Mental health training for line managers linked to better business performance

When employees are experiencing mental health issues, it's vital that they feel supported at work.

One in six workers in the UK experience mental health challenges, with 12.7% of all sick days attributed to mental ill-health.

New research highlights the business benefits of equipping line managers with the skills to help address mental health challenges within their teams.

Better business outcomes

Mental health issues in the workforce are estimated to cost UK employers more than £50bn every year in sickness absence, presenteeism (when employees report to work despite feeling unwell) and employee turnover.

Researchers at the University of Nottingham found that training for line managers in how to promote and support good mental health is associated with improved staff recruitment and retention, better customer service and lower levels of long-term mental health sickness absence.

The study was led by Professor Holly Blake from the School of Health Sciences at the University of Nottingham and Dr Juliet Hassard of Queen's University Belfast. It was based on anonymised survey data from several thousand companies in England collected between 2020 and 2023 by the Enterprise Research Centre at Warwick Business School.

Professor Blake said: "Mental ill-health at work is costly to organisations in terms of sickness absence and lost productivity. To our knowledge, this is the first study to show that training line managers in mental health is linked to better business outcomes. This is an important finding that strengthens the business case for why employers should invest in mental health at work."

Training and support

Mental health charity Mind is one provider that offers specialised training on workplace wellbeing. Courses can be taken either face-to-face or virtually via Zoom, covering specific topics such as:

• Mental health awareness
• Managing mental health at work
• Mental health and how to support someone
• Customer support and mental health

Employers can also offer access to third-party support through Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs), which give staff access to counselling, practical advice and referral services to help deal with personal and work-related issues.

Open and honest conversations

Around two thirds (64%) of men and a similar number (61%) of women who had talked to their employer about mental health said that they were helpful, according to a separate study by Aviva.

However, there is still work to do to give people the confidence to admit that they have mental health concerns.

Just over half of men (51%) and just under a third of women (32%) said that they have taken time off work in the past three months because of their mental health. Yet fewer than one in six of these employees told their employer that they were off work for mental health reasons.

"It's important that employers create a psychologically safe environment where people feel confident discussing their mental health," said Dr Doug Wright, medical director at Aviva UK Health. "This can be nurtured by leaders sharing their own stories to help normalise the topic, encouraging open and honest conversations and creating 'safe places' for people to discuss how they're feeling."

Dr Wright added that line managers have a "key role" to play.

"While they can't 'fix' the mental health problem, they can play a crucial role by listening to the individual, directing them to appropriate support and making workplace adjustments to help with their recovery.

"Finally, communication is key. You can't force an individual to talk, but you can make it easy for them to find and access support if they need it."