How can bosses improve workers' mental health?

How can bosses improve workers' mental health?

Emily Pearson has spent 27 years working in the mental health field.

After overcoming her own difficulties and dedicating her life to helping others improve their mental health, Emily Pearson now wants businesses to put employees’ well-being first. What five things can a company do?

Emily says everyone carries a metaphorical backpack.

Thursday is World Suicide Prevention Day, an annual reminder of why valuing mental health matters so much, Emily says.

Employers need to recognise stress and the major effect it can have on people, she says.

Companies have a legal duty of care for their employees, Emily, from Burnhope near Durham, says, and that includes mental as well as physical health and safety.

But she says it should not simply be viewed as a burdensome obligation, because a healthier workforce means fewer sick days — almost 9% of workplace ill health in 2025 was stress related, according to the Office for National Statistics.

"Humans are still the main resource, and if the people are not there, you don't have a successful business," Emily says.

She says everyone carries a metaphorical backpack, packed with the stresses and worries of life.

Work "chucks in loads more weight", she says, and when that backpack gets too heavy, people become unwell.

"Any senior leader that has any kind of empathy and compassion for people won't want their business to be chucking weights into people's backpacks until they fall over," Emily says.

"Especially when there are things that you could actually do to help to actually take some of those weights out."

Surveying staff to understand their stories is key, Emily says.

Emily says understanding the problem is the first step to solving it.

She says employers should survey staff, listen to their stories, and examine deeper cultural issues within the workforce to see what needs to change.

"Understanding your demographics and your people is so important," Emily says.

Emily understands the importance of story because she was driven by her own.

She left school at 16 with no GCSEs, fell into "doing drugs and stuff", became a young single mother who experienced domestic violence, and developed mental health problems including anorexia and panic disorder.

In her early 20s, she says she received help that not only saved her life but also inspired her to build a career in mental health, from organising youth discos in Bishop Auckland to working with employers.

She has worked in the field for 27 years, most recently with the emergency services, trying to improve how issues such as trauma and stress are handled.

She says her own experiences have given her a "unique perspective", which she wants to share in her new book Solving a CEO's Blind Spot: Human Sustainability.

Cultural change needs to begin in the boardroom, Emily says.

Emily says data must be turned into strategy, and the people doing that need to be capable.

"People managers are a huge part of this," she says.

Workers' bosses can have "more of an impact on people's mental health and well-being" than they realise, Emily says.

"They're the ones who could be pushing the workload on, not supporting people, allowing bad behaviour to go on, not managing conflict well.

"So they need the capabilities to understand their role in that and the authority to make the change.

"Recognise the problem, analyse the problem, give someone the capability and accountability to deal with the problem."

Emily says mental health leaders also need to be on a par with directors at board level, and cultural change must start at the top.

Otherwise, those making decisions that affect the workforce are doing so "without the impact on their people in mind".

"I'm not saying it's anyone's fault," Emily says, adding that it is a "blind spot" she is "trying to highlight".

Emily launched her book on 10 September, World Suicide Prevention Day.

Emily says everyone should benefit from change, and improvements need to be "equitable".

That means people’s differences and individual circumstances must be considered.

"We've seen mental health and well-being as just like very generic, a one size fits all approach," she says.

"But as we know," she adds, "one size fits all doesn't fit everybody".

Emily says many businesses may think they are "doing well" by appointing mental health first aiders and holding awareness-raising days, but "activity doesn't equal impact".

"They are doing easy things like activity without understanding the cultural shift that needs to happen within the organisation and change the systems," she says.

"Saying mental health and well-being is important to us is very different to a board making decisions focused around how this is going to impact our staff."

Each generation has its own issues to contend with.

Once changes have been made, Emily says their effectiveness needs to be measured.

She says it is an ongoing process.

"Continuous improvement has to be key," she says, adding: "It's not 'we've done it now, lets move on'.

"It's a never-ending process."

Culture and society change from one generation to the next, and that means the problems change too.

Emily says it is essential to recognise and respond to cultural and social changes between generations.

"I've seen so much change over my 27 years," Emily says, adding: "I see the complexity of it.

"There are things that we still don't even know, even I only know what I know.

"Constant improvement means we keep up with the changes that are happening in our society, in our communities, in our jobs.

"Because they're all linked together."