Wellbeing As A Strategic Priority
Audra Lee • October 6, 2026

Rising stress and burnout: Why organisations need a strategic approach to wellbeing

by Audra Lee | Business Psychologist | Workplace Wellbeing Partner

During my career in human resources and as a business psychologist, I’ve worked with

leaders and teams in helping them to increase and sustain high performance; however, over

recent years, I’ve seen an increase in many struggling with their mental health and wellbeing.

This is supported by a report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD),

which reports a 41% increase in mental health-related absences since the pandemic.

People’s resilience is wearing thin. Not only due to the pressures and challenges they face in

their personal lives, like rising living costs, health, relationships or worries about their

children’s mental health, but also because of what they can face in the work environment

every day:

  • Blurred work-life boundaries
  • Relentless change and growing workloads
  • Managers who are struggling themselves

I’m hearing the same themes over and over again from employees:

  • “I’m feeling overwhelmed.”
  • “I’m stressed and anxious most days.”
  • • “I’m constantly exhausted.”
  • “I don’t know who to turn to.”
  • “I want to help my team, but I don’t know how.”

As a result, companies are seeing lower productivity and engagement, increased

absenteeism, presenteeism and high employee turnover due to poor mental health.

The Data Says It All

It’s costing organisations far more than they realise, especially in the UK:

These figures make one thing clear: we can no longer afford to treat employee wellbeing as a “nice-to-have” initiative.

It’s Time to Take a More Strategic Approach to Wellbeing

Although we have discussed the importance of wellbeing for a few years, some leaders still regard it as a ‘soft’ initiative that doesn’t add value to the bottom line. Introducing perks such as free ‘fruit baskets’ or a weekly yoga class alone won’t make a meaningful difference, as wellbeing goes deeper than that.


It is the result of a combination of factors, including our mental, emotional, physical and social health, which are interconnected and which we need as human beings to function and achieve our potential in life.

As we don’t typically work in isolation, our health and wellbeing are also positively or negatively influenced and impacted by our environment and those around us. This includes cultural norms in ways of working, leadership behaviours and team dynamics.



Many organisations are taking steps in the right direction by introducing interventions like employee assistance programs (EAPs) and individual counselling. However, while these support options have their place and are important, there is typically low uptake, and employees often use them when they are already struggling and at the breaking point.

Proactively Building a Healthy Workplace

The real impact comes from taking a more holistic and proactive approach.

This means creating a culture that promotes a healthy workplace and equips people across the business with the training and resources they need to thrive and sustain high performance without sacrificing their health.

Early interventions focused on proactively shifting culture and supporting wellbeing deliver the strongest return on investment:

  • Organisation-wide strategies yield an average ROI of £6.30 for every £1 spent.
  • Training and upskilling programmes to help educate and upskill employees and raise mental health awareness yield an average ROI of £5 for every £1 spent.
  • In contrast, reactive approaches, such as individual counselling related to poor mental health, provide a lower ROI at just £3.30 for every £1 spent.

(Mental Health and Employers, Deloitte, 2024).

Culture

Culture is an essential element in delivering the business strategy and an organisation’s success.

We need to ask whether current ways of working that include cultural norms truly support people’s health and wellbeing, or if they’re quietly contributing to stress, overwhelm and burnout.

For instance:

  • Are employees sitting through back-to-back meetings without a break?
  • Are they being asked to attend sessions that aren’t essential, but are a “nice to have”?
  • Are individuals regularly contacted outside of working hours?
  • Is it the norm to expect individuals to delay or cut short holidays?

These everyday working practices can have a significant impact on employee wellbeing.

Leadership

Leaders play an essential role in shaping culture and promoting a healthy work environment, but many are also struggling and calling out for more support themselves.

A 2023 survey by Mental Health First Aid England found that a third of managers felt ‘out of their depth’ when it came to supporting their team’s mental health. Nearly a third are asking for more training and support from the organisation to improve team members’ mental health.

We need to equip leaders with the practical skills and awareness to strengthen their resilience and create supportive environments where they can spot mental health issues early and hold open, compassionate conversations with their team members.

When people feel genuinely supported, valued, heard and free from fear of judgement, they will deliver their best work and thrive.

Teams

It’s not just the leader who fosters a psychologically safe and high-performing culture; it’s every team member.

These are just a few questions to reflect on with the team you lead or work with:



- Do we trust each other?

- Do we encourage healthy challenge and diversity of thought?

- Do we support each other?

- Do we hold each other accountable for behaviours and performance?

- Do we understand and leverage each other’s strengths?

- Do we all work towards a common goal or have individual agendas?


All of these can influence and impact an individual’s sense of wellbeing.

When all team members can answer ‘yes’ to these questions, it can lead to a resilient, innovative and collaborative team that adapts and consistently delivers results.

Individuals

Many of us were not taught how to manage and optimise our brains and minds, and therefore, we can find ourselves struggling with things such as negative thoughts and emotions that can lead to feelings of stress, anxiety and depression.


Empowering people with science-based training and resources to increase their mental fitness and help them more proactively manage how they think, feel and behave can lead to greater resilience and the ability to deal more effectively with challenging situations before reaching a breaking point.

A Healthier, Productive and Sustainable Future of Work Begins With the First Step

The numbers show that stress levels and burnout are increasing.


It’s time to move beyond the old model of short-term, one-off approaches and wellbeing being a “nice to have”, to making it a core strategic priority.


When organisations focus on creating a workplace where wellbeing is a vital aspect of the culture and people at all layers of the organisation are empowered with the training and resources to proactively support their mental health and wellbeing, the energy, engagement, productivity and performance go up, while absenteeism and presenteeism go down.


Organisations that take a proactive and holistic approach to wellbeing today build workplaces with a resilient and healthier workforce that delivers sustainable high performance and gains a real competitive edge.


If any of this resonates with what you see day to day, it may be time for a different approach to wellbeing.



Change happens when we look at the organisation as a whole and not just one part. Having an external partner to help guide and deliver practical solutions that work can make all the difference.