How to build a workplace community that supports mental health
Following on from Mental Health Awareness Week (May 12-18, 2025), Onebright’s Chief Clinical Officer Professor Marcantonio Spada explores the themes of community and culture.
As social creatures, we flourish when we feel connected, understood and supported. There are multiple studies that underscore the significance of social bonds for both mental and physical health. We know that strong community ties can act as a protective factor against depression, anxiety and burnout. The workplace, where many of us spend a substantial portion of our lives, can also be a vital source of support and wellbeing. Culture is viewed as the shared values, beliefs and practices that influence how individuals experience their environment.
A mentally healthy workplace culture and strong community is one where vulnerability is not punished, where managers are trained to have open conversations about mental health, where structures are transparent and fair, and where support is proactive rather than reactive.
Yet, community is not the full solution. Belonging to a group does not inherently guarantee psychological safety, and dysfunctional workplace communities can exacerbate stress and hinder recovery.
Too often, the term ‘workplace culture’ is reduced to superficial gestures, such as pizza parties. While well intended, these initiatives fall short if they are not underpinned by efforts to grow genuine mental health support.
What does a mentally healthy community look like in practical terms? It is one where employees feel empowered to speak openly, where diversity is celebrated and where mental health is not boxed into a one-off training session but woven into everyday operations. Some ways to boost positive mental health support in your workplace community include:
Top-down training
Managerial training not only equips leaders to notice signs of distress and respond constructively but sets the tone for the whole workforce through modelling constructive behaviour. Focusing on the senior leadership can also allow for more detailed and thorough training, particularly for smaller businesses.
Mental health champions
Peer support networks, including mental health champions, offer confidential spaces for employees to share and decompress. These champions are clearly signposted as the point of contact for employees struggling with their mental health – a bridge between staff and management. Regular feedback loops give employees the opportunity to speak up. Beyond private discussions, these champions also encourage open conversations and generally reduce stigma around mental health, which can trickle through to the wider workplace community and promote early intervention.
An open and supportive culture
In whichever way one chooses to provide mental health support and communication, the goal should be to educate the entire organisation. Delivering consistent, comprehensive training across all levels of an organisation can build shared understanding and responsibility for mental health. This may include workshops, webinars and interactive modules to teach stress management, resilience and effective communication skills.
External support in other communities
Communities are interconnected, and using external resources can be helpful to improve the mental health support options available. Employee assistance programmes or rapid access mental health pathways, for example, can provide counselling services and support from accredited psychological therapy practitioners. These external resources should be positioned in an accessible manner, and not just reserved for emergency cases.
Investing in mental health
Contrary to the belief that investing in mental health is just ‘nice to have’, data clearly shows a positive return on investment. In the UK alone, a study from Deloitte found that mental ill health costs employers £51bn a year. Mental health interventions not only reduce absenteeism and presenteeism, they also improve engagement and productivity, which are key drivers of organisational success.
When mental health is supported within a robust community, it creates a safety net. Challenges that might otherwise be hidden, such as panic attacks, chronic stress, burnout, over worrying and rumination, as well as addictions, can become visible. Noticing the signs of an employee struggling can open those first conversations, and help provide mental health support and guidance earlier on. A culture that normalises these discussions enables early intervention and helps individuals feel less alone in their struggles. Most importantly, it encourages shared knowledge. When mental health becomes part of the organisational conversation, employees learn to identify signs in themselves and others, often before a crisis arises.
