Pinsent Masons rolls out the Mindful Business Charter in the Middle East

The initiative adopts and promotes a culture of openness about mental wellbeing and encourages working arrangements that will reduce the unnecessary causes of stress and pressure in the workplace, thereby ensuring higher team performances.

Pinsent Masons has rolled out its Mindful Business Charter across the Middle East offices in Dubai and Doha. This initiative is to ramp up efforts to eradicate negative working practices that can affect mental health and wellbeing.

The roll out on the 9th November, marks an important step in adopting and promoting a culture of openness about mental wellbeing. It ensures mindful business practices are included as an area of assessment during significant procurement processes and drives forward the actions and necessary change in support of the principles of the Charter.

The Mindful Business Charter (MBC), initially devised in the UK by Pinsent Masons, Barclays and Addleshaw Goddard, brings corporates and their legal services providers together to reach a shared agenda reducing unnecessary causes of stress and pressure in the workplace and thereby ensuring higher team performances.

Richard Foley, senior partner, Pinsent Masons commented, “Businesses are adapting to new ways of working in light of the unprecedented challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The MBC has played a major role in bringing together corporates and their legal services providers to reach a shared agenda for supporting mental health and wellbeing, thereby ensuring high team performance as well as providing a healthy and positive working environment.”

“Full adoption of the MBC underlines our commitment to further eradicating negative working practices that can impact mental health and wellbeing and there is surely not a more critical time than the present to support colleagues in this way,” he added.

“By rolling out the Mindful Business Charter in the Middle East we are reassuring our colleagues that mental health should not be compromised as we adjust to the new norm while juggling work and family commitments along with dealing with the personal impact of the pandemic to create a healthy and agile business atmosphere,” Catherine Workman, head of Pinsent Masons Middle East added.

The Charter has been growing in its global influence and has already been adopted by over 70 global corporate and law firms as far afield as the UK, Asia Pacific and South Africa. Pinsent Masons Middle East has set up “Collective Mindful Behaviours”, which reflects each and every member of the business and is not just client facing. It encourages mindfulness by acknowledging the common issues faced by businesses in the region; for example how to best manage different time zones and working weeks.

“We welcome the launch of the Mindful Business Charter in the Middle East with open arms as it sets out key principles to provide a healthy work atmosphere and helps employers and employees to tackle avoidable causes of stress and poor mental health at work,” concluded Joanne Clarke, partner at Pinsent Masons Middle East.