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Being Inclusive Extends to Mental Health Awareness, Understanding, and Support

Building momentum on its diversity and inclusion journey, Conduent continues to invest in listening and learning from its associates and experts to cultivate health and well-being across the company. This process takes consistent interaction and collaboration among all kinds of people and perspectives to build a strong, healthy culture. Having a better understanding of one another strengthens our ability to deliver mission-critical services to our clients every day.

Part of valuing the diversity and individuality of our associates is recognizing everyone’s unique differences. Some may be obvious, others less so. During Mental Health Awareness Month, we helped increase visibility into the importance of mental health and its impact on our daily lives. Deepening our understanding of the role mental health plays in overall health — of individuals, families, communities and workplaces — is a very important step in cultivating health and well-being across our company.

In May, we built on the work we do throughout the year to foster total well-being and an inclusive culture that helps our organization thrive. Some of our initiatives included sharing practical tips and ideas on how to nourish physical, spiritual, and emotional well-being to strengthen mental health. We also had a popular guest speaker, former monk Pandit Dasa, return with additional insights and methods for self-care and well-being. In January, Pandit inspired us by describing how he finds peace and calm amidst the inevitable stressors in life. This time, he reminded us that deep breaths, a good night's sleep, and eating healthier foods are all a positive influence on mental well-being.

Every day across our locations worldwide, we’re advancing an overall well-being strategy for our associates. This includes:

  • Ensuring an inclusive and safe culture where every associate has access to mental health support and well-being resources, regardless of their background or geography.
  • Nurturing healthy conversations, connections, and support through our Employee Impact Groups available to every Conduent associate.
  • Providing awareness and learning resources to our managers around leading with empathy, and having sensitive conversations, knowing that the first person someone typically turns to at work when they’re distressed is their manager.

In many of our regions, associates go further — self-organizing additional activities that promote mental, physical and spiritual health. It’s become much more widely understood how much self-awareness and self-care are critical to mental health.

In May, we also asked associates to share their own self-care practices that have proven personally beneficial. These were daily rituals, habits, or routines that have had a positive influence in their daily life. The most powerful lessons often come from hearing first-hand accounts or personal experiences. Two of our colleagues recently spoke of their experiences raising a child with autism in a webinar that was viewed by many Conduent associates. Read more about this in the “Living with Autism” blog from the webinar.

Our leadership team recognizes the clear intersection between inclusive culture and mental health. Diversity and inclusion efforts have been accelerated across Conduent to help us all keep learning and growing and continuously fostering a healthier organization. Our leaders play a key role in helping establish the mindset and model behaviors that create a healthy workplace where everyone can bring their best to work.

All of us at Conduent want to feel a sense of belonging and well-being and be part of a workplace where we can thrive and make a difference. Cultivating and supporting diversity and mental health across our entire company is at the heart of lasting success into the future.

About the Author

Chris oversees all aspects of HR at Conduent to build a motivated and engaged global workforce, as well as a culture that attracts, retains, and develops top talent. He is a seasoned senior HR executive with more than two decades of leadership experience helping companies maximize the potential of their people to drive business outcomes. Chris has a diverse HR background with global experience and expertise across multiple HR disciplines including total rewards, talent development, recruitment, HR operations, and HR business partnership.

Profile Photo of Chris Kujawa
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