Welcome to the MBC members area. This is your gateway to all the news, updates, events and resources you will need to support you and your organisation in embedding the Mindful Business Charter.
The annual survey is an opportunity to take stock of what we've achieved over the past year - and consider where we need to focus next year - but we can only do that with your help.
The survey should only take about 20 minutes and we only want one response per organisation. Please complete it by 17th May in order to have your say, and provide us with the insights we need to continue reducing stress and creating happier, healthier more productive workplaces.
To complete the survey click here.
In January of this year we carried out a workshop with MBC members, facilitated by Lex Solutions to examine the client supplier relationship, and more specifically, to see what barriers existed there to implementing the Mindful Business Charter.
This recording documents that workshop, its outcomes and proposed solutions.
To view this click here.
Digital wellbeing is an important factor in reducing unnecessary stress in the workplace. We can’t possibly be operating at our best if we are constantly interrupted by notifications, feeling the need to refresh our inbox out of hours, and ending up in cc chains that add no benefit to our day.
Developed by digital wellbeing experts Shine offline, these six bite size modules allow you to develop your understanding and gain practical tips to improve your relationship with your tech. It includes expert opinions from authors, psychologists and thought leaders, along with challenges, quizzes and accompanying written resources.
Each module is between 13 and 20 minutes, making it easy to allocate time to your development, either completing one a week, or whenever suits you.
You can view the first one here.
(All other modules and accompanying PDF's can be found in "Digital Wellbeing" under "Resources.)
Katie Cavalier joined us from Epigram, a relatively recent addition to the MBC community, to share with us an excellent case study on how they embedded the Smart Meetings and Communications Pillar, not only internally, but also with their external clients.
As well as catching up on the video here. Katie has also very kindly provided a pdf of their case study which you can view here.
Following the death of Vanessa Ford and our response in the form of our Letter to the Profession we have been contacted by many of you with offers of help and support, but also with requests for guidance on how to communicate within your organisations when there has been a suicide either within your colleague community, or in the wider sector.
This document lists a number of considerations, practical tips and provides signposting to additional forms of support. To access the guide, click here.
We were very pleased to be joined by BlueSky in this session today discussing Parental Burnout including -
The response both on Slido and in the session chat was overwhelming and unified - as such we want to offer more space for this conversation to continue. We will be holding a second session in June where we will be focusing on sharing successes - ideas and initiatives from the community that have worked. If you have any examples you can share, please contact either richard@mindfulbusinesscharter.com or charlotte@mindfulbusinesscharter.com to discuss further.
To watch the recording click here.
This session, led by Andy Hobbs from Assurety, looked at how we react, physically, physiologically, mentally and emotionally to stress - with a live demonstration from a volunteer! We also looked at how through being aware of that, we can start to remain mindful, and perform at our best in stressful situations.
If you missed the session, you can catch up here.
Tech is an unavoidable aspect of modern working. Tech itself isn't toxic, but the ways we use it can be.
In this session, we hear from Laura Willis from Shine Offline who explains why better habits lead not only to more productive ways of working, but also to a better sense of wellbeing.
To watch the session, click here.
This webinar provides a lot to consider when either you or a colleague returns to work after a period of mental ill-health.
In the first 25 minutes we heard an overview of the (UK specific) legal context shared by Syma Spanjers from Charles Russell Speechlys, and then Richard Martin, and Brian Pringle of Visa share their lived experience.
If you missed the session and would like to catch up on the recording, you can do so, here.
Can you help undertake cutting edge research into behavioural change in the workplace?
We have secured a team of researchers from UCL who will be conducting interviews with employees from member organisations on their views around the barriers and enablers to the implementation of the Mindful Business Charter. Through investigating the experience of member organisations, we aim to use these insights to inform choices around how we support members change behaviour to implement the Charter more fully. There will also be a report written by UCL and opportunities to share our findings with you and the MBC community.
What would we need from you?
We would like at least one person, but ideally a pool of people, from your organisation, who would each be willing to give an hour of their time to be interviewed. They will need to have at least a rudimentary understanding of the MBC.
For more information, or to volunteer to participate, contact charlotte@mindfulbusinesscharter.com
Whether you're brand new to the MBC, or you've been here from the very beginning, this session is a must see for all MBC members.
Richard and Charlotte provide explanations of the charter and its pillars, how we can support you on your MBC journey, how to access resources and recordings, opportunities for collaboration - in essence everything you need to get your MBC journey heading in the right direction.
To view the recording click here.
(If you would like to view the Chat Log, containing the ideas from the breakout room, this can be accessed in Insight Sessions under "Meetings and Events".)
Hemal Parekh, Hemal Parekh, is an Assistant General Counsel and Senior Vice President at Mastercard, leading a global team of attorneys within the payments sector.
He has a particular interest in identifying and solving behavioural aspects of the Mindful Business Charter in a modern world of hybrid teams operating across multiple markets with different cultures, expectations and ways of working, and is very much looking to leverage his international experience in his role as a trustee.
Will Merry is an Associate in the London office of global law firm, McDermott Will & Emery. Will is co-chair of his firm’s Wellbeing Committee.
At the core of Will’s motivation for becoming a trustee is a belief that professional excellence is not mutually exclusive to strong mental wellbeing and that small changes culturally in an organisation can make a substantial, positive difference. He hopes that his perspective as a relatively junior lawyer will help to build on the charity’s important work improving work practices as it grows.
We welcome Hemal and Will to the MBC and look forward to working with them in 2024 and beyond.
We want to make it as easy as possible for you to share the work of the MBC with your colleagues, old and new.
As such, we have created this video for you to use internally, to help new recruits, (or people who might want a refresh) understand what the MBC is, and why its important to your organisation.
Click here to view it.
The MBC holds regular events and calls to allow you to get involved, learning from others, and sharing your experiences in turn. We hold bi-monthly Signatory calls where we hear updates from members, along with Insight Sessions, discussions with leading experts on a variety of topics.
You can find upcoming events here, sync them into your calendar so you never miss them - but if you do, you can catch recordings in the Meetings and Events section.
Insight Session
Signatory Calls
New Joiner Events
Annual / Special Events
Notable Events (eg. Mental Health Week)
Signatory calls are where we allow our member organisations to give us updates on how they have been implementing the Mindful Business Charter, giving us all an opportunity to learn from each other. Here you can find an archive of past Signatory Calls. To view and join upcoming calls, subscribe to our Events Calendar.
Our Insight Sessions are brought to you by external speakers on diverse topics such as Neurodiversity, Stress and Burnout. Here you can find an archive of our past Insight Sessions. To view and join upcoming Sessions, subscribe to our Events Calendar.
Our Trustees provide strategic guidance, governance and support for the MBC, enriched by their years of experience in a variety of areas. This section provides a short introduction to them all and outlines their areas of responsibility.
As a signatory you can use these Logos and Visual assets on internal and external communication to help send the message that you are committed to reducing unnecessary stress through aligning with the MBC.
The more organisations that understand what we, the MBC and all its signatories are trying to do, the more effective we can be. It really helps if you can talk to your partner organisations about the MBC and how it supports your employees and there ways of working. To help you with those discussions we have created some resources for you.
Here you can find toolkits to get the ball rolling – straightforward guidance on how to embed the MBC principles into your organisation.
Digital wellbeing is an important factor in reducing unnecessary stress in the workplace. We can’t possibly be operating at our best if we are constantly interrupted by notifications, feeling the need to refresh our inbox out of hours, and ending up in cc chains that add no benefit to our day.
Developed by digital wellbeing experts Shine offline, these six bite size modules allow you to develop your understanding and gain practical tips to improve your relationship with your tech. It includes expert opinions from authors, psychologists and thought leaders, along with challenges, quizzes and accompanying written resources.
Each module is between 13 and 20 minutes, making it easy to allocate time to your development, either completing one a week, or whenever suits you.
As you travel along your MBC journey you may find you want to explore things in more depth, enrol Champions to help you strengthen the message across the organisation, or pick up some tips from organisations who are a little further along than you. This section provides you with a wealth of resources, so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Feel free to use them as a starting point to adapt them to your organisation.
MBC is a charity; we take our governance responsibilities seriously and want to be open and transparent. In this section you will find documents about that in practice - our constitution, details of our AGMs and the reports the trustees produce annually to describe our activity.
The latest MBC news in the media.