Mind your Mind

The promotion of employee well-being has become increasingly significant within the EDP agenda. Though this topic has been addressed for some time, the pandemic period underscored the necessity of focusing on holistic care for employees, considering both personal and professional challenges.

Mental health is essential to overall well-being and significantly influences employee productivity, engagement, and satisfaction. A workplace that supports mental health fosters better performance, reduces absenteeism, and cultivates a positive organizational culture. By prioritizing mental health, we not only enhance individual well-being but also contribute to our organization's overall success and resilience.

In recognition of World Mental Health Day (October 10), EDP has consistently promoted various initiatives throughout October each year, elevating Mental Health as a priority through the Mind Your Mind campaign. This initiative is integrated into the global well-being strategy of the EDP Group, approved in 2021, with CEO Miguel Stilwell d’Andrade as the principal sponsor. The strategy adopts a holistic approach encompassing five fundamental dimensions of well-being: physical, social, professional, financial, and emotional, with a specific emphasis on mental health to achieve a healthy work environment where individuals feel well, safe, and productive.

The campaign's objective is to promote the topic of Mental Health openly and transparently. It advocates for the importance of adopting preventive behaviors, demystifies prejudices related to mental health, encourages seeking help without stigma, ensures internal support responses and services, and promotes a culture of psychological safety. Over time, the campaign has become a core component of EDP Culture.

In October 2024, we conducted the 5th consecutive edition of the global Mind Your Mind campaign. This edition featured various initiatives impacting more than 3,500 employees across 10 markets, both globally and locally, aimed at fostering a culture of support and understanding, with endorsement from members of the Executive Board of Directors (EBD).

The campaign's goal is to make employees feel part of a caring community by promoting messages that normalize seeking help and prioritizing well-being, emphasizing the importance of adopting preventive behaviors, and ensuring the availability of support responses. Among the activities, a talk was held with experts who contributed to defining the emotional landscape of the “Inside Out” films, focusing on understanding emotions such as anxiety, especially during periods of change. Additionally, local talks explained the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), and for the first time, on-site and face-to-face mindfulness sessions led by employees were conducted.

"At EDP, we take mental health very seriously, and that's why we launched our Global Mind Your Mind (MYM) Campaign. This initiative aims to raise awareness about the importance of mental health and to openly talk about it, empowering people to take care of their own mental balance and support others." Miguel Stilwell Andrade, CEO EDP.

As part as our previous campaigns, in October 2020, the Mind Your Mind campaign was launched in Portugal through a series of conversations that took place throughout the month, with the participation of employees and external speakers, including comedian António Raminhos.

As a community engagement highlight, in the 2020 edition, EDP, in partnership with Isabel Silva, challenged employees to engage in physical exercise to donate their energy to a mental health promotion institution. The total kilometers covered by all of us during this month produced 2 years of electrical energy, which was donated to the Nova Aurora Association, dedicated to the psychosocial reintegration of people with mental illness.

The 2021 edition, extended to other markets of the EDP Group, was marked by appealing challenges, informative conversations, vibrant testimonials, and many intimate shares, with the development of various initiatives that impacted more than 3,000 employees in 10 markets.

Challenges related to balance, physical exercise, and mindfulness with a charitable aspect were launched to employees. Conversations and debates rich in testimonials were also promoted, where the stories of our employees joined those of external guests. João Francisco Lima, Ambassador for Mental Health and son of actor Pedro Lima, Ana Moniz, Psychotherapist and Executive Coach, and comedian Nuno Markl were some of the names that collaborated in this campaign. At the end of the project, interactions were converted into energy, and €1500 worth of energy was donated to the Romão de Sousa Foundation.

To continue promoting the topic of mental health among employees, a partnership was established with the José Neves Foundation through the 29k app, which provides a set of scientific tools, such as educational videos, meditations, audios, and exercises.

The 2022 Mind Your Mind campaign, developed globally in all markets where EDP is present, had psychological safety in the workplace as its central theme and enabled the creation of true spaces for sharing and dialogue about mental health and reinforcing its importance for a truly healthy and balanced life. About 3,000 employees actively participated in the various initiatives promoted by the company.

The importance of adopting preventive behaviors was reinforced, and the multiple support responses available to all employees, regardless of their geography, were made known. The campaign also featured Brooke Deterline, executive director of Courageous Leadership, speaking about the importance of ethics in our actions.

In 2023, there were 9,000 participations in global and local initiatives, highlighting the conversation between the CEO of the EDP Group, Miguel Stilwell d’Andrade, and António Horta Osório, where personal experiences were shared and the role of leadership in promoting mental health was emphasized. Ten mindfulness sessions were conducted, along with 24 local initiatives in different countries and regions, a session for the People & Organization (P&O) teams on their role in promoting a psychological safety environment, and a session associated with World Ethics Day with Wendy Addison addressing the importance of promoting a Speak Up culture.

Communication pieces were developed to demystify misconceptions related to mental health. A donation of €1000 was made to the Paroquial Center of Estoril as part of Mental Health Days, a donation of €7000 to support the Terra dos Sonhos organization, and a global solidarity challenge was promoted that supported the Ivory World organization.

Following the campaign, the Leadership Pledge was signed by CEO Miguel Stilwell d’Andrade, a document that reinforces EDP's commitment and its leadership in promoting a healthy work environment for its people.

With this campaign and future initiatives, we want to continue promoting and reinforcing the role of EDP as a healthy workplace, characterized by an inclusive culture that provides a truly human and meaningful experience for its people.