To mark My Whole Self Day 2025, this article outlines some of Mental Health First Aid England's research on workplace wellbeing, and provides some useful takeaways for how leaders, managers and everyone in an organisation can help create a positive work environment.
“By empowering people to be their whole selves at work every day – without fear of judgement or consequence – people will feel psychologically safe.
It’s then when they can be their most creative and effective at work. Seeing others be themselves, will create a wave of organic individuality which fosters a diverse and thriving workforce.” ~ Matt Wilson, Employee Wellbeing and Engagement Advisor at Cambridgeshire County Council
As the name suggests, the ‘My Whole Self’ campaign aims to empower employees and employers to celebrate and embrace people’s diverse identities and experiences, and enable them to bring their whole selves to work.
Led by Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England, the campaign has now run for six years and culminates each year on My Whole Self Day which takes place on the second Tuesday in March.
Some worrying numbers
Recent research from MHFA England underlines a troubling problem; only 17% of employees feel like going to work each day, and less than a quarter (23%) feel enthusiastic about their job daily.
These numbers present a stark picture and unfortunately things appear to be getting worse. This year’s study revealed there’s a major disconnect between what workers want to see and the reality. More than 8 in 10 workers say it’s important to bring your whole self to work, yet only 41% feel they can, which is a massive 25% decline from 2020 (66%).
Creating an inclusive workplace
One of the most shocking numbers found in this year’s My Whole Self Day guide, comes from a 2022 Chartered Management Institute study, which found that 6.9 million UK employees have felt discriminated against in their workplace due to their background.
The same study found that one in ten disabled people had resigned from a role because they had been discriminated against, and 38% of those identifying as LGBTQI+ had experienced harassment and bullying in the workplace.
MHFA England advise that we can all do more to support people from minority backgrounds, or those with protected characteristics. The importance of supporting intersectionality is also stressed, and this includes recognising that “people cannot and should not be defined solely by their race or any other single identity”.
At the heart of the My Whole Self Day campaign is the desire to create psychologically safe, inclusive, and emotionally healthy environments for individuals to thrive, where everyone feels able to speak up and are treated with respect, fairness and dignity. MHFA England state that these “psychologically safe work cultures are proven to unlock creativity, productivity and belonging”.
Creating a shift in culture and work environment isn't easy so there are several steps and ‘small consistent actions’ organisations can take. This starts with management and leadership teams.
What can managers do to support their teams?
More than half of senior managers (51%) report being able to bring their whole self to work, whilst only 31% of junior managers, 33% of supervisory staff (33%). Only one quarter (25%) of those with mental ill health feel the same way.
MHFA England advises managers to look after their own wellbeing and ‘fit their own oxygen mask first’, as this can enable them to better help their staff. They emphasise the importance of providing support throughout the whole life-cycle of an employee, from recruitment, to onboarding, building a team culture and spotting the signs of when things may not be right.
My Whole Self research in 2022, found that nearly half of all employees (48%) had had no recent wellbeing check-in from their employer, and this is arguably one of the most important steps managers can take. MHFA England also suggests creating wellbeing action plans and integrating this with an individual’s performance or personal development plan which can make it easier to manage and support people, whether there is a specific wellbeing issue or not.
As noted in MHFA England’s 'Healthy ways of working' guide, “the relationship between employee and manager is central to supporting good mental health and wellbeing and an organisation’s productivity and performance”.
Building trust between yourself and your employee is vital to creating the psychologically safe environment outlined above. For almost 70% of people, their manager has more impact on their mental health than their therapist or their doctor – and it’s equal to their partner.
This can be especially true for those working in remote or hybrid environments, and the guide outlines that making the time to socialise and having non-work specific conversations can lead to a huge boost in morale and connection with your team.
The five Bs
Whether you’re a manager or not though, there are things that everyone can do to support each other and help to create inclusive workplaces, which MHFA England call 'The Five B's':
- BE reflective: recognise that we all have mental health in the same way we have physical health.
- BEcome an active listener: check in with others and ask ‘how are you doing?’ on a regular basis. Actively listening and building these connections can help to normalise mental health conversations.
- BE mindful of the language you use: words can either reduce or increase the stigma around mental health, so becoming more aware of our language can make a huge difference.
- BE a role model: we can all help to create an open environment by talking about our own mental health if we feel comfortable to do so and encouraging others to do the same.
- BE aware: reviewing your own organisation’s workplace wellbeing packages and raising any issues with the HR team can help to ensure that your whole team’s mental health is supported by policies and practices.
Final recommendations
These steps, that employees from across the organisation can take, can have a major impact on the organisation’s success. Though MHFA England certainly recommend that leaders and managers must be the ones to take decisive action.
By prioritising psychological safety, embedding inclusive practices, encouraging conversations and improving employee engagement, organisations can boost job retention and satisfaction, as well as overall workplace participation and performance.
My Whole Self Day guides and tools
MHFA England have produced a number of guides, toolkits and templates to help you and your organisation to create a more positive working environment.
These include a managers’ tookit, a one-to-one template and , talking tips and a new resource for 2025: ‘My plan for working well’, a proactive tool to help employees and managers identify what keeps them and their colleagues working well.
Register for the free resources at the link below:
My Whole Self Day resources