Mental well-being in the workplace: our vision & approach

Both physical and mental well-being are high on the corporate agenda today. Organisations take all kinds of initiatives to keep their employees healthy: ergonomic workplaces, an adapted task package after burnout, a wide range of training to become even better at your job,…

It’s a nice evolution, but those efforts are not yet reflected in the figures. According to our own research (2024), 7.5% of Belgian workers struggled with mental health complaints in 2023. That is an 80% increase over 2019. In education (7.3%), the increase is as high as 153%. The figures are also high in the public sector (9.7%) and healthcare (8.9%).

“The increase in psychological complaints is a complex problem with multiple layers,” says Koen Van Hulst, lead for psychosocial aspects at Mensura. “The workload is increasing and the abundance of online information sends continuous stimuli to our brain. With the blurred line between work and private life, we also bring our private problems ‘into’ the workplace more often.”

Employers are more aware of those risks than ever before. Yet actions for mental well-being often come into the picture only when something goes wrong, such as conflict or burnout, when mental well-being deserves a strategic approach that focuses on prevention, dialogue, and customisation. Organisations that invest in it reap many benefits: a healthier work culture and greater resilience, as well as sustainable employability, higher productivity, and increased job happiness.

Not to worry: you are not alone. After all, mental well-being in the workplace is a shared responsibility, and we can help you address mental well-being in a targeted way.

As an HR professional, you are already short of helping hands. That’s why you don’t want to waste hours perusing catalogues full of random products for mental well-being. Above all, you want to be relieved: offered a solution that is based on the reality of your organisation and makes your work lighter, not even more complex.

This is why we are committed to a resilient working environment, with a preventive approach tailored to the situation. In doing so, we start from two central principles:

Our support is flexible and matches the stage of your well-being policy:

• Are you still at the starting line? Then we will ensure a solid foundation first. We start from your legal obligations, such as a psychosocial risk assessment. But we go far beyond compliance. We give you insight into what is really going on in your organisation. This allows you to take targeted action on the correct issues.
• Are you a bit further along? Then we build on what you already have, and where you want to go. We reinforce what is going well and help you deepen existing initiatives.

“In practice, we find that organisations often want to start from the ‘advanced’ stage, while their basics aren’t quite right yet,” Koen says. “In that case, we are honest. Together, we return to the core of your mental well-being story: your psychosocial risks. You can only start to formulate targeted actions once you have identified your challenges.”

We don’t just look at what could be improved, but mainly at what is already going well. In fact, with such a strong foundation, you will create a much bigger support base in your organisation. Our ultimate goal? Supporting you in such a way that your organisation itself will eventually become more resilient and confident in dealing with mental well-being challenges. Of course, we continue to support on the sidelines for fresh eyes or appropriate support.
 

What does that approach look like in practice? Simple: no endless surveys or standard procedures, but tailor-made advice and actions that make a real impact.

Everything starts with your organisation:

1. Scan: we analyse your current situation based on our Sonar method. This is an online questionnaire that assesses how your employees experience their job physically and mentally. The end result: an overview of the psychosocial risks in your organisation and an ideal starting point to make your well-being climate (even) better.
2. Advice: we give you practically feasible tailor-made actions, including active involvement of your employees – from quick wins to long-term strategies. Such participation and people orientation are crucial: what comes from the team has more support and a greater effect.
3. Action: we translate these plans into a concrete timeline and ensure close follow-up. More than 70 experts and partners are ready to support you in every domain of psychosocial well-being.