What is mental health?

Mental health is just as important as physical health, and anyone, no matter their age or background, can face mental health challenges. Sometimes these struggles come from things happening in your personal life or at work, but other times there’s no clear reason. Mental health can range from poor to good. When your mental health isn’t at its best, it can affect how you think, feel, perform and act—and sometimes it makes daily life harder, impacting your relationships, job, and overall happiness.

A quarter of UK workers feel unable to cope with work-related stress and almost 10% of UK adults take time off work for mental health reasons. Poor mental health impacts UK businesses to the sum of £51 billion per year.

Stigma around mental health

Mental Health Professionals and the CIPD notes that poor mental health is often a non-visible disability and as many people are often reluctant to disclose their condition, it is good practice for an employer to make adjustments for those experiencing poor mental health.

Although mental health has become a more common topic in mainstream media in recent years, the stigma around mental health, along with employee concerns that it will negatively impact their career, can stop people from openly talking about their mental health at work.

Knowing the signs

Knowing the signs of mental health struggle are key for maintaining awareness of an employee’s wellbeing and spot any area of concern. These signs could include:

• Changes in mood or behaviour
• Becoming withdrawn
• Appearing tired, anxious, or irritable
• Developing unhealthy habits
• Dips in performance
• Disorganisation
• Poor problem-solving skills
• Negative feedback from other employees

The importance of having the right tools

Ensuring your leaders have the correct training and tools enables them to openly and confidently engage on the topic of mental health with employees.

Time to Talk Day on February 5, 2026 is the UK’s biggest annual mental health conversation and it’s a chance to listen, share, and talk about what really matters. This is a great opportunity for employers to encourage open, informal, and non-judgmental conversations about mental health. Mind have a fantastic information pack for employers to help with ideas for activities at work, fundraising, raising awareness and where to find support.

Keep the conversation going

There’s no need to stop talking once the day has passed. Keep the conversation going all year round to ensure that the subject of mental health becomes ingrained into the core of your company culture.

By making these conversations a normal part of the working day, employers can improve employee wellbeing, reduce burnout, and increase productivity.

Create the right culture

Support and strategic leadership from the top are critical to creating a culture that is inclusive and compassionate. Leaders need to role model a management style based on openness and empathy and appreciate the value of people’s wellbeing. This could include:

• Actively encouraging healthier working habits and a good work-life balance.
• Being familiar with the workplace mental health policies and practices.
• Knowing where to signpost employees for confidential advice and support. This could be a mental health charity such as MIND or the company’s Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).
• Regularly checking in with employees to maintain good working relationships and ensuring employees are treated with respect.
• Running a staff survey, include asking for feedback about the support provided and what support individuals need to help them achieve their goals. Use the results to start a whole team conversation.
• Creating a space where everyone feels comfortable sharing ideas, and get the team involved in figuring out what works best for working together. Make sure people know how their job fits into the bigger picture and how what they do helps the company reach its goals.
• Ensuring employees have the right tools and support to enable them to do their job to their full potential.

If you need support with Managing Mental Health in the Workplace training or implementing an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), please contact us.