The organisational imperative for effective mental health support at work
It’s no secret that the emotional health of our population is declining. One in eight people globally live with a mental health issue, with one in every 100 deaths globally resulting from suicide (11).
The economic burden is high. In the UK, 55% of all workers are or have experienced a mental health issue (7), with one in five GenZ and millennials rating their mental health as extremely poor or poor (3) and five million people (12%) of working age suffering from issues such as depression or anxiety (5). Of the 2.5 million people who are economically inactive, 53% report mental ill health as a primary or secondary long-term health condition. NHS services, mental health charities, private companies and independent practitioners are overloaded, and mental health care is inaccessible and/or unaffordable for many.
Workplaces are crucial in addressing the challenge. Indeed, during the pandemic, employers were forced to critically evaluate their role in bridging the personal/professional divide. Companies juggled the need for productivity and performance with employees’ physical and mental health and psychological and physical safety (1). Five years on, employees continue to be impacted by macro and micro biopsychosocial factors that are all adding to the burden of mental ill health on a global scale.
Employees are managing difficulties in their personal lives while also contending with economic and political uncertainty, financial and cost of living concerns (3,6,7,10). At work, the rise of AI and automation threatens employees' jobs, careers and future success (3,10). Employee relationships are being challenged by the growth of incivility and disagreements about social and political issues and ideology (8), and employees feel disconnected from colleagues, experiencing isolation and loneliness, whether working on or off-site3. Employees suffer from change fatigue, stress, burnout, and being overwhelmed, with redundancy and restructuring commonplace (4,7). Long working hours, a lack of recognition and reward, workplace bullying and harassment, inequitable decision-making, and a lack of leadership support are adding to the emotional burden (3). These experiences are taking their emotional toll and reducing employees’ psychological flexibility and resilience.
So, with a critical mass of employees experiencing the effects of poor psychological health, what does that mean for workplaces?
Ignore mental health in the workplace at your peril
Mental health is a key priority for many organisations (2,3). However, it seems many are falling short with their commitment to employees’ emotional health and wellbeing. In doing so, organisations gamble with financial, legal and reputational risk.
Neglecting employees’ psychological health leads to reductions in employee engagement and job satisfaction, declines in performance, productivity and profitability, issues with retention, absenteeism and turnover and increases in stress, burnout, exhaustion and other mental health challenges (3,4,7,9). This is likely to lead to negative impacts on internal collaboration and relationships, reduced customer satisfaction, damage to organisational brand and reputation, and the potential for legal claims.
There is a clear return on investing in employees’ psychological health. However, the reality is that stigma continues to be a barrier for employees to talking openly about and address their problems.
The barrier of stigma and a fear of negative consequences
Despite mental health being named a top priority by senior leaders (2,3), many employees still feel reluctant to share details of their struggles with managers and leaders. Indeed, between 40% and 45% of the workforce feel uncomfortable discussing mental health concerns with their manager, about stigma, discrimination and the adverse impacts of sharing how they feel at work (3,7). Only half of GenZ and Millennials believe their employer/senior leaders take employee burnout and mental health seriously and take proactive steps to address and prevent it (3).
Employees may have valid reasons to feel nervous. Despite calls by the WHO (2022) for organisations to provide mental health training to managers, only 44% of large UK companies offer training (2), which begs the question, are managers and leaders fully equipped to support the emotional health of their workforce?
It’s no surprise, then, that culture is more important than ever.
Psychological safety and a positive work culture
Providing employees with a supportive, psychologically safe, flexible and positive environment that promotes emotional health and wellbeing alongside performance and productivity is crucial to attract and retain the best people (9). However, organisations are struggling to bring their culture to life, with 57% of global HR leaders believing their managers are more likely than not to be failing to deliver an environment aligned to an organisation’s cultural foundations (4).
This seems particularly the case when it comes to mental health. Fewer than half of UK CEOs champion mental health, despite 93% of them acknowledging it as a critical business challenge (2). Indeed, over 60% of employees suggest organisational heads did not speak about mental health, despite this being a priority (7). When leaders do not directly address mental health, 34% of workers question whether the organisation cares. However, when leaders speak out, employees feel encouraged to do the same and are less likely to want to quit.
Indeed, there are significant benefits to the promotion of a positive psychological health agenda at an individual, organisational and societal level.
Benefits of a psychologically-informed organisation
Supporting emotional health at work allows employees to connect, function, cope and thrive better (11). In practice, this means building better and stronger relationships with colleagues, developing greater emotional bandwidth to empathise with and support others and having improved cognitive functioning that allows employees to learn new skills better. Employees will manage stress better, cope with and adapt to change more quickly, generate and adopt new ideas and generally feel better about themselves and their abilities, which will, in turn, impact the bottom line.
Improving psychological safety will likely lead to increased trust in organisational leadership, a happier workplace and a more open and inclusive culture, which could enhance your employer brand and improve talent attraction.
Finally, investing in the psychological health of your employees means you’ll play an active role in reducing the wider societal burden of mental ill health and provide your people with an improved quality of life both inside and outside of work. So, what’s stopping you from investing and what can be done? It’s a win/win!
How to build an emotionally healthy organisation
Turning commitment into action is crucial for organisations and employees to thrive. Employers are encouraged to:
Champion support for emotional health at work
Provide psychologically safe spaces for employees to learn, grow and develop
Encourage individuals to strengthen their understanding of their own mental health
Develop clear policies outlining a commitment to mental health
Ask the workforce about what they need from the organisation and then deliver on it
Equip leaders and managers with the appropriate skills to support a psychologically healthy workforce
Deliver social and emotional learning programmes
Create a leadership environment that is committed to positive emotional health, built on compassion, empathy, respect, inclusivity, psychological safety and resolving conflict
If you’re committed to supporting mental health, why not engage a psychologist, mental health consultancy or EAP provider? They can deliver practical, clinical and strategic support to understand your organisation's existing emotional health provision and levels of psychological safety and collaborate with you to improve and develop your mental health and wellbeing offering for employees.
Want to know more? Contact me at christine@thelosstherapist.co.uk
References
1. Bersin, J. (Host). (2025, Jan 1). Welcome to HR in 2025: The five big challenges ahead. In Challenges Ahead podcast. https://joshbersin.com/podcast/welcome-to-hr-in-2025-the-five-big-challenges-ahead/
2. CCLA (2024). Corporate Mental Health Benchmark UK 100. https://www.ccla.co.uk/documents/ccla-corporate-mental-health-benchmark-uk-100-2024/download?inline
3. Deloitte (2024). Mental health today: A deep dive based on the 2024 Gen Z and Millennial survey. https://www.deloitte.com/global/en/issues/work/content/genz-millennialsurvey.html
4. Gartner (2024). Top 5 priorities for HR leaders: Actionable insights to navigate challenges and drive business impact. https://www.gartner.com/en/human-resources/trends/top-priorities-for-hr-leaders
5. Lelii, M., O’Brien, L., & Hancock, L. (2023): Rising ill-health and economic inactivity because of long-term sickness, UK: 2019 to 2023. Office for National Statistics. https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peoplenotinwork/economicinactivity/articles/risingillhealthandeconomicinactivitybecauseoflongtermsicknessuk/2019to2023
6. Mind (2024). Big Mental Health Report 2024. https://www.mind.org.uk/media/vbbdclpi/the-big-mental-health-report-2024-mind.pdf
7. Mindforward Alliance (2024). Mental Health in the Workplace: the UK picture. https://mindforwardalliance.com/Resources/Global-Research-Study-Report
8. Rockwood, K (2024). 7 trends that will shape HR in 2025. SHRM. https://www.shrm.org/mena/topics-tools/news/hr-quarterly/7-trends-that-will-shape-hr-in-2025
9. Soliman, I. (2024). Top priorities for HR in 2025: challenges and opportunities to expect in the new year. People Management. https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/article/1900496/top-priorities-hr-2025-challenges-opportunities-expect-new-year
10. The Adecco Group (2024). Leading Through the Great Disruption. https://www.adeccogroup.com/our-group/media/press-releases/leading-through-the-great-disruption-2024
11. WHO (2022). World mental health report: transforming mental health for all. Geneva: World Health Organisation. https://www.who.int/teams/mental-health-and-substance-use/world-mental-health-report