Building Mental Resilience at Work

The modern work environment is dynamic changes, lack of stability, high pressure on employees. How to take care of the mental health of employees and change the work culture for the better?

Psychosocial risks and mental health in the workplace

In today's work environment, we are increasingly faced with problems related to the psychological imbalance of employees. Factors such as stress, burnout, pressure from the environment make this reflect on the mental health of the staff. Statistics and data highlight the scale and rank of this phenomenon, because according to WHO data, 5% of the adult population in the world suffers from depression, which is one of the main causes of disability (WHO — Depresija). The WHO also reports that 12 billion working days are lost annually due to depression and anxiety, which generates global economic losses of more than $1 trillion.

What affects this condition? Certainly burnout, especially in high-pressure sectors such as healthcare or IT. This negatively affects productivity and the working atmosphere. It is also worth adding that, according to the WHO, women are more likely to suffer from depression, although in the case of depression leading to suicide or suicide attempts, men are more likely to be affected. At the same time, it should be remembered that there are effective methods of treating depression in both mild, moderate and severe stages.

In the context of creating a healthy work environment, however, it is not only the individual and individual that is important — although we often perceive health. It is crucial that we pay attention to what work and organizational culture we create together and how it affects the well-being of each of us, including our mental health.

The change of approach — from individualizing problems and shifting responsibility to the individual employee towards solutions at the organizational level — makes the culture of work, team, teams that we create become more responsible and in line with the latest definition of a holistic approach to OSH. At the same time, the latest well-being strategies of companies include exercises and tools offered to employees to independently overcome barriers related to stress, conflicts and other difficult situations that may encounter them during the career path. The combination of organizational and structural changes and the implementation of good practices that take into account individual needs builds a healthy, modern work culture.

What are psychosocial risks?

When talking about mental health in the workplace, we are also talking about the phenomenon of psychosocial risks, which include such phenomena that we can properly assign to groups and each of them relate to other aspects of functioning at work.

1. Organization of work and burden of duties

Insufficient amount of time needed to perform duties
No influence on the way work is done
Mismatch of requirements with the competence of the employee
Unclear division of roles and responsibilities
Conflicting requirements and lack of clarity about the role of the employee

2. Employment stability and organisational change

Instability of employment
Poorly managed organizational change and uncertainty

3. Relationships and organizational culture

Poor communication in the organization
Conflicts in the workplace
Lack of support from management and colleagues

4. Professional development and motivation

Lack of opportunity for development

5. Work-life balance

Work-life imbalance

6. Working conditions and environment

Unsuitable working conditions

7. Violence and Psychosocial Threats

Exposure to violence, including verbal violence from third parties
Harassment
Bullying in the workplace

What can be done to prevent and manage psychosocial risks?

Protecting mental health in the workplace today is key to solving many of the problems that concern the team. In order to achieve satisfactory results and to ensure the well-being of employees and the effectiveness of teams, we need to take a close look at what mental health management is to us. In a holistic sense, these are preventive measures that prevent difficult situations, but also a way of communication, conflict resolution and appropriate management reactions to problems occurring in the team. Let's look again at the data from the European Union:

Time pressure and work overload are the most common negative factors in the EU, reported by 46% workers (EU-OSHA, 2022). Those affected are 2,5 times more likely to suffer from poor mental health. In Poland 83% workers experience work-related health problems — the most in the EU (Leclerc et al., 2022). The most common is fatigue (62% vs. 37% in the EU)headache, (49%) and stress, depression, or anxiety (37%). This information indicates that mental health is just as important as physical health - it also shows that physical neglect leads to further, very severe and dangerous consequences. Why invest in the mental health of employees?

Our work environment is changing — 70% of employers consider resilience, flexibility and adaptability to be key competences of the future (Future of Jobs Report 2025, p. 43). On the one hand, this shows the new demands placed on employees in the labor market, and on the other hand it prompts reflection: why does the labor market look the way it does? What is really behind the competence of “flexibility”? Isn't it sometimes job instability? The same is true of mental resilience — on the one hand, it is relevant in the context of dealing with stress and difficult situations, on the other hand, one should be careful not to abuse this concept as a slogan that serves to mask a toxic work environment and pathological behaviors such as mobbing. We wrote about mobbing in a series of our articles: Mobbing at work: a new definition in the law, Mobbing at work: causes and effects, Mobbing at work: countermeasures and help tools.

Multicultural and multigenerational teams require the development of communication skills and empathy, which has been indicated as one of the most important trends of the future of work (Future of Jobs Report 2025, pp. 45-50). This is another challenge that can lead to conflicts and communication problems in the global labor market. Taking care of the good mental health of employees and developing their interpersonal skills allows to improve the functioning of the team and increase the efficiency of the organization. However, the key here is the company's strategy — the implementation of activities aimed at improving communication in groups. This is extremely important not only in the context of working in a multicultural environment, but also because of the generational diversity and neurodiversity in the labor market. Benefits for employees

Supporting employees to learn effective emotion management techniques, such as mindfulness, stress management strategies, and relaxation methods, helps reduce stress and improve mental health. As a result, the risk of burnout and depression is reduced, and employees gain practical tools to take care of their well-being on a daily basis. Building mental resilience facilitates decision making under pressure, increasing efficiency and confidence in the workplace, which contributes to the development of key competencies. In addition, developing communication skills promotes better cooperation, especially in multicultural teams. Taking care of emotional well-being translates into a positive atmosphere in the team, better relations between employees and greater commitment to the duties performed. Employees feel more valued and motivated, which affects their long-term satisfaction and job satisfaction. Benefits for Employers Taking care of the mental health of employees brings many benefits to employers and the organization as a whole. Investing in the mental health of employees reduces the number of sick leave and improves business performance. WHO estimates that every zloty spent on mental health programs brings a return of PLN 4 in the form of increased productivity (WHO — Return on Investment in Mental Health). Mental resilience support programs also have an impact on Attracting and retaining talent64% of employers indicate that mental health support is key to building an attractive employer's image (p.49) Future of Jobs Report 2025). Caring for the well-being of the staff, regular mentoring and training also brings benefits in the area Collaboration and integration of teams: develops empathy and communication skills in multicultural teams improves collaboration and organizational effectiveness. summary

Creating a healthy work environment is not only the individual responsibility of the employee, but above all the strategic action of the organization. Investing in the mental health of the team and implementing good communication practices translates into better efficiency, greater commitment and sustainable development of the company. Sources