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Focus & decision-making
Reducing the mental load created by anxiety, overthinking and emotional overwhelm can free more attention for the actual job.
The employer business case
Employee wellbeing becomes a business issue the moment it changes how somebody works.
You do not have to wait for sickness absence to see the effect. Stress, anxiety, emotional overload and personal pressure can show up as slower decisions, reduced concentration, lower confidence, disengagement, presenteeism and more management time.
Earlier interventionIndependent employee accessDefined confidentialityEmployer-level reporting
NHS workforce evidence — 2025
One of the UK's largest workforces shows why attendance alone is not enough.
The 2025 NHS Staff Survey received responses from more than 750,000 trust staff. It shows substantial levels of stress, burnout and working while not feeling well enough to perform duties.
42.36% felt unwell because of work-related stressin the previous 12 months.
56.01% worked while not feeling well enoughto perform their duties in the previous three months.
31.47% often or always felt burnt outbecause of their work.
43.03% felt worn out at the end of the day or shiftoften or always.
35.05% found work emotionally exhaustingoften or always.
28.51% felt exhausted at the thought of another day or shiftoften or always.
Source: 2025 NHS Staff Survey National Results. These figures describe the NHS workforce; they are not claimed outcomes of this service.
The current UK employer cost
The scale is large enough to justify action before problems become long-term.
Source: Keep Britain Working 2026 and HSE 2024/25.
£85bn
annual employer costestimated from poor workplace health across sick pay, lost output, presenteeism and related employment costs.
£120
lost profit per sickness daythe average employer impact estimated in the Keep Britain Working final report.
£11k+
replacement costestimated recruitment and onboarding cost when an employee is lost to ill-health.
22.1m
working days lostto work-related stress, depression or anxiety in Great Britain in 2024/25.
Where the employer feels the impact
The cost is often distributed across the working day rather than appearing on one budget line.
Mental and emotional strain can affect output even when attendance appears normal. The operational impact may be seen in performance, decision-making, communication, error risk, team capacity and manager time.
PresenteeismAn employee is at work but functioning below their normal level. Government analysis estimates this costs UK employers around £21bn annually.
Reduced cognitive capacityWorry, rumination and emotional overload compete for attention and can make prioritising, problem-solving and decision-making harder.
Management timeManagers can spend increasing amounts of time holding support conversations or trying to manage issues outside their training.
Team spilloverColleagues can absorb extra workload, disrupted communication and emotional pressure when one person is struggling.
Absence and delayed recoveryStress and mental ill health remain major causes of long-term and short-term absence.
Retention riskWhen problems become entrenched, the employer can ultimately face capability, redeployment, recruitment and replacement costs.
What effective early support can provide
Give employees earlier support, helping them stay functioning and supported at work.
The government's Healthy Working Lifecycle distinguishes between people who are healthy in work, unwell in work, absent and returning, and those moving towards redeployment or exit. The commercial opportunity is clear: give people an effective route into support while there is still time to stabilise functioning.
The Keep Britain Working technical note models benefits for workplace health provision overall. Those national estimates are not presented as guaranteed outcomes of this specific service.
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Healthy and functioning
Normal workplace performance.
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Unwell but still working
The point where confidential early support can be especially valuable.
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Absence and return
More disruption, cost and management involvement.
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Redeployment or exit
The most expensive stage for both employer and employee.
What better-functioning staff can improve
The benefit is practical, not cosmetic.
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Confidence & communication
Employees who feel more secure and regulated are better placed to contribute, communicate and handle challenge.
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Manager capacity
A clear professional signposting route can reduce the expectation that managers personally carry complex employee problems.
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Attendance stability
Earlier help creates another opportunity to address difficulties before they become more entrenched or disruptive.
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Earlier engagement
Clear, confidential and relevant support can encourage employees to seek help sooner, creating more opportunity to address difficulties before they affect attendance or performance.
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Retention
Supporting valued people through periods of difficulty can be less disruptive than allowing problems to progress towards capability or exit.
What the employer receives back
Useful management insight — while individual conversations remain private.
You are not simply told that support has been delivered. Employer-level reporting helps you understand whether the provision is being used, how employees are accessing it, where adjustments may improve engagement and whether the service is addressing the workforce need it was commissioned for.
UtilisationSee overall appointment take-up and use of the support capacity you are funding. This helps you judge whether provision is being used sufficiently and whether capacity should be maintained, adjusted or expanded.
Attendance and no-showsSee whether employees who book are actually engaging. This can highlight wasted capacity and whether changes to booking, reminders or accessibility could improve usage.
How employees prefer to access supportSee whether employees make greater use of remote sessions, on-site appointments or drop-in support. This shows which access options your workforce actually chooses, helping you shape future provision around demonstrated employee demand rather than assumption.
Broad recurring themesWhere appropriate and safe, non-identifying themes can highlight recurring workforce pressures. This can help inform preventative action, workshops, management support or wider wellbeing initiatives without identifying individual employees.
Employee feedbackAnonymous or agreed feedback can show how accessible, relevant and useful employees find the provision. This gives you another measure for evaluating whether the service is meeting the need it was commissioned to address.
Confidentiality protectedNo routine disclosure of individual session content. You receive useful management-level information without turning confidential employee support into an employee-monitoring or reporting channel.
What this gives you
A clearer basis for deciding what to keep, change or strengthen.
You can see whether the provision is being used, where demand exists, what may need adjusting and whether your wellbeing investment is reaching the workforce — while protecting the confidentiality that makes employees more likely to trust and use the service.
Commission by problem, not package
One service should not be forced onto every workforce issue.
The model should follow the barrier: private individual difficulty, poor access to support, or a widespread need for practical preventative learning.
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1:1 Employee Support
Targeted private help for individual employees.
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On-site Clinics
Visible, convenient access with defined capacity.
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Workshops
Prevention and practical capability across groups.
Start with the commercial problem
What is poor employee functioning costing you now?
Absence, presenteeism, concentration, manager time, confidence, retention or access to support — tell us what you are seeing and we can discuss whether there is a responsible way to help.