Tag: wellbeing

Health, Work and the New Reality: Thoughts on the 2025 CIPD Survey

The 2025 CIPD Health & Wellbeing at Work survey gives us a fairly clear picture of how employees across the UK are really feeling – physically, mentally and emotionally – and how their working lives are shaping that experience.

While many organisations have invested heavily in wellbeing initiatives over recent years, the data is showing a far more complex and nuanced reality. Some indicators are moving in the right direction, but others highlight systemic issues that employers cannot afford to ignore.

A Workforce That’s “Mostly Fine” – But With Warning Signs

At first glance, the findings are reassuring. Around two-thirds of employees say that their mental and physical health is good or very good. This suggests that most workers feel able to cope with day-to-day demands and maintain a baseline of resilience.

But that headline masks a significant minority who are struggling. Around 14–16% of employees say their health is poor, and almost a fifth feel neither positive nor negative – a sign of stagnation rather than wellbeing. When scaled to the UK labour force, these figures translate to millions who feel their health is deteriorating or stuck.

The emotional landscape at work is similar: many employees regularly feel enthusiastic and immersed in their work. But behind this lies a substantial group experiencing exhaustion and excessive pressure. These two factors – energy depletion and sustained pressure – are among the strongest precursors to stress, burnout and declining productivity.

When Work Makes People Unwell

Perhaps the most concerning finding from the survey is that a quarter of employees say work has a negative impact on both their mental and physical health. This represents around eight million people who feel that their job is actively damaging their wellbeing. Given the pressures of the past few years, from economic uncertainty to rapid organisational change, this figure may not be surprising – but it is concerning.

Only a third of workers feel that work positively affects their physical health, and fewer than half say the same for mental health. In other words, for many people, work is at best neutral – and at worst, harmful.

What’s Driving Poor Health at Work?

The survey points clearly to the underlying factors. Employees reporting negative health impacts are far more likely to experience:

  • High workloads and the sense of having far too much to do
  • Excessive pressure from the organisation
  • Consistent exhaustion
  • Poor relationships with colleagues
  • Weak or unsupportive management

This reinforces a crucial truth: wellbeing is not an “HR programme” – it is the lived experience of work. No number of mindfulness apps can offset an environment where people feel overworked, unsupported or poorly led.

The Organisational Costs Are High

Employees who feel that work harms their mental health behave very differently from those who feel supported. They tend to be:

  • Less satisfied in their roles
  • More likely to quit
  • Less likely to recommend their employer
  • Less motivated to give extra effort
  • Less likely to share innovative ideas

This is not just a wellbeing issue; it’s a performance, retention and cultural issue.

A Mixed Picture on Workplace Support

The survey finds that 69% of employees view their line managers as open and approachable about mental health. This is a significant cultural shift and shows progress in destigmatising conversations at team level.

Across organisations, however, support is patchier. Only 55%-59% feel their employer encourages open dialogue or supports mental health. This gap suggests that managers are often carrying more of the emotional load than the organisation around them.

Hybrid Working: The Healthiest Balance

One of the clearest patterns in the data is the relationship between working location and health. Employees with access to hybrid work report:

  • The best mental health (66% rate it as good)
  • Strong physical health outcomes — significantly better than those working fully remotely

Fully home-based workers appear most at risk of declining physical health, while those with no access to home-working report lower mental health outcomes than hybrid workers.

The takeaway? Flexibility remains a powerful enabler of wellbeing – but the healthiest model appears to combine autonomy with connection.

What Employers Need to Take Seriously

The 2025 CIPD survey sends a clear message: wellbeing is not achieved through standalone initiatives. It emerges from workload design, management capability, team relationships, organisational culture and the conditions in which people work.

If employers want healthier, more resilient and more engaged workforces, they must focus on:

  • Reducing chronic workload pressure
  • Equipping managers to lead with empathy and clarity
  • Strengthening social connection and psychological safety
  • Designing work that energises rather than drains
  • Maintaining flexible work options, with hybrid as the sweet spot

Work can be a force for good – but only when organisations take responsibility for shaping it in ways that support, rather than undermine, employee health.

The 12 Principles of Creating Better Workplace Experiences

On a recent HR Means Business podcast episode I chatted with Nick Holmes – VP of Employee Experience at Avalere Health, and an Experience Architect at UNTHINK –  about today’s fast-paced work environment and why creating a supportive and engaging workplace experience is becoming more crucial than ever to attracting, engaging and retaining the people our businesses need. We had co-presented on this topic at HR Technology Europe in Amsterdam in May and our podcast conversation was a good way to wrap up our thoughts and insights.

Our conversation centred around the need for a more holistic approach to employee well-being which encompasses mental, physical, intellectual, and financial aspects, and ensures that employees are supported in all areas of their lives. Listening back, we outlined a number of actions that HR and people leaders could take, which I see as our 12 principles of creating better workplace experiences.

Understand Holistic Wellbeing

The foundation of a great workplace experience starts with addressing employee wellbeing comprehensively. It’s not enough to focus solely on physical health; mental, intellectual, and financial well-being are equally important. Organisations need to delve into the root causes of burnout and high stress levels, rather than just treating symptoms.

Embrace Courage and Creativity

HR teams must be brave in acknowledging areas that need improvement. This involves being candid about what’s not working and taking creative steps to address these issues. Maybe have some of your team dedicated as an ‘experience function’ that can lead by suggesting innovative solutions and then partner with relevant stakeholders to implement effective changes.

Achieve Work-Life Balance

Achieving a healthy balance between work and personal life is critical. Work and personal life are interconnected, and stress in one area can affect the other. Organisations should understand this balance and avoid merely adding activities like yoga sessions, which may not address underlying issues. Instead, they need to establish and then focus on what’s really causing stress and burnout for their people.

Taking a Scientific Approach to Health

Understanding the chemical reactions in the body, such as the roles of cortisol, serotonin, and dopamine, is vital. Organisations should help educate employees on health topics like sleep, nutrition, and fitness. This approach ensures that employees have the knowledge to make informed decisions about their own wellbeing.

Using Data-Driven Insights

The use of AI and health-related technology can help to revolutionise employee wellbeing by predicting and preventing burnout. Tracking health indicators like sleep patterns helps take proactive actions rather than reactive responses. This type of data-driven approach can significantly enhance and improve workplace wellbeing. However……

Recognise Cultural Sensitivity

While collecting personal health data can seem intrusive, it’s important to approach this sensitively. Organisations should articulate openly to their people the importance and benefits of improved wellbeing for overall health and also work performance. A more sensitive approach can help to create an environment where employees feel comfortable sharing this information.

Maintain a Duty of Care

Employers have a duty of care to their employees. The Covid pandemic highlighted this, showing that genuine concern for employee health can lead to higher engagement. By maintaining this level of care post-pandemic, organisations can continue to drive engagement and loyalty.

Remarkable Work Experiences

Creating memorable and meaningful work experiences is essential. Rather than having forgettable daily routines, organisations should focus on designing remarkable moments and experiences that resonate with employees. Gathering and acting on employee feedback will help with identifying and improving these key moments in the employee lifecycle.

Take Actionable Steps

Using data from engagement surveys and listening exercises to inform actions is crucial. Organisations should implement a framework of simple improvements (effectively quick wins to boost employee engagement) mixed with longer term initiatives to drive continuous improvement in the employee experience.

Focus on Consistency and Prioritisation

Consistency and discipline are key to successfully implementing changes. Organisations should try to prioritise the most impactful actions and avoid spreading their resources too thin. Focusing on key initiatives and seeing them through to completion should help to ensure meaningful progress.

Future-Proofing Initiatives

Designing initiatives that align with long-term organisational goals and can adapt to changing conditions is also important. This future-proofing ensures that wellbeing strategies remain relevant and effective even as external circumstances evolve.

Adopting a Growth Mindset

Adopting a growth mindset by asking “What’s missing?” rather than focusing on problems will help to foster positive and proactive approaches. Being open, honest, and transparent about successes, and also about the areas and actions that need improvement, will encourage continuous development and engagement.

By embracing these twelve principles, organisations should be able to create better workplace experiences that support holistic employee wellbeing. The more comprehensive approach that we talked about not only helps to enhance individual health and happiness, it will also ultimately drive organisational success and innovation.

Moving forward, it’s crucial for employers to start prioritising the wellbeing of their workforce, creating environments where employees can thrive both personally and professionally.

You can listen to our full conversation on this episode of HR Means Business

Prioritising Wellbeing and Retention in a Tight Job Market

I’ve been focused on research around the Future of HR recently as I prepared for two International keynote sessions and whilst most of my writing and research has been around employee experience and the link with retention and engagement, it has become clear that HR has a major role to play in how our people are hired, developed, supported, enabled, rewarded and cared for in the ever evolving world of work.

I have written a few times that ‘Retention Is The New Recruitment’. Whilst AI may be the new kid on the block for HR to get their heads round and integrate into the way we work and the output we produce, there will doubtless be more.

For example, with layoffs in the Talent Acquisition sector will TA “Move into higher-value HR work” (as suggested by an RL100 member in this interesting post from Jamie Leonard)?

Will HR stop fretting over digital narrative trends like ‘Great Resignation’ and ‘Work from Home’ and get back to improving work for their people with initiatives like Living Wage, Safe Environments,Improving Social Mobility and Diversity, as Neil Morrison suggests?

Or what about Perry Timms’ Mosaic of the New as a new way to ‘do’ HR? Or Jeanne C M.‘s 13 HR jobs for the future?

I recently delivered a keynote and a masterclass at the Global HR Summit & Exhibition in Istanbul – and in August will be doing the same at the HRInnovation & TechFest in Johannesburg – so I have been trying to collect my thoughts on how exactly work is changing and what HR’s ongoing role will be.

Here’s my take:

Prioritising Wellbeing and Retention in a Tight Job Market

HR has clearly undergone significant transformations over recent years. From being staunch advocates for employees and their development, to overseeing potential cost-cutting and adopting more agile approaches, and now an increasing focus on prioritising employee wellbeing, ensuring retention and preventing burnout, whilst helping to support leadership through increasing digitisation.

Here’s a few ideas how HR can navigate current challenges and reshape its future role.

Strengthen Employee Advocacy

In the late 20th century, HR’s primary role was to advocate for employees, ensuring fair pay, benefits, and development opportunities. However, economic downturns shifted focus towards cost-cutting and streamlining. The job market is tightening, and the need to fill positions and retain skills, knowledge and talent within the business is paramount. HR must re-shift focus to advocating for better compensation, more comprehensive up-skilling, and enhanced career development. This shift supports employee well-being and also enhances job satisfaction and loyalty.

Transparency of True Costs

One of HR’s critical tasks is to reveal the hidden costs of current practices. Creating detailed dashboards that showcase turnover rates, absenteeism, reasons for quitting, and engagement levels can provide compelling evidence to management. These metrics highlight the financial impact of poor employee management and underscore the value of investing in people. Showing the true cost of employee turnover – which often exceeds simplistic figures once training costs, decreased performance, and recruitment efforts are factored in —can drive management to reconsider existing policies.

Addressing Employee Stress

Workplace stress is growing for both frontline and clerical/professional workforce, fuelled by overwork, fear of layoffs, potential lack of advancement opportunities and, more recently, anxiety about the extent to which AI may start replacing tasks and jobs. HR can mitigate this stress by fostering open communication and addressing uncertainties head-on. Reassuring employees about the gradual integration of AI and involving them in the process can help alleviate concerns. Transparent communication about restructuring and development plans can also prevent the spread of speculation and rumour, reducing overall stress and maintaining productivity.

Decentralised Restructuring

Traditional restructuring often disrupts employees’ lives and raises stress levels, negatively impacting mental health and performance. A decentralised approach, where companies create smaller, more flexible units, can help mitigate the negative effects. This model also allows organisations to adapt to changing market demands and expectations without organisational shifts or layoffs – avoiding disruption by compartmentalising change.

Building Talent Labour Markets

Establishing proper internal mobility within organisations enhances flexibility and can provide clear pathways for career advancement. Internal job mobility had been underutilised for several years, although with the advent of improved talent intelligence and AI driven internal platforms is again boosting the number of roles filled from within, significantly reduce turnover and training costs. Retraining initiatives that allow employees whose roles are under threat to train for new roles, repay investment and can help build resilience in the workforce.

Strengthening DEI Efforts

Diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives are more critical than ever in fostering a sense of belonging and loyalty – even if recent anecdotal trends indicate that they are not as prevalent. By ramping up DEI efforts, HR creates a more inclusive workplace that values diverse perspectives and experiences, which boosts morale, innovation and problem-solving capabilities, and ensures employees feel valued and supported. Which in turn boosts engagement and retention rates.

The future of HR may lie in a balanced approach that prioritises employee wellbeing while meeting organisational goals. By returning to employee advocacy, providing transparent cost analyses, addressing workplace stress, adopting decentralised restructuring, building internal talent markets, and strengthening DEI efforts, HR can navigate the challenges of a tight job market. This holistic approach will not only enhance employee satisfaction and retention but also drive organisational success in the evolving landscape of work.

(A version of this post originally appeared in my HR Means Business newsletter – subscribe here to receive regular updates)