With Mental Health Awareness Week upon us, I’ve been thinking about how we approach wellbeing at work, not as an abstract concept, but in practical, everyday terms.
If you are running a team or business, it is easy to become consumed by the next task, the next meeting, the next deadline.
Something I have been reflecting on is the environment we’ ae asking people to operate in.
Long hours, relentless pace, little room to breathe, it is taking a toll, often quietly.
We now have clear data showing how serious the impact can be.
According to the Mental Health Foundation, poor mental health among employees is costing UK employers as much as £45 billion a year.
That figure includes more than just time off. It is lost output, people leaving their jobs, and individuals working while mentally unwell and not able to function as they usually would.
Some might say we are simply talking about mental health more these days, and that is true, to an extent.
However, a recent study from Reed and SANE suggests something deeper: 85 per cent of workers have experienced burnout symptoms, and nearly half said they needed time to recover.
It is also worth noting that, despite more open conversations, there is still a hesitancy.
Around one in ten people who took leave for mental health reasons said they could not be honest about why.
More than a quarter of those who needed time off did not take it at all. The reasons? Fear of judgement, concerns about workload, or financial pressures.
It is easy to assume all is well if no one is raising concerns.
Silence does not always mean everything is fine. Often, it means people are unsure whether they will be heard or understood.
There is a strong business case too.
There is a clear link between mental health and business performance.
Oxford University’s research, based on data from Indeed, shows that people who feel well supported at work perform significantly better.
That should prompt some reflection. Are we putting our energy into approaches that make a real difference?
Posters and occasional initiatives might raise awareness, but real change usually requires more deliberate effort.
A few useful questions I have seen teams benefit from asking include:
Vitality’s research shows that over one-third of employees aren’t even aware of their company’s sick leave policy.
That speaks volumes about where clarity and communication are falling short.
For smaller businesses especially, it is easy to feel like these are challenges for larger organisations with dedicated HR teams.
However, in smaller teams, you are often closer to your colleagues, and that can be both a strength and a responsibility.
If someone is struggling, you are more likely to notice.
The question is: do you know what to do next?
As mental health becomes a more familiar topic, we should be careful not to let familiarity breed complacency.
Just because we have heard these conversations before does not mean they are no longer urgent.
Supporting mental health at work is an ongoing commitment, and one that matters as much for the health of the business as it does for the people within it.
