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This Mental Health Awareness Week, we’re calling on employers, managers, and employees to move from good intentions to real action – across every stage of working life.
Awareness has done important work. Conversations that once felt impossible are happening. Organisations that once ignored wellbeing are taking it seriously. That shift is worth recognising.
However, awareness alone doesn’t change how it feels to go to work. Action does. And right now, the case for action has never been stronger – or more urgent. With employer accountability for workplace wellbeing increasing, and the Keep Britain Working Review putting mental health at the centre of employment participation, organisations that build mentally healthy workplaces are building a sustainable business advantage.
The organisations that will get ahead of this are the ones already treating mental health as a whole-business responsibility – something owned at every level, built into every stage of working life, from the day someone first encounters them.
And it involves everyone. Not just those setting strategy at the top, but managers having better conversations day to day, and employees showing up for each other.
To mark Mental Health Awareness Week, we’ve created three tip sheets for employers, people managers, and employees, setting out what that responsibility really looks like. This blog explains the thinking behind them.
Taking a whole-workforce approach means recognising that different people face different pressures at work, and that a single approach to wellbeing won’t reach everyone equally.
Our new research illustrates this vividly for younger workers. 18–24-year-olds are nearly eight times more likely than older colleagues to report poor mental health because of work. Almost one in three (31%) has considered leaving their job because they don’t feel safe enough to speak up. And 78% say a lack of psychological safety reduces their motivation – the widest gap of any measure in our survey.
Young workers are one part of a bigger picture. People with long-term health conditions, carers, disabled people, and those from marginalised communities all bring needs and experiences that a generic wellbeing policy won’t fully address. The organisations building genuinely inclusive cultures are the ones that ask what each person in their workforce actually needs – and whether or not they’re meeting that need from day one.
A mentally healthy workplace is built in every conversation, every decision about how work gets structured, and every interaction that does or doesn’t make someone feel safe.
Employers create the conditions: the policies, the structures, the culture that either supports people or leaves them to manage on their own
Managers are where strategy meets reality: the daily check-in, the one-to-one that makes space for more than just performance, the team culture that either gives people permission to be honest or quietly discourages it
Employees shape the culture around them: how they show up for colleagues, whether they speak up, how they model self-care
All three roles are important, and all three are represented in our action tips – because change at any one level without the others only goes so far.
The most effective organisations treat mental health support as something that runs through the whole of working life.
For employers, it starts before someone joins. A structured, inclusive recruitment process with transparent expectations and genuine flexibility signals from the outset what kind of organisation someone is entering. Onboarding is the moment to make that real, to ask about working styles and support needs, and to connect new starters with the people and resources that will help them thrive
For managers, day-to-day is where culture is made. A check-in that goes beyond task updates. A team meeting where different ways of contributing are welcomed. A response to a mistake that invites learning. Nearly 70% of employees say their manager influences their mental health as much as their partner, which means the small moments matter as much as the formal ones
For employees, action can start today. Checking in with a new starter. Taking a proper break and encouraging a colleague to do the same. Sharing honest feedback that helps the organisation understand what’s working and what isn’t. These small gestures are how culture shifts from the inside
And retention? It’s the outcome of doing all of this well. People stay where they feel heard, valued, and supported to bring their whole selves to work.
Each of our three resources picks up where the lifecycle above leaves off, with specific actions mapped to your role.
The employer action tip sheet covers the structural changes that create lasting impact: inclusive hiring, psychologically safe onboarding, day-to-day culture, and feedback loops people really trust.
Download the employer action tip sheet
The manager action tip sheet is built around the moments that matter in your team: the conversations that build trust, the onboarding questions that set the right tone from week one, and the day-to-day practices that make psychological safety real.
Download the manager action tip sheet
The employee action tip sheet is for everyone, wherever you are in your organisation. Because a mentally healthy workplace is built by all of us.
Download the employee action tip sheet
For nearly 20 years, we’ve worked with more than 20,000 organisations and trained over one million people in mental health knowledge and skills. We’ve seen what works. The workplaces where people thrive aren’t the ones with the loudest wellbeing strategy. In fact, they’re the ones where every person – at every level, at every stage – understands their part in building something better.
Mental Health Awareness Week is a prompt. If you’re ready to go further, our workplace mental health experts are here to help.