Breaking the stigma around mental health conversations in the workplace

• A guide for organisations from an HRM perspective

The World Health Organisation (WHO) in a recent publication revealed that there are approximately 1 billion people suffering from mental health disorders around the world. Anxiety and depression top this list. Considering the importance of wellness in the workplace, the Academy to Innovate Human Resources (AIHR), identified employee wellness as one of the leading Global trends that shaped HR in 2023 and beyond.

South Asian region

The Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace Report for 2025 has published alarming data relating to the South Asian region. It has been indicated that South Asia is showing the highest regional percentage of daily anger and sadness among employees vis a vis other regions of the world. This can be attributed to socio-economic pressures, demanding workplaces and societal stigma around mental health experienced by people in this region compared to other regions which have taken a toll on people’s emotional balance. What does this mean and what can organisations in the South Asian region do are important questions to consider and reflect upon.

An integrated approach to wellbeing

Wellness means physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease as defined by World Health Organisation (WHO). Financial wellbeing is an aspect under the main definition of well-being. The aspects of physical, mental and financial wellbeing are interrelated and interdependent. Therefore, an integrated approach is the recommended approach for organisations to address wellbeing at the workplace. This article focuses on improving mental wellbeing in the workplace and the first step is breaking the stigma. Tackling the stigma around mental health conversations in the workplace is a tough call.

World Mental Health Day

World Mental Health Day is celebrated on 10 October annually. This year’s theme focused on providing “Access to Services: Mental Health in Catastrophes and Emergencies”. This theme highlights the critical need to ensure that people affected by conflict, natural disasters, pandemics, and other crises have access to mental health and psychosocial support.

Leadership matters

Addressing mental health conversations starts from the top: the leadership in the organisation plays a crucial role in this regard. Starting with authentic conversations about burnout and anxiety, building the groundwork with policy implementation and funding training on mental health concerns are some of the key things that leadership can do.

Policies on wellness to anti-harassment need to be in place as the foundation to building wellbeing in the workplace. Implementation is key and awareness needs to be built on the contents and importance of these crucial policies.

Training and awareness building

Discussions around mental health conversations should go beyond one day of the year. Regular training can be carried out with line supervisors and managers to help them identify mental health concerns in ground level staff, so professional assistance can be provided where necessary.  Their day-to-day behavior and actions need to be monitored and corrected so that ground level staff are not subjected to unnecessary levels of mental stress and trauma. The middle tier in any Division or Company is the tier that interacts with the frontliners. This category of employees is required to act as both task managers and people managers. They need to deliver while managing people’s emotions. Hence, training line supervisors, managers and the middle tier to achieve this balance is critical to retain and motivate the frontliners in the organisation.

Professional support

Having a counsellor in house or on call is an important step in the right direction as employees can obtain professional support as and when required. Organisations need to provide this professional support (to employees) discreetly so that confidentiality is preserved. Lay people need to avoid giving diagnosis to mental health concerns as mental health conversations need to be handled cautiously and professional support can be obtained where and when necessary.

If an employee approaches to talk about his/her mental health, first thank him/her for opening up. Give as much time as he/she needs to talk. During the conversation, listen carefully to what he/she says. Try to identify what the cause is, for example by keeping questions open ended, thinking about ways to help.  Reassure the employee – by letting him/her know that he/she will get the support needed.

Innovations and psychological wellbeing

Psychological well-being needs to be in place for employees for innovations and new ideas to thrive in any organisation. What does this mean? The management needs to have a certain margin of tolerance when new projects do not give the projected result for the organisation. Ideas are valuable and the management needs to be open-minded and listen to the thoughts shared by its employees.

The saying “applauding in public and criticising in private” still holds true and is a rational approach before shutting down ideas generated by employees. Ridiculing employees in front of other employees when things go wrong needs to be avoided as it can have far reaching consequences. Not only will the employee be demotivated and affected mentally, he/she will avoid contributing thereafter. Repeated instances of ridicule will result in loss of faith and trust in the management and spiral into absenteeism and quiet quitting. The organisation can instead provide timely feedback through one-to-one discussions and avoid using a public platform to address any concerns.

Financial wellbeing

Paying people’s worth based on their contribution will pave the way for healthy financial wellbeing for employees. Also, providing access to awareness and resources to manage one’s finances on a periodic basis while teaming up with banking partners to support employees’ financial wellbeing is a rational plan in this regard.

Conclusion

Organisations have an immense responsibility towards their employees in ensuring their physical, mental, social and financial well-being. Adopting a holistic approach towards well-being  will be an important step towards engaging and retaining employees as well as preserving the organisation’s sustainability.

References:

https://lnkd.in/dW_NU3VA

https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx

https://chro.co.za/articles/hr-trends-that-will-shape-the-world-of-work-in-2023-and-beyond/#:~:text=1.,remote%20and%20hybrid%20work%20strategies

https://www.acas.org.uk/supporting-mental-health-workplace/managing-your-employees-mental-health-at-work 

(The author is a senior HRM and Legal professional who is passionate about employee well-being and is striving to champion an integrated approach at Astron Limited. She also participated as a panelist on “The importance of mental health and wellness as a critical part of workplace belonging” with several International Wellness experts at the Asia Pacific HRM Congress and Awards, Bangalore, India in September 2025)