15 Apr 2025

How employees rate their managers' mental wellbeing support

There’s work to be done to develop manager soft skills to improve employee mental well-being, Calm research shows

When we asked more than 4,000 adults around the world to describe their workplaces, 52% of respondents used words such as “toxic,” “cliquey” and “tumultuous” among their feedback. No employer wants to read this.

A major role in employee sentiment

Relationships with managers are the number one factor in employee job satisfaction. The survey responses we received support that idea: 65% of employees said that managers significantly influence their mental health.

How employees rate key behaviours

About half of employees said their manager:

Shows care and empathy (53%)
Has my back and continues to support me if I make a mistake at work (51%)
Handles emotions well (50%)

But many employees felt less positive about managers in several areas they deemed important to their mental health:

38% of workers said their manager adjusts their workload for better work-life balance and fosters a low-stress work environment
36% said their manager allows them to take mental health breaks throughout the day
32% of workers said their manager openly discusses and shares their own mental health experiences
29% of employees said their manager refers them to mental health resources or benefits when needed

What’s holding managers back?

Above all, managers are worried about saying the wrong thing (37%) or unsure about how to approach the topic and think they might be ineffective or awkward if they attempt to have a discussion about mental health (33%).

According to research from Deloitte, there are factors are beyond managers’ control, including company policies around scheduling, heavy workloads, an unsupportive workplace culture, and a lack of training.

Only 42% of managers Deloitte surveyed said they feel empowered and capable of helping the organisation reach its goals related to employee well-being.

Employers are evolving their manager strategies

There is good news. Employers increasingly recognise that they need to empower managers and make manager training an important part of their mental health strategy.

A blind survey of more than 150 HR leaders conducted by Arizent/EBN on behalf of Calm found that more than 90% of HR/benefits leaders agree that developing caring managers is key to developing a mentally healthy workplace.

In the next two years, HR leaders plan to implement manager strategies that could be part of your mental health workplace strategy, including:

Helping managers to learn how to regulate their emotions and create less-stressful work environments
Training managers to recognise mental distress
Training managers to speak openly about mental health
Developing caring managers who lead with empathy and high emotional intelligence (EQ)

Calm Workshops offer practical “how-to” guidance for teaching managers mindful leadership skills and in-app resources can help managers reduce their stress and become more self-aware as leaders.