Senior leaders, it’s up to us to destigmatise mental health conversations in the workplace 

Workplace mental health support has improved greatly since I first started out in my career, more than 30 years ago, and I often reflect on instances when I would have benefited from additional emotional and wellbeing support. I’m thankful that significant progress has been made in this area and I’m optimistic that there’ll be more positive change to come, but we need the support of business leaders to make it happen.

I’m a senior leader at Hays, and I believe I have a personal responsibility to foster an authentic wellbeing culture and destigmatise mental health conversations in the workplace. This is why it was important for me to undertake Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training. The course highlighted the current gaps in my knowledge and inspired me to take action to close these gaps and provide effective mental health support to my colleagues.

Embedding a mental health strategy at all levels of an organisation

To create an effective mental health first aid community in the workplace, employees of all seniority levels need to engage. While some individuals experiencing poor mental health may feel more comfortable opening up to a junior member of staff, senior employees can have a huge impact on how mental health is perceived within an organisation. 

Leaders can use their voice to increase awareness of important mental health topics. Now that I’ve completed my MHFA training, I plan to use my internal and external platforms to share useful mental health resources and signpost people to available support.

The prevalence of work-related stress, depression and anxiety

Work-related stress is defined by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as the harmful reaction people have to undue pressures and demands placed on them at work and, unfortunately, it’s more common than you might think. 

A massive 17.1 million working days were lost in 2022 and 2023 due to work-related stress, depression and anxiety, accounting for 54% of all days lost because of work-related ill health during this period. The top reasons given for this were workload pressures, including tight deadlines and too much responsibility placed on the individual, and a lack of managerial support. 

How can you tell if an employee is experiencing poor mental health?

As a people manager at Hays, I have a responsibility to detect the warning signs of workplace stress and poor mental health among my team and determine whether the root cause could be work-related – be it the work itself, the physical workspace, management styles or colleagues’ behaviour. Wherever possible, I take action to mitigate any workplace factors that are negatively impacting my team and direct them to relevant wellbeing support.

Warning signs that an employee is experiencing poor mental health or stress can include: 

• A lack of motivation or productivity
• Unusual lateness or quietness
• Withdrawal from social situations
• Heightened sensitivity

If I notice any of these behaviours among the people I manage, I always try to engage in open and non-judgemental conversations about how they’re feeling, signpost them to support services and explore possible workplace adjustments I can make. Introverted colleagues sometimes find it more difficult to open up about their mental health and, in these instances, I make sure I highlight other places they can go for support, such as another mental health first aider, our internal wellbeing support service, or a charity like Mind. 

If you’re a senior leader looking to destigmatise mental health conversations in your organisation, take a look at our free online training courses to find out how to provide effective emotional and wellbeing support to your team. Alternatively, get in touch with one of our expert consultants to discover how we can support you with your talent management strategy.