Mental Health in the UK Workplace - Challenges, Gaps & Strategic Solutions

Mental health in the workplace is no longer a peripheral concern for UK employers. It is a material issue affecting productivity, retention, absence, safety, leadership capability and long-term organisational sustainability.

National reviews, including Sir Charlie Mayfield’s Thriving at Work report (2025), make it clear that poor mental health is now one of the biggest issues affecting productivity in the UK economy, driven by a combination of absenteeism, presenteeism, staff turnover, and reduced performance. Employers are paying for this through lost output, weakened teams, increased management burden, and a growing inability to retain experienced people. The cost is becoming obvious, overwhelming and unsustainable - and the UK economy is suffering, as a result.

To quote from the Mayfield report:

"Employers lose on average £120 per day in profit from sickness absences, which are at a 15-year high, and face costs to replace staff which stretch into the tens of thousands each time. This causes disruption, lost capacity and unplanned costs."

"The state faces an unsustainable cost from economic inactivity due to ill-health of £212 billion per year, equivalent to 7% of GDP or nearly 70% of the income tax we pay, through lost output, increased welfare payments and additional burdens on the NHS." Mayfield's "call to action" is clear:

"Employers will need to do more. They are uniquely placed to act on prevention, to support rehabilitation, and to remove barriers for disabled people. They also stand to gain most from higher productivity and lower costs. Much of what’s required is not additional expenditure: employers already invest billions in health and wellbeing but need greater clarity on what works. The priority now is to get them off the sidelines and onto the pitch." "... Some may resist that message amid tight margins and slow growth. But many already recognise they are carrying the cost of ill-health every day. I have yet to meet an employer unconcerned about mental health in their workforce. Employers are uniquely placed to ‘do’ prevention - by encouraging safe and early conversations about emerging health issues, making reasonable adjustments, supporting people swiftly, and offering flexibility for treatment and phased returns. They can act on prevention in ways the NHS can never do alone. Many already try, spending significantly but too often against a system that feels fragmented and unsupportive."

This paper seeks to explore the reasons why there is an escalating crisis, despite no shortage of investment and good intention on the part of many employers. It also seeks to provide the aforementioned "greater clarity on what works".

It reviews UK and international evidence on workplace mental wellbeing and psychotherapy outcomes, with a particular focus on what works in real-world settings (not just what performs well under tightly controlled clinical conditions). It draws on national policy reviews, large-scale employer data, and decades of psychotherapy research, including outcome and comparative studies.

It sets out:

• the scale and cost of the workplace mental health problem,

• why existing systems are not delivering meaningful impact,

• the structural and psychological barriers preventing employees from accessing support,

• what's needed to drive real change in workplace mental wellbeing - key differentiators

• the evidence for a more effective model for workplace mental health support.
  

It shows that the way mental health support is delivered matters at least as much as what is offered. Approaches that engage people earlier, respect autonomy, focus on clear goals, and restore confidence and functioning are more effective, more efficient, and better aligned with the realities of modern work.

The paper argues that Solution-Focused therapies and interventions represent a pragmatic, evidence-informed and scalable approach to achieve this. Not as a replacement for specialist clinical care where required, but as a highly effective first-line, early-intervention and preventative option for the issues most commonly affecting working adults.

For employers, insurers and wellbeing providers, this presents a clear opportunity: to move towards support that is engaging, efficient, and demonstrably effective - for the employees and leaders in question, their organisations, and for the future of the UK economy.

To receive your copy of the full report, please email abi@betterbraincompany.com with the subject heading "White paper request".

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At The Better Brain Company we specialise in mental health and wellbeing, leadership development, and cognitive performance solutions tailored to SMEs, corporate clients, and high-performance individuals. Our neuroscience-based, solution-focused, ‘talk-optional’ therapeutic framework is individually tailored to reduce stress, burnout, anxiety, and disengagement, boost productivity, and help create psychologically safe foundations for sustainable growth and impact.

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Our blog "The Evidence for Solution Focused Therapy & Hypnotherapy" can be read here:

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