Employee Wellness Programme's arent a Fruit Bowl: What Your Employees Actually Need

Let's be honest.

Some workplaces will tell you that employee wellbeing is a priority. There might be a wellbeing policy. A pretty poster in the staff room. A mindfulness app. A fruit bowl (strange, I know, but true). Maybe even a wellbeing event.

And all of those things can be positive, a place to start.

But if someone is working 50-hour weeks, scared to take a lunch break, answering emails at 10pm, and terrified that admitting they're struggling will make them look weak, a fruit bowl isn't going to fix that. Workplace mental health is about much more than giving employees a list of self-help tips. It's about the environment they're working in. It's about workload. It's about relationships. It's about leadership. It's about whether people feel safe enough to say "I'm struggling" without worrying about what will happen next.

Work is a huge part of our mental health

For most adults, work takes up a significant part of life. It can provide purpose, routine, social connection, financial security, and a sense of achievement, way more than just paying your bills.

A good workplace can genuinely support our mental health. But the opposite is also true. A workplace where people feel constantly pressured, unsupported, undervalued, or unable to switch off can have a significant impact on wellbeing.

The Mental Health Foundation highlights that working conditions and the working environment can have a substantial effect on mental health. Its current statistics estimate that around 875,000 workers experienced work-related stress, depression, or anxiety in 2022/23, resulting in approximately 17.1 million working days lost.

That's not simply an HR issue. It's a people issue.

Burnout is becoming harder to ignore

Burnout has become one of those words we hear constantly bandied about on social media.

"I'm so burnt out." "This week has burnt me out." "Everyone's burnt out."

But behind that word are real people who may be exhausted, disconnected, overwhelmed, and struggling to keep going.

BACP's 2026 Public Perceptions Survey found that 19% of UK adults reported experiencing work-related burnout, compared with 16% in 2025. Among 25 to 34-year-olds, the figure was even higher, at 30%. That's nearly one in five adults.

So perhaps it's time we stopped treating burnout as simply something people need to manage better. Sometimes the question shouldn't be "how can we make our employees more resilient?" It should be "what is making them need this much resilience in the first place?"

"Just manage your stress better"

This is where workplace wellbeing can sometimes go wrong. We tell people to practise mindfulness, exercise, get enough sleep, take regular breaks, switch off their phone, look after themselves.

All sensible advice, great advice. But what happens when the problem isn't that someone doesn't know how to look after themselves? What happens when they're working in an environment where there is simply too much work, too little support, and no realistic opportunity to switch off?

You cannot self-care your way out of an unhealthy working environment.

Sometimes the solution isn't another breathing exercise. Sometimes it's a conversation about workload. A supportive, approachable manager. More realistic expectations. Flexible working. Clearer boundaries. Better communication. Or simply knowing that asking for help won't be held against you.

The person who says "I'm fine" might not actually be fine

This is something I think we need to become much better at recognising.

Some of the people struggling most at work won't necessarily look like they're struggling. They may be the person who never misses a deadline. The person who always says yes. The person everyone goes to when something goes to pot. The person who stays late. The person who never complains. The person who is always there for everyone else.

Until suddenly, they're not.

Sometimes the first sign that someone is struggling isn't tears in the workplace. It might be irritability. Withdrawal. Making mistakes they wouldn't normally make. Taking more sick days. Losing motivation. Becoming unusually quiet. Working longer hours. Or simply looking like they've not slept in weeks.

And sometimes the person who appears to be coping really is struggling underneath.

Mental health doesn't suddenly start at the office door

One of the biggest misconceptions about workplace wellbeing is that mental health problems are separate from work. They're not. People don't leave their anxiety at home. They don't leave the fight over where the shoes are with the kids for the 75th time at home. They don't leave grief at home. They don't leave financial worries at home. They don't leave caring responsibilities, parenting pressures, chronic stress, or a difficult night at home and magically become a completely different person when they walk into work.

We're human. Our lives come with us.

That doesn't mean employers need to become therapists. They don't. But it does mean creating an environment where people can be human.

Managers don't need to be therapists - And I think this is an important distinction.

Managers don't need to diagnose anxiety. They don't need to provide counselling. They don't need to know exactly what to say when someone discloses something deeply personal. But they do need to know how to have a human conversation. "How are you doing?" And perhaps, more importantly, "How are you really doing?"

They need to know how to listen without immediately trying to fix everything. They need to know when something needs to be escalated. They need to know what support is available. And they need to understand that psychological safety isn't a buzzword. It's part of creating a healthy workplace.

Prevention matters

One of the things I feel particularly strongly about is prevention.

Why wait until somebody is completely burnt out before offering support? Why wait until someone is signed off sick? Why wait until they're having panic attacks? Why wait until they're handing in their notice? Why wait until an experienced member of staff leaves because they simply couldn't keep going?

BACP's 2026 research found that 85% of people believe it is better to talk to a therapist before things get out of hand. That principle applies beautifully to workplace mental health too.

Supporting people earlier can mean having conversations before crisis point. It can mean giving staff somewhere safe to talk. It can mean training managers to recognise warning signs. It can mean making mental health support accessible rather than waiting for somebody to ask for it.

Wellbeing isn't about making people work harder

This is another thing I think we need to challenge.

Workplace wellbeing shouldn't become "how can we make employees happier so they can be more productive?" People aren't productivity machines. Yes, healthier employees can contribute positively to organisations. But supporting mental health shouldn't only matter because of the impact on profit. It matters because people matter.

Interestingly, research from the Mental Health Foundation's year-long 32-hour working week pilot found that 69% of participating staff reported less work-related stress, while 55% reported better productivity. The lesson isn't necessarily that every organisation needs to move to a four-day week. It's that sometimes creating healthier working conditions doesn't come at the expense of performance. Sometimes it actually helps people perform better because they have more capacity to do so.

So what does a mentally healthy workplace actually look like?

It doesn't have to be perfect. There will always be deadlines. There will be difficult conversations. There will be stressful periods. That's life. A mentally healthy workplace might simply be one where people feel able to speak up, managers listen, workloads are monitored rather than ignored, and taking a break isn't seen as laziness.

Where mental health isn't treated differently from physical health. Where people know where to get support. Where boundaries are respected, and employees aren't expected to sacrifice their wellbeing to prove their commitment.

And perhaps most importantly, where people feel valued as human beings, not just for what they produce.

What can employers actually do?

There isn't one magic solution. But there are lots of small things that can make a significant difference. Start conversations before there's a crisis. Train managers in mental health awareness. Make support easy to access. Regularly check workloads. Create realistic expectations around availability. Encourage proper breaks. Review workplace culture, not just individual resilience. Give employees somewhere confidential to talk. And ask your staff what they actually need.

Because sometimes the people designing workplace wellbeing programmes aren't the people experiencing the workplace. Ask them.

And if you're struggling at work?

Please don't automatically tell yourself that you're weak. You might not be. You might simply be overwhelmed. You might be burnt out. You might be dealing with something outside of work that is taking up more emotional energy than you realise. Or you might be in a working environment that isn't currently supporting your wellbeing.

Whatever the reason, you deserve to take it seriously. You don't have to wait until you're signed off sick. You don't have to wait until you can't function. And you certainly don't have to prove that you're struggling "enough" before asking for help.

Let's change the conversation

I don't want workplace mental health to be another tick box. I don't want it to be a poster that says "it's okay not to be okay" while everyone is terrified to admit they're not okay. I want us to create workplaces where asking "how are you really doing?" isn't just something we put on a wellbeing campaign. It's something we genuinely mean.

Because behind every job title is a person. And people deserve to be looked after. Your employees are human. Let's start treating them that way.

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How I can support your workplace

As a counsellor, I believe workplace wellbeing needs to be practical, human, and accessible.

I work with organisations to support conversations around mental health, emotional wellbeing, stress, anxiety, confidence, relationships, and resilience. This can include wellbeing sessions, mental health awareness workshops, employee support, and creating spaces where people feel able to talk openly about their mental health.

If you're an employer or organisation looking at how you can better support your staff team, I'd be happy to have an informal conversation about what that could look like for you. Reach out or take a look at our Employee Wellness Programmes