EDP is a global energy company with a presence in 29 markets and more than 13,000 employees across the entire energy value chain, with a particular emphasis on renewable energies.

Based on their active listening and wellbeing strategy, EDP intends to address issues related to physical, emotional, social, professional, and financial wellbeing in an open manner. EDP helps their people to protect good mental health and provides support services for anyone struggling with mental health in most of the company’s locations.

Every October – to coincide with World Mental Health Day – EDP runs a month long Mind Your Mind campaign. This is a set of initiatives aiming to encourage the sharing of tools and experiences and foster reflection on how to achieve a safe, healthy, and balanced workplace. The campaign first took place in 2020 and is developed annually by a corporate team in close collaboration with local people management teams, communications, and other stakeholders.

In addition to demystifying issues associated with mental health and promoting healthy behaviour, the latest editions of the campaign have focused on the importance of psychological safety in the workplace. Today, Mind Your Mind comprises global awareness raising, training and hands-on initiatives, complemented by local initiatives to ensure that the specificities of each market are respected. In addition to initiatives open to all employees, the campaign targets several elements to EDP’s leaders – for instance training for new leaders in Portugal, which promotes the importance of a psychologically safe environment for themselves and their teams.

All editions of Mind Your Mind have involved renowned external speakers, employee testimonials and the visible support of the CEO. High participation rates are achieved and the results from EDP’s staff survey and feedback have been very positive.

Going forward, the campaign will focus on delivering initiatives with greatest impact and reach, and will encourage everyone to be accountable for enabling psychological safety. It will also be used to create synergies across the organisation to create psychological safety through the company’s ways of working and core processes.

EDP’s advice for businesses starting a mental health campaign is to consider tailoring initiatives to specific goals using employee feedback. Make your messaging and expectations align with workload realities, foster collaboration, and try to innovate in your communication strategies to reach everybody effectively.