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    Diversity and inclusion

    Transforming our approach to wellbeing


    We’re prioritising wellbeing at every level to drive sustainable high performance and a thriving workforce.

Home > About us > Diversity and inclusion > Wellbeing

How we prioritise wellbeing

Our holistic approach spans three levels of wellbeing – with a focus on prevention as well as cure.

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    Individual

    We offer tools to help colleagues manage their own wellbeing proactively and reactively.

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    Team

    We encourage managers to lead with empathy to create inclusive teams where everyone is respected.

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    Organisation

    We promote healthy working practices across our workforce, with senior leadership sponsorship.

Supporting our colleagues

Some of the steps we’re taking to improve wellbeing in the organisation.

Tanuj Kapilashrami

Tanuj Kapilashrami, Chief Strategy & Talent Officer

Continuing to invest in wellbeing

We have continued to invest in wellbeing initiatives, listening to lived experiences and evaluating data to make improvements for our colleagues.

We launched an enhanced Employee Assistance Programme, and guide and train our People Leaders to lead with empathy and create inclusive, psychologically safe teams.

Our Global Learning Week engaged more than 26,000 colleagues in building habits and mindsets that impact performance and wellbeing.

We believe that wellbeing is at the core of colleague engagement and productivity, and that building recovery time into our delivery is critical for achieving sustainable and consistent results.

Why we prioritise wellbeing

As well as being the right thing to do, prioritising wellbeing at work boosts productivity and sustainable high performance.

  • 2.5x

    Employees with strong wellbeing are 2.5x more likely to be happy.

  • 20%

    The 100 happiest companies outperform the S&P 500 by 20 per cent.

  • 220%

    Mentally healthy organisations are 220% likelier to meet financial targets.

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    Inclusion in action

    Our approach positions wellbeing as a performance enabler. Our Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Impact Report sets out actions we are taking to foster an inclusive workplace, and a culture where colleagues can thrive to drive positive outcomes for our clients and communities.

    Download the latest report
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    Life at Standard Chartered

    We offer colleagues a range of benefits, from flexible working policies and an enhanced global parental leave policy, to volunteering leave.

    Discover employee benefits

Unmind

In January 2025, we launched an enhanced wellbeing service with Unmind, providing both preventative and reactive care, replacing our previous Employee Assistance Programme. Support for colleagues comes in multiple ways, including:

  • The ability to access to coaches, counsellors, or clinical psychotherapists virtually in just a few clicks;
  • A 24/7, 365-day telephone helpline offering immediate mental health, legal or financial support;
  • Resources for People Leaders on topics such as navigating change, handling difficult conversations, and spotting the signs that another colleague might be struggling with their mental health; and
  • A library of on-demand learning and self-help tools on a range of wellbeing topics, such as sleeping better, managing stress and overcoming burnout.
Discover Unmind
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Climbing the rankings

In recognition of our focus on workplace mental health as an important business issue, we have moved up to tier 2 from tier 3 in CCLA Investment Management’s Corporate Mental Health Benchmark.

Supporting mental health at work isn’t just the right thing to do – it makes good business sense.  Our wellbeing approach spans three layers – individual, team and organisation – with the objective of building a thriving workforce and delivering sustainable high performance.

As CCLA identifies, approximately 15 per cent of the world’s working population experience a mental disorder at any given time, and the human and economic costs associated with poor mental health are a drag on productivity and engagement. CCLA have a coalition of investors representing USD9.8 trillion of assets under management and, as self-declared responsible investors, want their companies to be successful and make a positive difference. Launched in 2022, the benchmark aims to inform investors and build accountability around corporate mental health. It evaluates the approach of more than 200 of the world’s largest UK-listed businesses and ranks them into five performance tiers based on their approach to mental health.

We were recognised for, amongst other things, our leadership commitment to workplace mental health, our support for the principles of good work, and our approach to flexible working, and diversity and inclusion. The benchmark also acknowledges our formal initiatives and programmes to raise awareness of mental health in the workplace, and the proactive and reactive support we provide to colleagues via Unmind.

There is always more to do, and we will use the recommendations in the report to drive further improvements.

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