Thriving at Work Leadership Council

The Thriving at Work Leadership Council is a business-led council made up of business representatives from across the private, public and voluntary sector in addition to representatives from a range of business organisations and membership bodies.

To mainstream mental health at work through employer action

The Council was set up in response to the 2017 Thriving at Work review​Thriving at work: the Stevenson / Farmer review of mental health and employers PDF An independent review into how employers can better support all employees' mental health, including recommended core standards.Free By: Department for Work and Pensions / Department of Health and Social Care View resource, which sets out a series of recommendations to achieve a ten-year vision where:

  • Employees in all types of employment will have “good work”, which contributes positively to their mental health, our society and our economy;
  • Every one of us will have the knowledge, tools and confidence, to understand and look after our own mental health and the mental health of those around us;
  • All organisations, whatever their size, will be:
    • equipped with the awareness and tools to not only address but prevent mental ill health caused or worsened by work,
    • equipped to support individuals with a mental health condition to thrive, from recruitment and throughout the organisation, and
    • aware of how to get access to timely help to reduce sickness absence caused by mental ill health;
  • We dramatically reduce the proportion of people with a long-term mental health condition who leave employment each year and ensure that all, who can, benefit from the positive impacts of good work.

Chaired by Sir Ian Cheshire, chairman of Barclays Bank UK PLC, the council has one overarching aim: to mainstream mental health at work through employer action.

The Mental Health at Work Commitment

In 2019 the Leadership Council launched the Mental Health at Work Commitment and funded ongoing development and delivery of the Mental Health at Work website.

Following this, they have made a series of commitments for 2020/21:

  1. To drive awareness of the Mental Health at Work Commitment and encourage organisations across the UK to sign up;
  2. To support organisations in implementing the standards set out in the Mental Health at Work commitment, by sharing expertise and creating opportunities for employers to connect to workplace mental health experts;
  3. To amplify the Mental Health at Work website, helping to drive new users to the site and support continued improvements to user experience;
  4. To create a national set of measures to assess the ‘state of the nation’ when it comes to employee mental health.

Coronavirus

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the council have made additional commitments to help employers build back better when it comes to supporting employee mental health and wellbeing:

  1. They will create opportunities for employers, employees, mental health experts, academics, researchers and other stakeholders to reflect, learn and understand the impact of the coronavirus on employee mental health and wellbeing;
  2. Working with Mind, Business in the Community and other experts, they will revisit the Mental Health at Work Commitment through a post-coronavirus, equality and small business lens. They will consult with a range of stakeholders to make sure that the Commitment is fit for purpose as we recover from the pandemic.

Administration

The Leadership Council meets four times each year. If you are interested in finding out more about its work, please e-mail work@mind.org.uk.