This year's World Mental Health Day theme, "Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change", highlights the importance of listening to people's experiences and ensuring their voices influence the decisions that affect them.

For me, this is particularly relevant in the workplace. We often talk about the importance of listening to employees, supporting their wellbeing and creating healthy working environments. But how often do we stop to consider whether people genuinely feel comfortable speaking up, sharing their concerns or challenging how things are done?

And perhaps more importantly, when they do speak up, are we listening and taking action?

During my career in HR leadership and as a Business Psychologist, I've seen how leadership behaviours, team dynamics and ways of working can positively or negatively influence people's wellbeing, engagement and performance.

Creating a healthy and resilient workplace isn't simply about providing wellbeing initiatives or encouraging people to talk about their mental health. It's also about creating a culture where people feel safe, respected and valued, and where their concerns, ideas and contributions are genuinely heard.

Are We Supporting People Too Late?

Many organisations have introduced Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs), counselling and other wellbeing services to support employees experiencing mental health difficulties.

These services play an important role, but I believe we also need to ask whether we are doing enough to prevent people from reaching a point where they need this support in the first place.

Recent research highlights why organisations need to take a more proactive approach to employee mental health and wellbeing.

The CIPD's Health and Wellbeing at Work 2025 report found that:

• 64% of organisations experienced stress-related absence during the previous year, with heavy workloads the most commonly cited work-related cause.
• Management style and pressure to meet targets or deadlines were also among the leading causes of stress-related absence.
• Although 64% of organisations are taking steps to identify or reduce workplace stress, only 50% believe their efforts are effective.

Mental Health UK's Burnout Report 2026 adds another important perspective. It found that 91% of UK adults experienced high or extreme levels of pressure or stress during the previous year, while 35% of workers felt uncomfortable discussing high levels of stress with their manager, with this being higher at 39% for younger workers aged 18-24.  That last finding is particularly concerning. If employees don't feel comfortable telling their managers when they are struggling, how can we expect organisations to recognise potential problems and intervene before they escalate?

These findings reinforce why we need to look beyond individual wellbeing interventions and consider what is happening in the working environment that may be contributing to stress, anxiety and burnout.

For example, are employees struggling with unrealistic workloads or with constantly shifting priorities? Are managers themselves feeling overwhelmed and unable to provide the support their teams need? Are people reluctant to raise concerns because they fear being judged or believe nothing will change?

Over time, these situations can contribute to increased stress, anxiety, disengagement and burnout. They can also affect productivity, quality of work, collaboration and ultimately business performance.

Providing support when someone is struggling is essential. But understanding and addressing what may be contributing to that struggle is equally important.

Creating a Culture Where People Feel Safe to Speak Up

One of the most important elements of a healthy, high-performing workplace is psychological safety.

Psychological safety is about creating an environment where people feel able to speak up, ask questions, share ideas, admit mistakes and challenge constructively without fear of embarrassment, rejection or negative consequences.

Google's well-known Project Aristotle highlighted its importance by examining what makes some teams more effective than others.

The research found that how team members worked together mattered more than simply who was on the team. Of the five key dynamics identified, psychological safety emerged as the most important.

This makes sense when we consider what happens in teams where people don't feel safe to contribute.

Employees may hold back ideas, avoid asking for help, or remain silent when they notice something isn't working. Concerns about workload or poor behaviour may go unchallenged, and opportunities to learn, improve and innovate are missed.

Psychological safety isn't about everyone agreeing or avoiding difficult conversations. It's about creating the conditions for people to express different perspectives, respectfully challenge decisions, take responsibility, and learn from mistakes.

And this is where leadership plays an essential role.

Leadership Behaviours Make a Difference

Leaders have a significant influence on the culture of an organisation and the environment in which people work.

However, it's not simply about what leaders say. It's the everyday behaviours they demonstrate and how they respond to others that influence whether people feel safe, supported, and able to contribute.

For example:

• Do leaders actively invite ideas, different perspectives and constructive challenge?
• Do they listen with curiosity and without immediately becoming defensive or judgemental?
• Are people comfortable admitting mistakes or asking for help?
• Do leaders recognise when workloads are becoming unmanageable and take appropriate action?
• Do they address unhelpful behaviours and hold people accountable fairly?
• Are they role-modelling the behaviours and working practices they expect from others?

Saying that your door is always open is a positive start. However, if employees have previously been dismissed, criticised or ignored when raising concerns, they may understandably be reluctant to speak up again.

Leaders also need support to build their resilience, self-awareness, and understanding of how their behaviour affects others, particularly when they are under pressure.

But leadership is only one part of the picture. Team members also influence whether colleagues feel respected, included and able to contribute. Building trust, encouraging healthy challenge, supporting one another and agreeing shared ways of working are all important in creating an effective team.

When people feel safe to contribute and know their voices are valued, we create greater opportunities for engagement, collaboration, learning, and improved performance.

Taking a More Holistic and Proactive Approach

In my previous article on workplace wellbeing, I highlighted the importance of looking at the organisation as an integrated whole: Culture, Leadership, Teams and Individuals.

I believe this is equally important when we consider how to create a psychologically safe, healthy and resilient workplace.

A team development workshop can be a valuable intervention. It gives team members an opportunity to reflect on how they work together, strengthen relationships, develop new skills, and agree on behaviours that support trust, collaboration, and performance.

However, on its own, a one-day workshop is unlikely to create the sustained behavioural and cultural changes organisations are looking for.

Real change requires us to understand what is happening before deciding what intervention is needed, and to continue supporting people afterwards.

For me, a more effective approach involves:

• Understanding the current environment: Listening to leaders and team members to identify what is working well, what challenges they face and what may be getting in the way of their wellbeing and performance.
• Developing leadership capability: Helping leaders strengthen their self-awareness, resilience and everyday behaviours so they can create the environment and conditions for people to contribute and perform at their best.
• Strengthening team effectiveness: Designing practical development around the team's needs, including trust, psychological safety, communication, shared purpose, accountability and ways of working.
• Supporting individual resilience and wellbeing: Equipping people with practical, science-backed tools to manage their thoughts, emotions and responses to challenging situations, alongside addressing the workplace factors affecting them.
• Following through and reviewing progress: Reinforcing agreed behaviours, checking what is changing, listening to feedback and addressing what continues to get in the way.

This doesn't necessarily mean introducing a large or complicated programme. It means taking a considered approach, with clear priorities, meaningful actions and appropriate follow-up.

For example, a team may leave a workshop committed to speaking up, sharing ideas and improving communication. But if their leader continues to dismiss suggestions, workloads remain unrealistic or poor behaviours go unchallenged, those commitments are unlikely to last.

Equally, leaders may be committed to supporting their teams but find themselves working within organisational practices that make it difficult to do so.  This is why it's important to look at the wider working environment rather than treating leadership, team development and employee wellbeing as separate initiatives.

A workshop can build awareness, develop skills, and strengthen commitment. What happens afterwards helps turn those commitments into everyday behaviours and lasting change.

Wellbeing and Performance Go Hand in Hand

As organisations continue to face increasing demands, technological advances, and changes in how work gets done, the need for adaptability, resilience, and effective collaboration is greater than ever.

But expecting people to adapt, innovate and sustain performance while dealing with excessive workloads, low trust, or a fear of speaking up is unlikely to deliver the results organisations need.

A healthier workplace isn't one where people never experience pressure or challenges. It's one where people have the support, resources, skills and working conditions to respond constructively, contribute their best work and sustain performance without compromising their health and wellbeing.

This requires a proactive, preventative approach that considers both employees' needs and the business's needs.  It also requires us to regularly review whether our actions are making a meaningful difference.

As the CIPD's research highlights, taking action to address workplace stress doesn't automatically mean that action is effective.

We need to measure progress not simply by the initiatives we introduce, but by the meaningful changes we see in people's everyday experiences, behaviours and ways of working, and the positive impact these have on the organisation.

When people feel valued, supported and able to contribute, the potential benefits extend well beyond individual wellbeing. These include:

• Higher employee engagement, motivation and productivity.
• Reduced stress-related absence and associated costs.
• Stronger collaboration, innovation and team performance.
• Improved employee retention and a reputation as an employer of choice, attracting and retaining talented people.

Together, these outcomes contribute to a healthier, more resilient workforce and stronger, more sustainable business performance.

Real Voices, Real Change

This World Mental Health Day is an opportunity to reflect on how we listen to people and the role their experiences play in shaping the workplace.

Are we creating an environment where people feel safe to share concerns, contribute ideas, challenge constructively and ask for help?

Are we providing leaders and teams with the support and development they need to create those conditions?

And, perhaps most importantly, when people tell us what is working and what isn't, are we prepared to listen, respond and make changes?

Creating a healthy, resilient and high-performing culture isn't achieved through one initiative or workshop. It requires a shared commitment across the organisation, supported by everyday behaviours, practical action and ongoing learning.  When we genuinely listen to people and act on what we hear, we create the conditions for people to feel valued, contribute their best work and sustain high performance without compromising their health and wellbeing.