Mental Health in the Workplace: 12 Effective Strategies to Improve It

Mental health in the workplace is how work affects employees' emotional and psychological wellbeing, and what employers do to protect it. To improve mental health at work, reduce the risks that cause stress (heavy workloads, poor management, job insecurity), make support easy and stigma-free to reach, and train managers to notice and respond early.

Mental wellbeing shapes how people show up and perform. When organizations overlook it, the result is burnout, disengagement and high turnover; when they promote it, people feel valued, focused and motivated. This guide covers the latest statistics, the main risks, 12 workplace mental health strategies, the warning signs to watch for and a manager conversation guide you can use this week.

Mental health in the workplace statistics

The numbers show that mental health in the workplace is a business issue as much as a personal one. Four figures stand out from the most recent research.

The 2026 NAMI and Ipsos Workplace Mental Health Poll of 2,153 full-time US employees found that 53% felt burned out because of their job in the past year, 48% worry they would be judged for sharing a mental health struggle and only 15% have told their manager that work is hurting their mental health. Only about 1 in 3 had received mental health training from their employer.

Globally, the World Health Organization estimates that 16% of working-age adults had a mental disorder in 2023 and that depression and anxiety cost 12 billion working days and about US$1 trillion in lost productivity every year. Gallup's State of the Global Workplace finds that only 34% of employees worldwide are thriving.

Why mental health in the workplace matters

Improving mental health at work is a shared responsibility, not just a personal matter. It pays off in six ways:

• Employee wellbeing: Prioritizing mental health shows genuine care. When employees feel supported and valued, satisfaction and morale rise.
• Productivity and performance: Stress, anxiety and depression make it harder to concentrate and deliver. Support helps people perform at their best.
• Lower absenteeism and presenteeism: Mental health problems drive time off and presenteeism, when people are at work but not functioning well. Early support improves attendance. See these strategies to reduce employee absenteeism.
• Engagement and retention: Engaged employees are more committed and more likely to stay, which lowers turnover.
• Safety and risk: Employees under severe stress are more prone to accidents, errors and conflict, so mental health support is also risk management.
• Culture and reputation: Organizations seen as caring attract stronger candidates and build a reputation as an employer of choice.

Common risks to mental health at work

Workplaces can either support mental wellbeing or wear it down. The table lists the eight most common risks, how they show up and the first fix to try.

Job insecurity deserves special attention: the American Psychological Association's 2025 Work in America survey found that 54% of workers say job insecurity has a significant effect on their stress level.

What the evidence says works

The WHO guidelines on mental health at work group effective action into six areas, and the most important is fixing the work itself. Use them as a frame for the strategies that follow.

How to improve mental health at work: 12 strategies

These 12 workplace mental health strategies move from culture and resources to everyday management and individual needs. If you can only start with three, start with manager training (6), workload and goals (9) and an employee assistance program (11), because they change daily experience fastest.

1. Foster a positive work culture

Cultivate an inclusive culture built on open communication, respect and support among colleagues. Encourage teamwork and create regular chances for social connection, because isolation is a risk factor in its own right.

2. Provide mental health resources and support

Offer access to counseling, therapy and digital mental health tools, then educate employees about them and actively promote their use. NAMI's 2026 poll shows training matters too: employees at companies that offer it are far more likely to believe their employer prioritizes their mental health (69% vs. 40%).

3. Promote work-life balance

Set clear expectations around working hours and response times, avoid overloading people and encourage breaks and vacations so employees can recharge. Leaders who take their own leave send the strongest signal.

4. Encourage physical wellbeing

Physical and mental health are interconnected. Encourage regular activity, offer access to fitness programs or gyms, promote healthy eating and consider mindfulness sessions or yoga. This guide to employee health and wellness covers the benefits that support both.

5. Offer flexible work arrangements

Remote work, hybrid patterns and flexible schedules help employees manage caregiving, health appointments and commutes. Where roles need on-site presence, flexibility can still mean shift swaps, predictable rosters or compressed weeks.

6. Train managers to recognize and respond

Train managers to spot signs of distress and to respond well: listen actively, offer appropriate accommodations and connect people to resources. Managers do not need to be counselors, but they do control workloads, so their response shapes what happens next.

7. Reduce stigma around mental health

Educate managers and employees about mental health, encourage open discussions and create a safe, non-judgmental space to seek help. Leaders who share their own experiences, where they are comfortable doing so, make it easier for others to speak up. Active listening is a practical skill that helps.

8. Recognize and appreciate employees

Regularly acknowledge effort and accomplishments. Recognition counters the sense of being unseen that often comes before disengagement, and it reinforces a positive environment. See how to build a culture of recognition.

9. Set clear and realistic goals

Ambiguity and excessive workload are two of the biggest drivers of stress. Give employees clear expectations and achievable goals, then provide regular feedback and support so they can meet them.

10. Regularly assess and address workplace stressors

Use pulse surveys, one-on-ones and exit interviews to find stressors, then act: rebalance workloads, fix communication channels or redesign roles. Tell employees what changed because of their feedback, or they will stop giving it.

11. Offer an employee assistance program (EAP)

An EAP provides confidential counseling and support for personal and work problems. Partner with an EAP provider and promote it often: a resource employees do not know about cannot help them.

12. Accommodate individual needs

Work with employees to agree reasonable accommodations, such as flexible hours, modified tasks or temporary workload changes. In many countries, including under the US Americans with Disabilities Act, employers have legal duties to consider accommodations for mental health conditions.

Signs of mental health problems at work

Recognizing mental health problems takes awareness, observation and open communication. Every experience is different, but these signs may mean someone is struggling:

• Changes in behavior and performance: Irritability, mood swings, withdrawal, missed deadlines or more absences than usual.
• Emotional distress: Frequent tearfulness, persistent sadness, anxiety, low self-esteem or difficulty concentrating.
• Physical symptoms: Frequent headaches, unexplained fatigue, sleep changes or weight changes.
• Social isolation: Avoiding colleagues, skipping team activities or seeming disinterested in conversations.
• Increased substance use: Escalating use of alcohol or drugs to cope.
• Hopelessness or negative self-talk: Comments about not being able to cope, feeling worthless or seeing no way forward.
• Changes in appearance: A sudden decline in grooming or personal hygiene.

Manager conversation guide for mental health check-ins

Most managers avoid the conversation because they fear saying the wrong thing. Use this five-step guide for a private check-in when you notice signs that someone is struggling.

Keep what the employee shares confidential unless there is a risk to their safety, and write down only the agreed work changes.

What employees can do to protect their mental health

Dealing with mental health issues at work is a joint effort. Employees can take six practical steps:

1. Seek support: Talk to a trusted colleague, manager or HR about what you are going through.
2. Use available resources: Take advantage of counseling, therapy or an EAP offered by your organization.
3. Practice self-care: Make time for sleep, exercise, hobbies and stress-management techniques such as meditation or deep breathing.
4. Set boundaries: Keep clear lines between work and personal time and avoid taking on more than you can handle.
5. Communicate your needs: Ask your manager or HR about accommodations that would help.
6. Educate yourself: Learn how mental health works so you can recognize when you need help and where to find it.

If burnout is the main issue, these ways to prevent burnout go deeper on workload, recovery and team-level fixes.

How Empuls supports mental health in the workplace

Most employees who struggle never reach out through formal HR channels, and annual surveys show only one frozen snapshot. Empuls gives employees low-friction ways to get help and gives HR early warning by team.

• Daily mood check-ins: The Mood-o-Meter is a one-tap check-in that builds anonymized wellbeing trends by team, location and tenure, so HR spots stress weeks earlier. Explore the employee wellbeing solution.
• Mental health access: The corporate wellness program includes a mental health wallet and teleconsultation with EAP hotlines for crisis and short-format teletherapy, delivered through a curated partner network.
• Listening that leads to action: Pulse surveys track stress, workload and manager support between annual cycles, so you can act on the risks in the table above.
• Recognition every day: Empuls recognition makes appreciation part of daily work, countering the isolation that often comes first.

Making mental health a priority at work

Prioritizing mental health in the workplace is a moral responsibility and a strategic investment. Fix the work conditions that cause stress, train managers, reduce stigma and make support easy to reach, and people are more likely to thrive, stay and do their best work.

Start with the risk table and the manager conversation guide, measure how people feel every month and adjust. Small, consistent actions build a healthier and more resilient workforce.