By Sarah Carter, Head of Account Management at Onebright
HR leaders recognise the importance of workplace mental health, but what’s often less visible, is the cost of poor mental health that doesn’t show up on absence reports.
While absence related to mental health remains high, one of the biggest challenges in the workplace is presenteeism, when employees are physically present but struggling to perform due to stress, anxiety, or burnout. These hidden losses in productivity cost businesses far more than absence, yet they rarely appear on HR dashboards.
The Government’s Keep Britain Working review has made this clearer than ever. It estimates that lost productivity in the workplace, sickness absence and turnover cost the economy £85 billion a year, or around 7% of GDP.
Alongside this, new research shows that 79% of UK workers experience workplace stress regularly, with an average of 21.6 days lost per case of work-related stress equating to £5.2 billion annually in lost productivity*. These figures underline what many HR professionals already sense, which is that the real impact on performance is often hidden in plain sight.
For employers, this isn’t just a public health issue, it’s a business resilience one. The challenge for the year ahead isn’t to do more, but to do better. To simplify, strengthen, and evolve mental health strategies so they deliver meaningful results.
Simplify your strategy
Do you employees know what support is available to them in the workplace? How to access it? When to use it? If not, it’s time to look at simplifying your mental health care strategy.
Simplifying pathways, using clear language, single access points, and consistent messaging, is one of the fastest ways to improve engagement and encourage people to reach out sooner.
Focus on evidence-based support
Every service you offer must be safe, effective, and grounded in evidence. According to NHS Employers**, wellbeing initiatives that allow employees to choose from a range of evidence-based, flexible options tend to deliver better outcomes and sustained engagement.
That means asking health providers and partners not just what they do, but what outcomes they can demonstrate. What was the uptake of their support? Did it measurably improve wellbeing or reduce risk factors over time? Are interventions suitable for the diversity of your workforce?
Other recent reports*** found that while nearly all 100 of the largest UK-listed employers now recognise employee mental health as a business concern, 60% still lack robust operational management of workplace mental health. That tells us there’s still a gap between awareness and action.
By prioritising evidence-based services and demanding measurable results from your partners, you protect both your people and your business performance.
Communicate and signpost effectively
Too often, mental health provision is hidden behind forgotten web pages, tricky HR systems, or rolled out once a year during awareness weeks. Communication needs to be constant, creative, and inclusive.
We all absorb information in different ways, so use multiple formats, such as short videos, quick links, posters with QR codes, stories from leaders, and reminders through line managers. Ensure your wellbeing providers are active partners in this communication, not silent providers.
Collaborate, measure, and evolve
No organisation stands still, and neither should your wellbeing provision. Businesses grow, contract, restructure and adapt, and mental health strategies must evolve alongside them.
Work with your health providers to review data regularly. Look at which teams are engaging well and where uptake is low. Collect feedback, measure outcomes, and don’t be afraid to adjust your approach. The more you learn about how your people actually use support, the more effectively you can target it.
Good management information makes this possible. It helps you see which divisions or demographics might be underrepresented in usage, and where additional training or awareness could make a difference.
Why this matters now
Each year, around 300,000 people with a health condition leave work, often because they didn’t get timely support. This is exactly what the Government’s Keep Britain Working initiative, and mental health providers like us at Onebright, are trying to address – encouraging prevention and early intervention to keep people healthy, engaged, productive and in work.
For employers, this is a turning point. Simplifying your approach, grounding it in evidence, communicating well, and working collaboratively with your providers doesn’t just improve wellbeing, it strengthens performance, retention, and culture.
The return on investment
We now have clear proof that workplace mental health delivers measurable business value.
We see this every day when early, evidence-based support helps people stay well and stay in work.
Investing in prevention doesn’t just save cost, it keeps skills in your business, maintains team stability, and builds a culture of care that people want to be part of.
That’s why mental health strategy this year should be about reflecting on what you have and streamlining it. When you simplify, personalise, and measure what you offer, you’re not just supporting your people, but building a stronger, more sustainable organisation for the future.