Why Mental Health in the Workplace Matters
Can a leader discuss productivity without addressing mental health? In 2025, the answer is a definitive no. The topic has transitioned from being a personal matter to a strategic factor in organizational performance. While work remains a powerful source of well-being, poorly managed working environments can turn it into its opposite—a risk that erodes morale, engagement, and the ability to innovate.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 15% of adults in the workforce live with some form of mental disorder, and each year, 120 million workdays are lost due to depression and anxiety. The global cost amounts to a staggering $1 trillion in lost productivity.
Work: A Healer or a Harm?
Decent work—which offers purpose, security, and community—is a potent tool for mental health. It provides identity, structure, and a sense of accomplishment. However, when conditions change and psychosocial risks multiply, the workplace can become a space of anxiety and exclusion.
Among the workplace mental health risks are excessive workloads, inflexible hours, lack of control over tasks, harassment, discrimination, job insecurity, and authoritarian organizational culture. Each of these factors can trigger or exacerbate emotional distress. When combined with personal and family variables, the issue becomes even more complex.
In Mexico, where the labor culture has long prioritized resistance and full attendance at work, many leaders still measure productivity by hours worked rather than results achieved. However, the data is clear: fatigue, burnout, and anxiety are not badges of honor; they are warning signs that something structural needs to change.
Leading with Empathy: The New Challenge for Leaders
The WHO and International Labour Organization (ILO) recommend a clear principle: empathetic leadership is the first line of defense against workplace mental health deterioration. Leaders, more than programs or policies, are those who can turn well-being into a daily reality.
In this reflection on empathy, I invite leaders to consider how they communicate with colleagues and team members in the workplace. There’s no doubt, as I’ve mentioned in various forums: if our purpose includes creating a favorable work environment, striving for personal and professional balance, it will be essential to start with the development of the leader.
Good leadership isn’t measured solely by financial indicators but by the ability to create psychologically safe environments where people feel heard, valued, and supported. Training mid-level managers and supervisors to maintain open communication and apply active listening isn’t a matter of “softness”; it’s an investment in sustainable productivity.
From Prevention to Action
Modern mental health management must be approached with the same rigor as financial risk assessment. Prevention begins by mapping psychosocial risks: identifying excessive workloads, reviewing schedules, adjusting expectations, and improving communication.
According to the WHO, the most effective institutional interventions include:
- Designing clear policies against violence and harassment.
- Promoting flexible work arrangements to balance personal and professional life.
- Investing in professional development and continuous training.
- Fostering collaborative work instead of internal competition.
These actions reduce workplace tension and strengthen trust and loyalty among employees. A healthy environment fosters more committed teams, with lower turnover and greater creative capacity.
Culture and Leadership: The Change Formula
Committed leadership is reflected in concrete decisions: allocating budget to well-being, incorporating mental health metrics into organizational performance dashboards with the same seriousness as financial results.
Conscious leadership is today’s most valuable corporate asset. It means understanding that humans are not replaceable resources but living capital that feels, tires, and needs support to unlock their potential. Therefore, mental health cannot be a fleeting trend or a checkbox in social responsibility. It’s a strategic pillar of corporate success.
From Obligation to Commitment
In Mexico, norms like NOM-035 and NOM-037 have changed how companies approach psychosocial risk factors and employee safety. However, regulation alone is insufficient.
Complying with the norm is a duty, and genuinely caring for mental health is a conviction. Leaders who go the extra mile understand that their people’s emotional well-being is a multiplier of performance, innovation, and corporate reputation.
The significant challenge for Human Resources directors and CEOs in 2025 will be integrating mental health into the organizational culture as a cross-cutting theme, not a peripheral program.
Towards an Emotionally Intelligent Company
An emotionally intelligent company doesn’t shy away from discussing mental health; it incorporates it into its everyday language. It recognizes that vulnerability is not a weakness but a channel to build trust. In such companies, leaders are trained to lead, connect, understand, and accompany.
Well-being is no longer the responsibility of the HR department; it becomes a shared responsibility. What strategies, plans, and actions are being implemented in your organization? It’s time to reflect without delaying action, keeping in mind what I consider a golden rule: start with self-care.
