How to Improve Mental Health in the Workplace: Practical Steps for Employers

Mental health is an important part of employee health and wellbeing. Work can be a positive part of people's lives, but factors such as workload, working relationships, lack of control and organisational change can also contribute to work-related stress.

The scale of the issue makes workplace mental health an important consideration for employers. In 2024/25, an estimated 964,000 workers in Great Britain were suffering from work-related stress, depression or anxiety. This was associated with an estimated 22.1 million working days lost. Stress, depression or anxiety accounted for 52% of all work-related ill health in this period.

Employers aren't responsible for diagnosing or treating employees' mental health conditions. However, they can take practical steps to create a healthier working environment, help managers respond appropriately and make support easier to access.

This article focuses on the wider workplace factors that can affect mental health and the practical steps employers can take.

How can employers improve mental health in the workplace?

Employers can support mental health in several ways, from reviewing workloads and training managers to making workplace support easier to access.

1. Review workloads and sources of workplace stress

Workload is an important part of workplace mental health. Consistently high demands, unrealistic deadlines or unclear priorities can contribute to work-related stress.

Employers can review whether employees have:

• Reasonable and manageable workloads
• Clear priorities and responsibilities
• Enough time to complete their work
• Appropriate breaks during the working day
• The support and resources they need
• Opportunities to raise concerns about workload.

The Health and Safety Executive's Management Standards identify six areas that can contribute to work-related stress: demands, control, support, relationships, role and change. Reviewing these areas can help employers identify where changes may be needed.

Where several employees are experiencing similar pressures, it may be more useful to look at how work is organised rather than expecting individuals to manage the problem themselves.

If you're supporting an employee who is experiencing anxiety, our guide to supporting an employee with anxiety in the workplace covers this in more detail.

2. Give managers the skills to support employees

Managers don't need to be mental health specialists, but they should know how to respond when an employee raises a concern.

Manager training can help people feel more confident about:

• Starting a supportive conversation
• Listening without making assumptions
• Asking appropriate questions
• Discussing workplace pressures
• Explaining what support is available
• Knowing when to involve HR, occupational health or another appropriate service
• Following up with the employee.

Managers should support rather than diagnose. They aren't expected to identify a particular mental health condition or provide clinical advice.

A supportive conversation can instead focus on how the employee is doing, whether anything at work is affecting them and what practical support may be available.

3. Make it easier for employees to talk about mental health

Employees may be less likely to raise concerns if they aren't sure how their manager or organisation will respond.

Employers can help by making conversations about health and wellbeing a normal part of working life rather than something that only happens when there is a serious problem.

This can include:

• Giving managers clear guidance on supportive conversations
• Making wellbeing information easy to find
• Including mental health in wider workplace health communications
• Encouraging employees to raise concerns about workload or working conditions
• Reminding employees about available support regularly.

This doesn't mean employees need to discuss personal health information with their manager. Individual circumstances and health information should be handled appropriately and confidentially.

4. Consider flexible working where practical

Flexible working can help employees manage work alongside other responsibilities and, depending on the role and individual circumstances, may support their health and wellbeing.

There isn't one flexible working arrangement that will suit every employee or every role. Employers may be able to consider options such as:

• Flexible start and finish times
• Hybrid or home working where appropriate
• Changes to working patterns
• Adjustments to working hours
• Flexibility around appointments or other commitments

Employers should consider what is practical for the role and apply their policies consistently. Flexible working should be one part of a wider approach to workplace wellbeing rather than a solution to every mental health concern.

5. Make existing support easy to access

Many organisations already offer support through an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), occupational health service, private healthcare or other employee benefits.

The important thing is making sure employees know what is available and how to access it.

Employers can:

• Explain available support during onboarding
• Keep information in an easy-to-find place
• Remind employees about services regularly
• Make sure managers know what support is available
• Explain whether services are confidential and how they work

An EAP, for example, may provide access to counselling or other forms of support, depending on the service provided. Managers shouldn't be expected to provide this support themselves.

If an employee needs help beyond the support available within the organisation, managers should know how to signpost them to an appropriate service.

6. Include mental health in wider workplace health

Mental health doesn't need to be treated separately from physical health. Workplace health programmes can give employees opportunities to think about different aspects of their health as part of a wider approach to wellbeing.

Routine health assessments can provide information about areas of health that employees may not otherwise have checked. Depending on the assessment, this can include questions or measures relating to mental wellbeing alongside physical health.

The aim isn't to diagnose a mental health condition through a workplace health assessment. Instead, it can give employees an opportunity to learn more about their health and, where appropriate, consider whether they should seek further advice.

7. Review your workplace policies and support

It's useful to look at whether your existing policies work in practice, rather than simply whether you have them in place.

For example, employers can review:

• How managers are expected to respond when an employee raises a concern
• Whether employees know how to access support
• How sickness absence and return-to-work conversations are handled
• How reasonable adjustments are considered
• Whether managers know when to involve HR or occupational health
• Whether employees have clear information about confidentiality

Policies should also be reviewed when working practices or organisational circumstances change.

What should managers do when an employee raises a mental health concern?

Managers can play an important role in supporting employees, but they shouldn't try to diagnose or treat a mental health condition.

A manager can:

• Listen and give the employee time to explain what is affecting them
• Ask whether there is anything about work that may be contributing
• Discuss practical changes that may help
• Explain the workplace support available
• Involve HR or occupational health where appropriate
• Agree when to check in again

They shouldn't attempt to provide therapy, diagnose a condition or assume they know what an employee is experiencing.

If there are concerns about an employee's immediate safety or a situation requires urgent professional help, the appropriate emergency or healthcare services should be contacted.

For more information about how employers and managers can direct employees towards appropriate sources of support, see our guide to how to signpost employee health support.

How can employers measure whether workplace mental health support is working?

It can be difficult to measure mental health directly across a workforce. Instead, employers can look at several sources of information over time.

Employee feedback

Employee surveys and regular pulse checks can help employers understand how people feel about areas such as workload, management support and access to workplace health resources.

Questions could cover whether employees:

• Know where to find support
• Feel comfortable raising concerns
• Feel supported by their manager
• Feel their workload is manageable

Absence patterns

Absence data can help identify changes or patterns over time. Employers may want to look at overall sickness absence alongside information about return-to-work conversations.

Data should be handled appropriately and should not be used to identify or make assumptions about an individual's health.

Use of existing support

Where appropriate, employers can monitor uptake of services such as EAPs, occupational health and workplace health assessments.

Low uptake doesn't necessarily mean there is no need for support. It may indicate that employees aren't aware of the service, don't understand what it provides or aren't comfortable accessing it.

Workplace stress risk assessments

Employers can also review whether actions identified through workplace stress risk assessments have been addressed.

The HSE recommends monitoring and reviewing measures taken to prevent work-related stress, rather than treating a risk assessment as a one-off exercise.

How can workplace health assessments support employee wellbeing?

Workplace health assessments can form part of a wider approach to employee wellbeing by giving employees an opportunity to understand more about their health.

Bluecrest's corporate health assessments provide employees with personalised information about their health, with different packages offering different health measures and assessments.

Mental wellbeing can be considered alongside physical health, giving employees an opportunity to reflect on areas of their health they may want to pay more attention to. Where results suggest that further advice may be appropriate, employees can be encouraged to discuss this with their GP or another suitable healthcare professional.

For employers, workplace health assessments can provide a practical way to make proactive health information more accessible across the workforce, while keeping individual results private.

To find out more about Bluecrest's corporate health assessment packages, contact our corporate team on 01903 253177 or complete our online form.

Frequently asked questions

What can employers do to support mental health at work?

Employers can support mental health by reviewing workloads and workplace stress, training managers, making appropriate flexible working options available, ensuring employees know how to access support and including mental health within wider workplace health programmes.

How can managers support an employee's mental health?

Managers can listen, discuss workplace pressures, explore practical support and explain what help is available. They shouldn't attempt to diagnose a mental health condition or provide clinical treatment.

What is the difference between supporting mental health and treating a mental health condition?

Employers can create working conditions that support good mental health and provide access to workplace support. Diagnosis and treatment should be provided by an appropriate healthcare professional.

How can employers measure workplace mental health?

Employers can use employee feedback, absence trends, uptake of workplace support and progress against workplace stress risk assessments to understand whether their approach is working and where changes may be needed.