time management systems and access limiters. And in emergency situations outside of working hours, opt for a system of rotating guards, where only one professional is available to attend to possible emergencies, thus avoiding overloading the entire team of professionals in the office. To put these emergencies to their proper conclusion, it suggests establishing a protocol to determine when it is necessary to interrupt a lawyer’s rest, ensuring that these interventions are exceptional.
“The comprehensive well-being of legal professionals is an absolute priority. With initiatives like this campaign we are promoting a culture of prevention and support that benefits both lawyers and firms. As a College we cannot remain impassive when six out of ten Lawyers tell us that they suffer from anxiety and almost half have experienced fatigue, negative and depressing thoughts and emotional disturbances,” says Eugenio Ribón, dean of ICAM.
The mental health kit is also aimed at those responsible for offices and human resources departments, who are reminded that a healthy work environment is crucial “not only for the well-being of employees, but also for the success and productivity of organizations.” “. Hence, it emphasizes the importance of continuous training on topics related to mental health, such as the early identification of emotional problems and stress management. In addition, it promotes the improvement of work flexibility policies, which allow employees to manage their professional and personal responsibilities in a more balanced way or the creation of open and accessible communication channels, so that employees “can express their concerns in a manner confidential and secure.”
He urges human resources managers to remain alert to any changes in the behavior of their employees, fostering “an environment of support and understanding.” These warning signs, the guide indicates, usually manifest themselves through withdrawal, irritability, lack of concentration, absenteeism or apathy. Among other measures, it recommends carrying out periodic surveys to “evaluate the work environment and mental health” of the teams, and the design of assistance and well-being programs that include psychological services for workers.
The guide outlines a preventive strategy that encourages those responsible for legal firms with more than three employees to participate in the Wellness Firms program promoted by the ICAM Cortina Foundation, in whose first promotion firms such as those of Uría Menéndez, Pérez-Llorca, Clifford Chance, Ashurst, ECIJA or Ceca Magán, among others.
Isabel Winkels, vice dean of ICAM, states that the objective is to “raise awareness and offer effective tools that allow lawyers to balance their work and personal lives, reducing the effects of the hyperconnectivity in which we all live.” “It is essential that both professionals, offices and human resources managers take proactive measures to take care of the mental health of their teams. With these guides, we take another step towards healthier and more productive work environments,” says Ana Buitrago, deputy of ICAM and vice president of the ICAM Cortina Foundation.