Morgane Oléron
Just as no one is born a manager, no one is born knowing how to recognize or respond to mental health challenges in themselves or others. These are skills that require training and practice. Like for any other topic, managers need the right training to support these areas effectively.
A 2025 study by The Workforce Institute proved what many of us already felt: a good or a bad manager can dramatically impact an individual’s mental health and life. Indeed, the study involving more than 3,000 employees across 10 countries showed that “Managers impact employees’ mental health (69%) more than doctors (51%) or therapists (41%), and even the same as a spouse or partner (69%).”
However, there is still a significant gap between understanding the importance of mental health and feeling prepared to support it as a manager.
Back in 2023, a study by MHFA showed that a third of managers (33%) felt out of their depth supporting their team with mental health issues, and it increased to 45% for young managers under 25.
It is not that managers do not want to help; they just do not have the tools to do it right. Things like spotting early signs of burnout or building psychological safety in the workplace are key to team wellbeing, but they aren’t as obvious as planning a project or assessing OKRs, which managers have been trained to do for years.
Simply handing managers a checklist of symptoms is not enough. What is needed is structured, practical training that helps managers understand and respond to real situations.
A common misconception is that being empathetic or kind is enough to support a team member facing mental health challenges. In reality, effective support requires specific skills and knowledge, not just good intentions.
Relying on empathy alone is not only ineffective, but can also put both the manager and employee at risk.
Empathy is important, but managing psychological safety at work is a skill that can be learned. Expecting managers to address issues like burnout or anxiety without training is like asking someone to create a financial report without the right tools or knowledge. Most managers want to support their teams, but need practical guidance to do so.
When managers are forced to “wing it” due to a lack of formal training, two damaging scenarios typically play out:
Effective mental health training for managers is not about turning them into therapists. Instead, it provides them with practical frameworks and tools they can use in real workplace situations.
The evidence shows that managers have a significant impact on their team’s mental wellbeing. However, without the right training, this influence can do more harm than good.
Providing mental health training for leaders is not just a nice extra or a soft skill. It is a core business need. Relying on good intentions alone leads to higher turnover, lower productivity, and more burnout. To create a resilient, high-performing workplace, organizations need to move beyond awareness and equip managers with the practical tools they need to support their teams.
Absolutely not. In fact, robust mental health training teaches managers the exact opposite: to avoid over-correcting by trying to diagnose or solve complex psychological issues themselves. A manager’s role is not to treat the individual but to use structured frameworks to identify behavioral changes, offer a supportive ear, and connect the employee with professional resources.
When managers lack formal tools, they typically default to two dangerous behaviors. They either cross professional boundaries by over-investigating an employee’s personal life, which introduces significant compliance and emotional risks, or they avoid the issue entirely out of fear of saying the wrong thing. Ignoring these early warning signs inevitably drives up burnout and turnover statistics.
While empathy is a vital baseline, relying on good intentions alone acts as a temporary band-aid. Managing psychological safety and identifying subtle workplace triggers are technical management skills, not just personality traits. Expecting a manager to navigate role friction or burnout without structured training is just like asking them to compile a complex financial report without the right software or data.
Effective mental health training is a two-way street. It explicitly teaches leaders how to set clear professional boundaries, manage their own emotional strain, and protect their personal wellbeing. By learning where their responsibility ends and where professional resources take over, managers avoid shouldering the psychological burden of their entire team.
About the author
Psychology Content Writer at Siffi
Morgane crafts compassionate, engaging content that makes mental health conversations more human and accessible. At Siffi, she combines storytelling with strategy to foster a culture of care and connection in the workplace.
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