5 Ways to Support Men’s Mental Health at Work
Every November, Movember brings men’s health into sharper focus. But once the moustaches come off and the campaigns end, many of the underlying issues remain, especially in the workplace. Moustaches appear, fundraising targets are shared, and conversations start to open up. It’s visible, it’s important, and it’s helped move men’s health forward. But despite this growing awareness, stats continue to point to the fact a lot of men are not ok.
For many men, the hardest place to talk about mental health isn’t at home or with friends, it’s at work, and that matters. Because work is where men spend most of their waking lives and where identity and self-worth are often tied to performance.
Movember has helped put men’s mental health awareness firmly on the map. Now we need to turn that awareness into practical, preventative action inside organisations.
In this blog, we want to highlight five tangible ways you organisation can move beyond surface-level campaigns and embed meaningful support for men’s mental health at work, protecting performance, strengthening culture, and preventing burnout before it becomes a crisis.
Why Men Find It Hard to Open Up in the Workplace
Despite growing awareness, many men still struggle to speak openly about their mental health at work. The interesting thing is, the barriers are rarely about a lack of information – you’re most probably sign posting and creating campaigns around mental wellbeing - they’re cultural, structural, and for certain generations of men, deeply ingrained.
Common challenges include:
Fear of being judged as weak, unreliable, or less capable
Stigma around vulnerability, particularly in leadership roles
A lack of visible male role models who speak honestly about pressure and self-doubt
Performance-driven cultures that reward “pushing through” rather than checking in
In environments where success is measured by output, silence is masked by the overused term ‘resilience’, and it’s becoming increasingly damaging.
Recent research highlights the scale of the issue: 40% of men have never spoken to anyone about their mental health, and for one in three men, work is the main source of stress (Priory Group, 2024).
A busy mind and exhausted nervous system shows up as disengagement, presenteeism, emotional withdrawal, and eventually burnout. For organisations, that means lost productivity, strained teams, and untapped leadership potential.
The Real Impact on Businesses
Men’s mental health is often framed as a personal wellbeing issue, but in reality, it is a business-critical performance and culture issue.
When men struggle in silence at work, organisations feel the impact through:
Increased burnout, absenteeism and presenteeism
Reduced creativity, decision-making and problem-solving
Loss of high-performing talent due to disengagement or early exit
Emotionally exhausted leaders who lack the capacity to inspire or connect
This is particularly acute among midlife and senior men, often high achievers carrying significant responsibility at work and at home, with few outlets to process pressure constructively.
The UK Government’s newly committed Men’s Health Strategy reinforces this reality. It recognises that prevention is more effective, and more cost-efficient, than crisis intervention, particularly when it comes to mental health, stress-related illness, and long-term absence from work.
For employers, the message is clear: waiting until someone breaks is no longer acceptable, or commercially viable. Supporting men’s mental health proactively is no longer a “nice to have”. It’s an investment in stronger leadership, healthier teams, and sustainable performance.
Some tips for organisations
1. Start the Conversation, and Keep It Going
One-off awareness days don’t change culture, consistent conversation does. Movember can be a powerful catalyst, but real impact comes when organisations keep mental health on the agenda throughout the year.
Practical actions include:
Regular manager check-ins that go beyond performance metrics
Peer listening or discussion groups that feel informal and human
Bringing in high profile local and national heroes from the world of sport, entertainment and business to share their stories of the highs and lows of success and how they manage mental fitness.
This is about normalising openness, honesty, about the small stuff, the big stuff, anything. When conversations are normalised, stigma loses its power.
2. Role modelling
We’re firm believers that culture is shaped by what leaders model, not neccesarily what policies say.
When senior leaders speak honestly about pressure, stress, or moments of struggle, it sends a powerful signal: you can be human here and still succeed.
And please note, this doesn’t require oversharing, it requires authenticity.
We’ve hosted ‘live coaching’ events in organisations over the past 5 years, where leaders are asked about then highs and lows of their success together with strategies for maintaining mental fitness. Whether shared by way of webinar or live event with employees watching their male role model on stage, these events have made a significant impact on employee psychological safety and naturally encouraged indivisuals to bring their whole selves to work.
Leadership-focused wellbeing and executive coaching can help senior teams:
Develop emotional literacy and self-awareness
Lead with empathy without losing authority
Create psychologically safe environments where openness is encouraged
When the stories we tell ourselves are mimicked at the top – imposter syndrome, burnout, stress, low feeling – we feel seen, we feel we can be ourselves, we perhaps even feel brave enough to say some of the noise in our heads out loud. And that’s when the shift happens.
3. Invest in Preventative Support
Time and time again we see it. A client connects us to an executive when they are already burnt out, signed off, or considering leaving. Whilst it’s great that we can intervene here and work with the organisation, and individual to find the right way forward for them, it can sometimes be too late.
The Government’s Men’s Health Strategy highlights the importance of early intervention and prevention, particularly in high-pressure environments, and the same principle applies in the workplace.
Preventative initiatives might include:
Workplace wellbeing workshops
‘Resilience’ training tailored to men’s lived experiences
Stress management workshops focused on practical tools, not platitudes
We also work with organisations as ‘in house’ coaching support, providing a sounding board for senior leadership on an ongoing basis.
These approaches help men build awareness, coping strategies, and emotional fitness before stress becomes overwhelming. It’s about equipping your high-risk performers with the internal toolkit to know how to maintain wellbeing so that they can show up as you need them to.
Prevention protects people, and performance, and minimises financial damage and risk.
4. Create Safe, Confidential Spaces for Men
Even in supportive cultures, some men won’t feel like speaking openly in group settings, and that’s okay. We’re all different. What matters is offering confidential, professional spaces where men can explore personal and professional pressures without judgement or career risk.
Coaching provides a powerful bridge between coping with it all on your own, and support. Working with an executive coach for men allows individuals to:
Process stress and responsibility constructively
Rebuild confidence during periods of change or challenge
Develop healthier relationships with work, leadership, and self-worth
For many men, coaching resonates because, it’s not therapy, it’s future proofing, forward facing and results driven.
5. Build Wellbeing into the Company DNA
Wellbeing initiatives fail when they sit on the margins.
To create lasting change, men’s mental health needs to be embedded into how organisations operate, not bolted on as a side project.
This means:
Integrating wellbeing into leadership development programmes
Including mental health conversations in performance reviews
Designing roles and workloads that support sustainable performance
Wellbeing should be treated as a strategic priority, aligned with business objectives and cultural values.
When organisations commit at this level, support for men’s mental health becomes part of “how we do things around here”.
When men feel safe to speak, something shifts. Workplaces that prioritise open dialogue, preventative support, and inclusive wellbeing cultures see:
Higher engagement and trust
Stronger, more emotionally intelligent leadership
Reduced burnout and improved retention
Teams that communicate better and perform more consistently
Initiatives like The Shift demonstrate the ripple effect of creating spaces where men feel seen and supported. When men stop carrying everything alone, they don’t just show up more, they lead better.
End Note
Movember reminds us that men’s health deserves attention. The Government’s Men’s Health Strategy reinforces that prevention, early support, and cultural change are essential. But awareness means little without action.
Workplaces have a unique opportunity, and a responsibility, to create environments where men can balance, or at least have proven strategies around performance and wellbeing. Whether it starts with a single conversation or a company-wide programme, every step matters.
