Across the globe, workplace wellbeing remains under significant pressure. According to the Q3 2025 TELUS Health Mental Health Index, in most of the 12 countries surveyed, at least one in three workers have a high risk of poor mental health, and many say their mental health is directly impacting productivity.
People are showing up to work carrying more emotional load than ever before. Caregiving responsibilities, financial pressures and lingering fatigue from years of uncertainty shape every meeting, every project, every decision. In addition, nearly half of surveyed works worry that disclosing a mental health issue could harm their career.
That's why Wellbeing isn’t a separate agenda item. It’s the foundation of sustainable performance. According to Deloitte's 2024 Mental Health Report, for every £1 (approx. $1.33 USD) invested in workplace mental health and wellbeing initiatives, employers receive nearly £4.70 (approx. $6.25 USD) in return, driven by improved productivity, reduced absenteeism and better retention.
The following four challenges outline the top areas of concern for People and HR leaders, and the actions that can help turn intent into measurable impact.
The pursuit of excellence can be a double-edged sword. For many high-performing teams, the same energy that fuels success also drives exhaustion. When results become the only language of value, burnout in high-performing teams isn't far behind.
Across the globe, burnout remains pervasive. The Q3 2025 TELUS Health Mental Health Index highlighted that many workers mention that work stress is contributing to poor sleep and that their mental health affects their ability to perform at work.
These issues rarely start with individuals but with systems: constant connectivity, unrealistic targets and reward structures that equate visibility with impact.
Watch for these warning signs:
Sustainable high performance isn’t about squeezing more out of people. Leaders need to cultivate environments where energy can be renewed.
When organizations build systems for rest as deliberately as they build systems for results, the payoff is measurable.
Recovery strategies that last have a few things in common: they’re structural, visible and modelled from the top.
Participation data tells us who showed up. Impact data tells us what changed. Many organizations still report success by counting clicks, attendance or program sign-ups — without connecting these activities to measurable outcomes. Measuring wellbeing ROI is now essential for high-performing organizations.
Watch for these signs:
Most data stops at activity — attendance, clicks or downloads — instead of outcomes like retention, productivity or engagement. The result is a credibility gap: wellbeing is seen as a cost center sell, not a performance driver.
To prove impact, organizations need to connect wellbeing metrics to core business KPIs. People leaders can start by establishing baseline data, then track what changes over time. Your organization likely has the data they need, they just need to know where to look. The most effective measures often include:
Most HR teams already track a wealth of information such as Human Resources Information System (HRIS) data, pulse surveys and participation reports. What's missing are the foundations for measuring wellbeing ROI: baseline measures before interventions, cost-of-absence data and segmentation by department or demographic. Without those, insights remain too general to drive change.
The other missing piece is human context: stories and testimonials that show how wellbeing efforts changed lives or teams. Data opens the door; stories make people walk through it. Together, these create a quantifiable bridge between wellbeing activity and performance outcomes.
Policies are only as strong as the culture that surrounds them. Many organizations proudly offer flexible work, wellbeing days and mental health support. But in practice, the behaviors that define success haven’t changed. Leaders still praise long hours and late-night responsiveness. Employees hesitate to use the policies designed for their benefit. Workplace wellbeing culture is shaped not by what's written in handbooks, but by what's rewarded, recognized and repeated.
Watch for these signs:
These mixed signals dilute even the most well-intentioned strategy. Culture forms around what’s rewarded — not what’s written.
Culture rarely changes through grand initiatives. It evolves through consistent micro-signals that are showcased by the everyday choices leaders make. For example, you could look at implementing one of the following changes:
Small signals, repeated consistently, can help reshape workplace wellbeing culture faster than any campaign. When wellbeing becomes part of how the organization operates, not an add-on, you see stronger trust, higher engagement, lower burnout and sustained productivity.
Managers shape daily experience more than any policy. Yet many say they wouldn’t know what to do if an employee were struggling and report no training on their role in mental health. Given the incidence of anxiety, depression and stress in the working population, the proportion of people leaders that are equipped to support workers experiencing a mental health challenge should be much higher.
Policies and programs can set the intention, but without manager wellbeing support capabilities, they often stall at the point of action. Conversations are avoided, warning signs go unseen and employees disengage. Building confidence isn't about turning managers into counselors but about giving them the tools, training and clarity to notice early, listen well and know when to connect people to professional support.
Watch for these signs:
Confidence grows through practice and reinforcement, not policy memos. The most effective approaches include:
Workplace wellbeing isn't just a moral imperative — it's a strategic advantage. From addressing burnout in high-performing teams to measuring wellbeing ROI, building a sustainable workplace wellbeing culture and equipping managers with wellbeing support skills, these four challenges require both commitment and capability.
The organizations that thrive won't be those with the most policies. They'll be the ones where wellbeing is woven into how work gets done: where rest is structural, impact is measurable, culture is authentic and managers are confident.