Wellbeing that works – what the research tells us

Robert Shore: Hello, and welcome to the Brightmine podcast, formerly known as the
XpertHR podcast. Brightmine is a leading provider of people data, analytics and insight, offering employment law expertise, comprehensive HR resources and reward data to meet every HR and organisational challenge and opportunity. You can find us any time of the day or night at www.brightmine.com.

Hello everyone. My name is Robert Shore, and today we’re going to be talking about wellbeing that works; what the research tells us. To do this, I’m joined – appropriately – by the Brightmine research team, Hannah Mason and Vernujaa Nagandiram.

Right, let’s begin by talking a bit about the kinds of research that you conduct across the board. Obviously it runs the gamut from, as we’re going to discuss today, wellbeing strategies right through to pay data. So Vernujaa, if I can bring you in at this point. Hello. Welcome to the podcast.

Vernujaa Nagandiram: Hi. So we carry out in-depth research across the full breadth of HR.

So that’s everything from pay data to core workforce metrics, so like absence and labour turnover to wider topics like wellbeing. And each of our surveys are shaped by input from our customers and experts in the people profession, and it’s informed by responses from hundreds of UK HR professionals across sectors and organisation
sizes. And from all of that we analyse our findings using both qualitative and quantitative methods to produce evidence-based insights that really help HR teams make informed, forward-thinking decisions.

Robert Shore: And obviously you find the results of our surveys on the website, along with the analyses written by the team. So we collect this data, and to do that of course we have to write good questions and then be able to interpret what the data is telling us.

So Hannah, if I can bring you in at this point. Hannah, again welcome to the podcast. Tell me a bit about your sort of professional educational background for doing this kind of work. And do you need a particular kind of curiosity about people to do it well?

Hannah Mason: Thanks, Robert. So both of us actually have psychology backgrounds. That’s what we did our degrees in. __ also has a Master’s in HR management. And both of us have worked in the public sector in research roles.

And I like the term ‘curiosity’ that you used because we wouldn’t do research if we already knew all the answers. So curiosity and wanting to understand beyond what we already know is really important for our roles.

We also have to consider how to approach questions in the right way so we’ll get insightful data and try to imagine how a respondent might answer the questions. And we also have to think about how to analyse the data for it to be most interesting and representative of what people were saying.

Robert Shore: So there, when you say ‘the right questions’ or ‘asking questions in the right way’, can you give me an example of, say, how to arrive at a good question and, you know, what a bad question might be?

Hannah Mason: Yeah. So sometimes we have questions where we want to know what an organisation does, and we can fall into the trap of almost priming people by giving them a list of what we think that their organisation might do. But we’ve found that sometimes just letting our respondents talk openly gives us the most insightful and
interesting responses, and provides ideas that we haven’t even considered.

Robert Shore: Obviously we are Brightmine and we are a mine of data, so just before we get into the questions – into the big themes, rather, can I just ask Vernujaa, typically how many people do we survey? So here we’re talking today about a menopause support survey, men’s health and neurodiversity.

Vernujaa Nagandiram: So from our wellbeing research, in total we heard back from 450 organisations. So that was 237 on menopause, 74 on men’s health and 139 on neurodiversity. And our responses ranged from small businesses to household name organisations who represent thousands of employees.

Robert Shore: Very good. Okay, so that gives us an idea basically of the range of work that we do and the sorts of questions you have to ask yourself before beginning this. So again, Vernujaa, across all the research tell me about a big pattern that we’re noticing. What’s a trend?

Vernujaa Nagandiram: So across our wellbeing research we’ve noticed a consistent pattern, which is that most organisations are doing things around wellbeing but the support isn’t always embedded as a proper system. So you’ll see a lot of initiatives, signposting or, like, awareness work, but the structures that make that support consistent, like policies and manager training, aren’t always there. So the support ends up feeling a little bit uneven.

Robert Shore: Yeah. And you’ve written some excellent commentary and insight pieces on this, showing how to build out some of those structures as well. So what evidence are we seeing that this gap is real and how is it in the data?

Vernujaa Nagandiram: We see it really clearly in our data. So organisations are putting the support in place but the delivery isn’t robust. So in our menopause research we found that many organisations offer practical support but 47% aren’t assessing the impact of what they’ve rolled out. So that means support might exist but employers aren’t consistently checking whether it’s actually improving outcomes or if it’s even meeting needs.

And similarly in our men’s health research we noticed that 69% of all organisations run at least one men’s health initiative yet only 12% think they’re doing enough. And so that really suggests a big gap between running initiatives and feeling that support is effective or even sufficient.

And similarly again in our neurodiversity research, over 7 in 10 organisations report increased requests for neurodiversity-related support but only 5% have a standalone policy. So here what we’re seeing is that the employee need for support is increasing but many organisations haven’t built the consistent frameworks that are needed to respond to that.

And so that, I think, is that big underlying theme here, which is that there’s often more progress on awareness and activity than actually on the behind-the-scenes systems that actually make the support reliable. And that’s why organisations can look busy on wellbeing but still report low confidence or patchy uptake or inconsistency in practice.

Robert Shore: Yeah. So tell us a little bit about what actually turns support then into something consistent. How do organisations bridge this gap?

Vernujaa Nagandiram: And that really comes down to policies. So having clear documented ‘what happens next’ when someone discloses a wellbeing need. And without policies, support ends up depending on who your manager is or how confident someone feels about speaking up or how consistently HR can handle things case by case. And the data once again shows how uneven that foundation still is. As mentioned before, only 5% of organisations have a standalone neurodiversity policy, 45% have a menopause policy and no organisations reported having a standalone men’s health policy. And so I think a really useful way to think about that is that support needs a pathway. So if someone discloses a need, what happens next? Who do they speak to or what adjustments are available? What’s the process? So building that pathway into policy is really what makes support reliable rather than something that’s reactive.

Robert Shore: Okay. And are we seeing a shift towards formal wellbeing frameworks and not just initiatives? Is there any evidence for that?

Vernujaa Nagandiram: Yeah, I think we are seeing that shift. There’s definitely more movement towards building proper frameworks instead of relying on one-off initiatives.

So a really good example of that direction of travel is in menopause. From 2027, employers with 250+ employees will be required to publish menopause action plans. And so that requirement should help push organisations towards more structured, consistent approaches.

And I think for any of the listeners who are wanting to visualize what that looks like, Brightmine’s HR and Compliance Centre has model policies. So that includes menopause and neurodiversity templates which really lay out those ‘what happens next’ steps.

Robert Shore: Hannah, I think you want to talk about line managers. Line managers are critical to wellbeing strategies. Why is that?

Hannah Mason: Yes. So we know that line managers are often the first point of contact for employees when discussing wellbeing, and they also play an important role in areas like creating the right work environment, minimising stress, spotting wellbeing concerns and also implementing policies effectively for their employees’ wellbeing. So basically they’re at the front line of employee wellbeing.

Robert Shore: Okay. And again, according to our research, are line managers well equipped for that role?

Hannah Mason: Not necessarily. So we conducted some line manager research also last year in 2025, and we found that around half of HR professionals think that managers need more training and support in handling employee wellbeing. And I don’t think that’s particularly surprising given the wide scope of responsibility that their role covers. Like Vernujaa mentioned earlier, often organisations are focusing on wellbeing awareness campaigns without giving managers the practical tools to make a real difference.

Wellbeing is also deeply personal, so both managers and employees could feel uncomfortable having these sorts of conversations.

Robert Shore: Yes. So what about the legal side of things?

Hannah Mason: So the employment tribunal statistics show that disability discrimination cases are among the most common types of tribunal cases, so it’s really crucial for line managers to understand their responsibilities when it comes to managing health and wellbeing. They need to know how to support their employees in a compliant way, and what reasonable adjustments look like, because without that knowledge they can risk serious reputational risk and financial consequences for their organisation. So having effective training and support is really important.

Robert Shore: Yeah. And of course on the website we have regular tribunal reports that point to issues that typically occur.

Again, according to the research, what does the current training landscape look like?

Hannah Mason: So across our research, training for managers really does seem to be lacking. So we found that only around a third of organisations offer training for line managers on supporting neurodivergent employees. 28% do the same for menopause and just 1% offer training for men’s health. So managers are often expected to take general wellbeing training and apply it to very specific situations, which I think is a huge ask.

So it’s also interesting to mention that despite just 1% of organisations offering specific men’s health training, many organisations reported feeling confident in their managers’ ability to support their male employees effectively with their health. Now, is that because men’s health issues are seen as more familiar because they represent half the population and so it’s quite easy, they think, to manage? Or is it a bit of an overconfidence? And I think regardless of the answer, if you look at the men’s health
statistics, you can see that men face unique health challenges. But this is slowly starting to be recognised at a national level with the Government launching the first ever men’s health strategy, which is a positive, and hopefully this begins a trend of more organisations paying attention to men’s health.

Robert Shore: Yes. I mean, you mentioned there the sort of starkness of some of those figures. Maybe you want to just tell us a little about men’s health.

Hannah Mason: Sure. So we know that if we’re talking about mental health, men account for three-quarters of suicide deaths. So that is 3 in every 4 deaths from suicide are men.

And if we’re thinking about physical health, 72 men per day die from cardiovascular disease, which is more than double the number of women. And thinking about illnesses that affect just men, more than 12,000 a year die from prostate cancer. So the idea that men don’t face any unique health challenges simply isn’t true based on the findings.

Robert Shore: Yeah. So this is an area possibly where organisations might be focusing a bit more in the future.

Hannah Mason: Yeah, hopefully.

Robert Shore: So let’s be practical. What can HR teams do to support managers?

Hannah Mason: Yeah. So I think the first think – Vernujaa touched on it earlier – is considering having specific policies rather than having just one generic wellbeing policy, because this shows your staff that you’re taking these issues seriously and gives managers a clear framework for how to manage these particular topics.

And I think for employees, also understanding how an issue will be handled when they go to their line manager can be really important in encouraging them to seek support.

And so secondly, investing in training. So that’s not just on wellbeing but on skills like having difficult conversations, managing stress and workloads, and understanding line managers’ legal obligations.

Managers also do need to have some understanding of conditions or symptoms to look out for to best support their employees, so it’s important that training covers both aspects of this.

Finally, providing your line managers with practical tools. So maybe that’s a wellbeing toolkit with conversation starters, checklists and processes that managers can easily adopt. And this just helps take the guesswork out and helps managers feel more confident having these conversations.

Robert Shore: So, other topics, words, themes that come up quite a lot. I think ‘stigma’ is one that comes up a lot in wellbeing, doesn’t it, Vernujaa? So why is it such a big theme, and whether support actually gets used, this idea of stigma?

Vernujaa Nagandiram: I think stigma’s a huge factor because people won’t actually use support if they’re worried about being judged or if they think they’re going to be seen as difficult, if they really just don’t trust what will happen after they disclose something. So you could have initiatives and resources available, but if the day-to-day environment doesn’t actually feel psychologically safe or if they think that confidentiality feels shaky, uptake of support will always stay low.

Robert Shore: So what actually creates an open, supportive culture, one that genuinely reduces stigma and makes people feel safe to speak up?

Vernujaa Nagandiram: I think it comes down to quite a few key strategies, really. So the first is awareness and education. That really helps normalise the conversation and clear up misinformation around these topics. And then obviously open communication matters too. Make sure people know what support exists and how to access it. And a huge part of that is visible leadership, so when senior people talk about wellbeing properly. And that really sends a signal that it’s safe to speak up and it won’t damage your career.

And finally, employee networks really help too because they give people a space, a peer space where they’re not alone. And that really matters for topics like menopause, men’s health, neurodiversity that really still carry a lot of stigma.

Robert Shore: Okay. Another term that we hear quite a lot is ‘practical adjustments’. Obviously this is a very important subject. Hannah, what do practical adjustments look like in the workplace?

Hannah Mason: So often it’s the small things that can have a big impact. For example, for women experiencing menopause something as simple as adjusting the dress code or uniform requirements can make a big difference. This small change prioritises their comfort without really disrupting the wider team.

And flexibility is another big one. So allowing flexible working arrangements if that’s possible at your organisation, or having flexibility with breaks so that employees can manage their symptoms effectively, can be really effective. They can not only help ease physical symptoms but can also ensure that employees feel supported and trusted at work.

Robert Shore: Okay, that sounds quite straightforward. Is it always very straightforward?

Hannah Mason: I don’t think so. So our research found that almost half of organisations offering menopause support don’t actually assess the impact. So there’s a huge evaluation gap. Without monitoring interventions, you risk offering things that don’t meet your employees’ needs. If that is the case at your organisation, some employees might speak up and agree with their manager adjustments that would work for them or that they need. But there might be some employees that don’t, and this can create inequality if only those who know what to ask for get the support that they need.

And from a business perspective, if you’re not monitoring success it can be really hard to justify ongoing expense or resource on particular issues because you’ve got nothing to show for it, running the risk of valuable support being cut. On the other hand, you might keep funding something that isn’t working. So that’s why proper
evaluation is really important.

Robert Shore: What about men’s health? What works there?

Hannah Mason: So for men’s health, I think creating community really is key. So this could be in the form of informal get-togethers, employees networks or creating men’s health champions, all things which can help encourage men to open up and create positive connections at work. Our research found that a third of employees don’t run any kind of men’s health initiatives, and those that do tend to rely on signposting to resources or mentioning men’s health in wider wellbeing campaigns, which highlights that perhaps organisations are missing a real opportunity to make impact. While signposting resources can be helpful, it doesn’t actively engage employees or foster a culture where men necessarily feel comfortable discussing their health concerns.

We know that men are typically less likely to talk about their wellbeing, so spaces to connect and share really can matter. And thinking not just specific to work, we are seeing some creative approaches to men’s mental health becoming more common, like social prescribing, which is essentially non-medical interventions focused on connecting people to activities in groups. For example, at the moment there’s a pilot scheme running where free football tickets are being prescribed for depression. And I’d assume that this would be quite popular for some people, and I think it’s just quite a nice example of finding ways to support men’s mental health in ways that might be more accessible to them.

Robert Shore: Although obviously if you’re a supporter of a team and they’re not doing very well, that could be quite depressing!

Hannah Mason: Yeah! But we know that loneliness and depression are linked, so initiatives like this can play a vital role in breaking that cycle. It’s also a good reminder that support doesn’t always have to be formal. Sometimes the most effective interventions are those that feel natural and accessible.

Robert Shore: Presumably communication of all of this is important.

Hannah Mason: Yeah, I really think so. Because having initiatives that work is important but you’ve also got to communicate them in ways that work. So keeping on the trend of football, I’ve seen a couple of football clubs that have been doing really great adverts about men’s mental health, highlighting the silent struggle that some men face and bringing the topic into mainstream conversations. I think creating awareness campaigns that resonate with men is so important, but it does require a bit of out-the-box thinking.

Robert Shore: How can organisations translate this into practice?

Hannah Mason: I think one thing that would be good is reviewing your communication strategy and making sure that wellbeing initiatives are shared with everyone. So if you’re an organisation where the work environment looks different across different roles, it’s really important to make sure that information is being shared consistently. Say you have warehouse staff and head office employees, if all your health and wellbeing information is being communicated virtually via email or intranet, you might be missing a significant number of your employees. So to avoid this, making sure that information is also being shared physically, like on noticeboards or in bathrooms, can make sure that you’re reaching as many people
as possible.

Robert Shore: And as we said, as you’ve said repeatedly today, obviously measurement of success is really important, not just to launch initiatives but also to measure how well they work. So how do you measure success, say with men’s health initiatives?

Hannah Mason: I think that’s really tricky actually because we know that men are perhaps less likely to open up. Usual mechanisms like surveys or talking to your manager might not be the best tool and could mask issues. So thinking outside of just men’s mental health, you could consider looking at behavioural measures like absence rates to get insights into the wellbeing of your employees.

But for men’s mental health this won’t necessarily give you clear answers either because the data suggests that men take fewer absences than women. So in fact, if an intervention to support men’s health had worked, you might actually see men taking more time off work, but that’s completely opposite to what you would typically want to see in a wellbeing intervention and might be a bit of a hard sell. So it’s a real puzzle. Maybe the answer is having a range of different success metrics.

Robert Shore: So again, analysing the results you find and really trying to think carefully about different things that it can mean, the interpretation is really key, isn’t it?

We haven’t talked that much about neurodiversity so let me ask you a question there. What adjustments can be made to support a neurodiverse employee?

Hannah Mason: So our research showed that almost three-quarters of organisations are seeing an increase in the number of requests for support for neurodiversity, which shows that these kind of initiatives are really important. Often for neurodiverse employees these kind of initiatives are things that you can roll out to everyone, making inclusivity the standard and not the exception. This can especially help those that don’t feel comfortable sharing their needs, or perhaps they’re not diagnosed yet. Adjustments like quiet work areas can benefit everyone and not just those who disclose their needs.

I think another area that’s quite exciting when we think about neurodiverse employees is the potential of AI, and with so many organisations already implementing AI, this could be such an easy win. As an example, someone with ADHD that struggles with prioritisation or time management, having an agent that could instantly summarise their emails and meetings they’ve attended to create a to-do list could be great. Or for someone with dyslexia, proofreading and summarising long reports can be incredibly
powerful.

There was some really interesting research done by the Department of Business and Trade when they were rolling out CoPilot to their employees, and they found that neurodiverse employees were more likely to be satisfied with the software, and they also found that there were benefits outside of neurodiverse employees for others
with disabilities or health conditions, for example those with visual or hearing impairments. And in their report they quoted an employee with a hearing disability, who explained that they could relax more in meetings and had confidence that they weren’t going to miss key details. AI is proving to help level the playing field and empower employees who face challenges despite really being in its infancy. And I think this research was also a really nice example of not just rolling out interventions and hoping that they work, but actually measuring success and demonstrating the impact.

Robert Shore: So in summary, we’ve been discussing various wellbeing surveys today. Why does wellbeing slip down the priority list though, Vernujaa? Can you say something generally about that? Even where employers care about it.

Vernujaa Nagandiram: I think a lot of the time wellbeing gets treated like an add-on. So you’ll see they’ll put in a campaign somewhere or a webinar somewhere else, and it’s not something that’s actually built into everyday processes. And so anything that is seen as extra is naturally already vulnerable to shifting priorities.

And our findings show that the barriers to support are rarely about intention; they’re more about capacity. So employers keep pointing to the same pressures. You know, limited budgets, limited time, limited staff capacity and a lot of competing demands. So it’s not that the organisations don’t care; it’s that support hasn’t always been designed in a way that survives this organisational pressure. And I think that’s where design really matters. The most sustainable approaches make wellbeing feel normal. So clear pathways to access support or consistent signposting in places that employees already go to. Or adjustments that have become a standard rather than something that is specially requested. And that should be built into everyday systems like workload planning or return-to-work processes and communication that reaches everyone, including nondesk-based staff. And so the aim here is to really make support feel like a normal part of work and not just an extra programme.

Robert Shore: Wonderful. Well, thank you both so much for coming on today to talk about our wellbeing surveys. So you can find the results of these surveys and the analyses on our website, www.brightmine.com and of course on a range of other subjects, and I’ll put some links in the show notes to that.

So it just remains for me to thank again Hannah and Vernujaa for coming today and to say, until next time.