What does it look like to build mentally healthy and equitable workplaces in practice?

The Living Wage as a cornerstone of mental health

Dundee City Council employs around 6,000 staff across an exceptionally diverse range of roles, from gardeners to social workers, engineers and office staff. Councillor Lynne Short champions workplace wellbeing through advocacy and strategic influence, working alongside the council's Head of People. She is a passionate advocate of the real Living Wage, which is higher than the statutory National Living Wage.

Dundee set out to become Britain's first Living Wage City in 2019 and now has over 120 Living Wage employers. The City Council itself is an accredited Living Wage employer, recognising that financial security is fundamental to mental health and wellbeing. It uses its influence to encourage local businesses to do the same by making paying the Living Wage a requirement for businesses to lease council buildings or provide services paid for by the Council.

The Living Wage has supported mental wellbeing at many levels. Young apprentices now earn more from day one, giving them financial independence. Some staff with health conditions can afford to retire earlier because they have a stronger pension. In an example of improved quality of life, a local cleaning company reported an employee saying she could now afford to paint her living room. As Councillor Short explains, ‘There's these things that, you know, money can buy ultimately … and she is keeping the person in B&Q in a job as well, so it tends to be money that's used in the local economy.’

Paying the Living Wage brings real benefits for employers, too. Better pay can lead to greater staff retention, which saves money. One Dundee hotel has maintained the same staff for nine years and says this is because they pay the Living Wage. Councillor Short says, ‘From a business point of view, it's much more satisfying, seeing people who want to work for you and stay with you’ and highlights the benefits to employers of ‘belonging to a city [where] actually people matter.’

The Council has also adapted to support diverse staff needs. Flexible working arrangements particularly benefit parents and carers, and those managing menopause symptoms or health conditions. Signposting is placed throughout council buildings to normalise seeking help. Predominantly male teams, such as refuse collection and street cleaning, have signposted their colleagues to popular Andy's Man Club peer support groups. As a highly visible local employer with many partners, the Council helps promote a stronger culture of support for mental health throughout the city.

Connection and flexibility to support wellbeing

Kinecx Energy is a gas network operator in Northern Ireland with approximately 70 employees across engineering, customer services, finance, human resources, and health and safety. The organisation has built a distinctive wellbeing culture grounded in connection and care.

Kinecx Energy's approach to workplace mental health is embedded in a comprehensive Health and Wellbeing Strategy built on the Five Ways to Wellbeing framework, which emphasises social relationships, physical activity, awareness, learning and giving.

Particularly popular under the theme of ‘connection’ is ‘Kinecx Cuisine’, where staff gather to share food and conversation. Other affordable, fun and connection-building activities include walking clubs and challenges, bake-offs and fancy dress for Halloween. There have been recent moves to tackle isolation by ensuring that customer-facing teams are given enough notice to attend events. The company’s HR Business Partner describes a ‘close-knit culture’ where they feel able to talk to their CEO about anything. Organisations can ensure people feel able to ask for help through strong leadership from the very top: ‘I think it's creating that open, transparent culture without the fear of repercussions … being able to be your authentic self at work.’

There are multiple routes for colleagues to access wellbeing information and support. Training on recognising vulnerable customers and staff is being rolled out to line managers. Mental Health First Aiders are spread across departments so staff can easily reach them. The company provides an Employee Assistance Programme and a counselling offer, and ‘Thrifty Thursday’ and ‘Feel Good Friday’ posts sharing cost-of-living and mental health tips.

Kinecx Energy also emphasises flexibility. Hybrid working is standard, and everyone has the option to work from home two days per week, dependent on operational needs. Additional flexibility, including shorter working weeks, varied start times, or additional home working during family crises, is offered as needed. These options are taken up most often by parents, carers, and disabled staff members, showing the importance of flexibility for creating inclusive workplaces.

Building psychological safety in the workplace

Randstad is a global recruitment company employing thousands of staff. As Senior Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Lead for Randstad UK Enterprise EMEA, Josh Willacy leads a strategy that places wellbeing at the heart of workplace culture and performance.

Randstad believes that workplace wellbeing and equity are essential for both moral and practical reasons, and help future‑proof the organisation by building a strong, adaptable workforce. Randstad has embedded wellbeing into its leadership, management and employee engagement practices with the goal of building trust and connection across the organisation.

Randstad aims to have 10% of its workforce trained as Mental Health First Aiders, and training for managers is a key part of the organisation’s wellbeing strategy. Its ‘Allyship Academy’ helps managers spot signs of poor mental health and model healthy behaviours themselves. The intranet offers signposting resources and wellbeing action plans, plus guides for supporting employees who may face additional challenges, including parents and disabled individuals. Managers are encouraged to start open conversations with phrases like, ‘I’ve noticed…’. These practices are even more important as workplaces embrace remote working. Josh notes, ‘There needs to be an element of flexibility, not just in terms of whether people come into the office or not, but flexibility in terms of communication style and interpersonal dynamics.’

Employee networks are another pillar of workplace wellbeing. At Randstad, groups focused on mental health, race, parenting, disability and neurodivergence create peer-led spaces for staff to connect and support each other – something that has become increasingly important as employees spend less time together in person. These groups are also valuable resources for the business, providing opportunities for meaningful staff engagement which ensures initiatives reflect lived experience. Josh explains, ‘There has to be an active listening approach to staff networks … following the ‘you said, we did’ model where you are directly linking actions to feedback that has come back … That has an impact on trust.’

Disclosure statement: Randstad UK is a funder of this research

Informed, strategic planning for employee wellbeing

Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) is a 180-year-old Russell Group institution. It employs around 4,700 staff across multiple campuses and diverse roles, from academics and researchers to porters and caterers. Adèle Davidson manages a small team responsible for diversity, inclusion, and staff wellbeing.

QUB's approach to workplace mental health and wellbeing centres on its three-year Staff Health and Wellbeing Action Plan. This is aligned with the university's Strategy 2030 and other plans, such as those for sports, equality, and net zero. It is built around four wellbeing pillars – healthy minds, physical health, home life, and connection and community – and the CIPD’s seven ‘domains of wellbeing’. The plan includes key performance indicators (KPIs). A data dashboard is being developed so the university can stay focused on progress towards its goals.

Line manager development is important in putting the strategy into action. This, along with clear and accessible policies, can encourage staff to ask for help. The university has strengthened its stress management policy in line with Northern Ireland's Health and Safety Executive Management Standards. It updated risk assessment approaches and created a guide to help managers respond to staff distress, including signposting resources. Adèle says, ‘We’ve received positive feedback from that because it's helped people with a structure and approach to have difficult conversations, and sensitive conversations.’

Initiatives include a broad wellbeing programme with on-campus and virtual activities, an ‘Active Campus’ physical activity drive, and courses to meet current needs, like ‘Working Through Change and Building Resilience.’ The university also understands that staff are dealing with a difficult external environment, including pressures on the NHS. To help, it is strengthening its Employee Assistance Programme and offers support with childcare.

Adèle emphasises data-driven planning and recognising that different people need different things – ‘It’s about informed offering, not just something you think would be nice to do.’ For example, after listening to staff about disability equality in the workplace, the university improved its approach to reasonable adjustments. It now builds disability support into the job application process. A university-wide license for Read&Write software has been especially helpful for staff with dyslexia or waiting for a dyslexia diagnosis: ‘The stress on their mental health has been intolerable, when actually what they need has been practical support and tools.’

Honesty and vulnerability as leadership practices

Together CIC is a small community interest company in Northern Ireland that creates safe, inclusive and impartial spaces where everyone is welcome. The organisation runs a weekly social drop-in and delivers ‘Small Worlds Workshops’ across the region, sharing diverse perspectives to build empathy and community connection. It has just four part-time employees.

Together CIC’s approach to workplace mental health is based in its leadership style. Dr Mitchell shares honestly from her own experience, creating a culture where staff feel safe to bring their whole selves to work and say when they are struggling. Playfulness and humour are welcome in the workplace: ‘If you can work in an environment where it’s okay to get stuff wrong, and we celebrate creativity and trying things out … it’s a freer and more playful environment that is more likely to bring out the best in people.’

Whether at board meetings or community events, people find the same culture of compassion and mutual support. Trust is at the centre and the organisation operates with a ‘no blame’ approach, believing people are always doing their best. Values of equity and solidarity are shown through flexible support that is based on each person’s needs and the challenges they face. Importantly, the organisation has systems in place to keep things running when someone is off work for an extended time due to ill health or personal circumstances.

Dr Mitchell’s background as a Samaritans volunteer taught her that many people are silently struggling, even if they look successful. Because of this, she believes workplaces must see people as whole human beings, not just employees. The physical environment reflects these values. The office, called ‘The Haven’, is filled with light, plants and artwork, creating a space employees describe as a place of ‘joy and refreshment.’

Organisational purpose working in harmony with lived experience

Stonewall is the UK's most well-known LGBTQ+ equality charity, employing around 30 staff. One of Stonewall’s three workstreams is ‘inclusive spaces’, which includes its Proud Employers programme. The Chief Executive Officer, Simon Blake OBE, oversees wellbeing efforts in a difficult context of organisational change, evolving hybrid work patterns, and increased public tension around LGBTQ+ rights.

Simon is proud of Stonewall leaders’ commitment to being honest and transparent with staff as change unfolds. He believes that, though it can be hard, being clear about organisational mission and how it will be delivered is necessary for creating harmony between employees’ expectations and the work. Focus and clarity around purpose are critical for wellbeing: ‘At its heart, if you're not in an organisation that you're aligned with, you’ve got no hope with anything.’

It is especially important to recognise both the value and the challenges of lived experience in organisations where staff have a deep personal connection to the cause. Leaders need to acknowledge the interactions between the world we live in, people’s identities and what they bring to work. This can begin in simple ways, for example through discussion of how news events affect us. Stonewall is going further, examining this relationship in depth by working with consultants who will interview staff about their perspectives.

Positive workplace relationships are crucial to wellbeing. To create energy and ensure peers provide ongoing support to one another, Stonewall staff in London were brought back into the office twice a week, with adjustments for those who need them. Staff from across the UK all meet for a monthly in-person team day and weekly online ‘connection’ meeting. There has been positive feedback, and Simon says ‘that feels like a really important position for us to be in, that everybody feels like they really belong.’

Strong relationships help managers to recognise when people need support and adjust the work environment to their needs. This might mean checking in about support systems, signposting to the Employee Assistance Programme, re-focusing work, or offering more flexibility during difficult periods. While leaders have a really important role to play, creating a caring, open culture is everyone’s responsibility: ‘That has to be explicit across the employee life cycle … in the recruitment, in the induction, in the meeting with Chief Exec, in staff meetings.’

Overall, Simon emphasises the importance of building workplace cultures on a shared understanding that equity, wellbeing and performance all drive one another. Employers have to address the fundamental ‘whole package’, rather than constantly searching for new health and wellbeing initiatives. He sums this up by saying, ‘Cherries alone are not enough. There has to be a cake to put them on!’

Embedding values and inclusion in the workplace

Student Minds is the UK’s student mental health charity, developing universities where every student and staff member can thrive. It employs around 30 staff, many of whom work remotely, alongside a large network of student volunteers. Rosie Tressler OBE, Chief Executive of Student Minds aspires for the organisation to be a sector leader for staff wellbeing.

Rosie is clear that good governance is essential to making positive workplace practices last, no matter who is in the team at any given time. She highlights the importance of diverse leadership teams who personally value workplace wellbeing, saying, ‘You only truly achieve being an organisation with a coherent approach to staff wellbeing if the chief exec feels truly responsible and accountable for that, and the trustees are very much invested in it.’

Student Minds recognises that employee wellbeing depends on the cornerstones of fundamentally good work. These include fair pay, strong and caring line management, investment in the right infrastructure and a clear strategy. Work/life balance is essential, and the organisation offers staff 10% of their weekly hours back as ‘wellbeing time’ to use however they wish. Key to everyone feeling a sense of control is a realistic workplan, with ‘everyone having their own OKRs [Objectives and Key Results] so that they know what they're actually being asked to achieve and that they can then also let some stuff go.’

Student Minds pays close attention to inclusion and helping staff to ‘really feel part of a community.’ It is important to look at this across every dimension possible, from sexual identity to age. The organisation aims to create a culture where everyone feels able to share all elements of their identity, and be seen and heard. This has to go further than tokenism such as ‘just doing a post’ on, for example, LGBT history month. Openness from leaders can help – Rosie writes honestly about her experience of motherhood in her blog. Student Minds creates psychoeducational materials to support diverse student groups, so there is constant learning among the team. Extra training for staff has been run as needed, most recently on ADHD.

Organisations must not only talk about supporting staff, but also put concrete measures in place that make a real difference. For example, Student Minds increased its parental leave offer beyond the legal minimum, benchmarking it against universities and other charities. Flexible working is important for many disabled people, and Rosie is concerned about some organisations’ moves to return all staff to offices without considering individual needs.

Disclosure statement: Rosie is a former member of the Mental Health Foundation Board of Trustees