DI&W Community Notes: Empowering Line Managers – Enhancing Team and Personal Wellbeing Through Leadership

On May 7^th 2025 CRF convened an online discussion for its Diversity, Inclusivity & Wellbeing (DI&W) community on the topic of Empowering Line Managers: Enhancing Team and Personal Wellbeing Through Leadership.  During the session, Alison Unsted, CEO at MindForward Alliance, and Jaan Madan, Senior Training Consultant at MindForward Alliance, presented on the role of the line manager in supporting employee wellbeing and how HR leaders can equip managers to contribute to better mental health. These notes summarise the presentation and the following discussion.

Thriving at Work Framework
MindForward Alliance is a global non-profit focused on transforming workplace culture to support good mental health for employees. Their work is grounded in their Thriving at Work framework, which is structured around three pillars:

1. Culture – The visible commitment and strategic intent to prioritise wellbeing, with a focus on senior leadership.
2. Working Environment – How the intent is translated into action, including line manager behaviour, integration into the employee lifecycle and creating conditions for people to thrive.
3. Accessible Support – Creating psychologically safe spaces to talk openly and providing clear signposting to support.

Why is Mental Wellbeing at Work So Important?

• Research shows that 1 in 2 people will experience mental ill health before the age of 75, meaning almost every employee will either experience a challenge directly or be impacted by supporting someone who does.
• Mental health challenges are more prevalent among certain groups, particularly younger generations. Deloitte’s 2024 research found that 4 in 10 Gen Zs and a third of Millennials report feeling anxious or stressed almost all the time.
• The working environment therefore plays a central role in shaping wellbeing. When designed intentionally, it can act as a positive enabler of employee mental health.

Reframing Wellbeing

• While wellbeing initiatives surged during the pandemic, a counter-narrative has since emerged, questioning their compatibility with productivity. However, the evidence tells a different story: when employees are well, they perform better. We need to reframe our business case for wellbeing – not just as the right thing to do, but as a strategic enabler of sustainable performance.
• The University of Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre, in partnership with Indeed, has shown that key drivers of wellbeing – such as autonomy, flexibility, recognition and inclusion – are positively correlated with financial outcomes including productivity, profitability and stock market performance.
• Similarly, the McKinsey Health Institute found that burnout is most strongly linked to job-level and team dynamics, not just long working hours. In particular, toxic environments are a leading contributor to burnout, highlighting the importance of line managers in shaping local culture.

The Role of Leadership and Line Managers
MindForward Alliance’s 2024 global study (12,000 respondents, 12 countries) reinforced the importance of leadership for workplace wellbeing. Where senior leaders speak openly about mental health, employees are more likely to disclose concerns, engage with wellbeing interventions and stay motivated. In contrast, silence from leadership correlates with low energy, disengagement and higher turnover intent.

Line managers are equally critical. They shape the everyday experience of employees, set norms around workload and boundaries and are best placed to spot early signs that someone may be struggling. Yet only 14% of line managers receive mental health-related training.

Other barriers to effective line management include an organisational focus on technical delivery over ‘soft’ people management, such as supporting wellbeing. Time pressures and lack of confidence also hinder managers, many of whom feel unequipped to support mental health without dedicated training.

MindForward Alliance’s Thriving at Work framework outlines what “good” looks like in terms of line manager capability:

• Minimum: Provide clear guidance, tools and signposting resources.
• Mid-level maturity: Offer role-specific mental health training that builds confidence to have open conversations, encourage regular conversations between managers and teams about wellbeing.
• Advanced: Embedding wellbeing behaviours in competency frameworks, performance reviews and – in certain cases – linking them to compensation and reward structures.

Q&A Panel Session
Q., Alison Unsted:  What does “good” look like in practice? What are the core skills and behaviours line managers really need?
A., Jaan Madan: This is a skillset that needs to be intentionally developed, starting by identifying the outcome you want and then working backwards from there. For example, if you want smart, engaged employees who feel incentivised, you will need to create opportunities for regular touchpoints, open communication and conversation.
This does not mean line managers need to become counsellors. But they should build relationships with their teams, create space for conversations that are not just about business and role model healthy behaviours and setting boundaries. This means being intentional, rather than perfect. Line managers can also only succeed if senior leaders visibly engage with wellbeing, show they understand the issues and model positive behaviours.
Q: How can managers balance compassion with high-pressure expectations?
A: Managers should be honest about commercial goals while reinforcing their commitment to wellbeing. Create a culture where people can bring more of themselves to work and seek help when they need it – many people still feel they have to project an image of stoicism to appear professional. Signposting is essential – not just in crisis, but for early intervention and prevention. To act early, we need to understand what “healthy” looks like for ourselves and our teams. That means regularly checking in – emotionally, behaviourally and physically – to notice changes before issues escalate.
Q: How can managers spot if someone is struggling?
A: Often, signs of poor mental health aren’t dramatic – that’s why looking for change is crucial. We typically see changes in behaviour or physical cues, but to recognise them, managers need to know their people beyond just deliverables. That starts by creating space for conversations like, “What does success look like for you?” or “What helps you thrive?”
Warning signs might include withdrawal, such as cameras off, reduced participation or slower responses. Others may lean in, such as working longer hours, becoming more intense or controlling.
Q: What does good line management look like in a hybrid or remote world?
A: Whilst the core principles, such as connection, inclusion and clarity on work contributions, remain the same, remote work increases the risk of isolation or disconnection. Managers should therefore start with these core principles and ask: “What does this look like in our context?”.  Success comes when teams have these conversations early.
For many MindForward Alliance members, this includes a balance of structured check-ins and informal connection points, such as short Friday catchups or sharing light personal moments. Encourage people to take ownership of their routines by asking questions like “What helps you thrive?”.

Line Manager Essentials Training
Psychological safety is one of the topics MindForward Alliance covers in their Line Manager training. Psychological safety is enabled by the following three pillars:

• Mentoring. This includes not only supporting the development of more junior colleagues but also sharing personal experiences, such as what keeps you healthy and how you manage your wellbeing to help others develop healthy coping strategies.
• Messaging. This is all about communication, which is often at the heart of most conflicts or poor performance. Messaging involves setting clear boundaries, articulating expectations, raising awareness of available support, and ensuring consistency from line managers and leadership teams.
• Modelling. This refers to showing how you manage your own mental health and wellbeing, how you navigate difficult conversations and how you respond under pressure. This includes dealing with multiple deadlines, managing uncertainty and supporting others to do the same.

MindForward Alliance also uses the TALK framework – a global model to help line managers support others:

1. Take the Time – Be present, observe and notice any changes.
2. Ask Questions – Create a non-judgemental space for people to talk openly.
3. Listen and support  – Focus on active listening skills, helping managers listen to understand and not just to respond or solve problems.
4. Know next steps – Guiding people towards the support that is available internally.

Further Resources
CRF. 2024. Post Meeting Notes: Sustaining Employee Wellbeing
CRF. 2024. Research: Sustaining Employee Wellbeing
MindForward Alliance. Thriving at Work Framework (Free guide)
MindForward Alliance. A Global Picture of Mental Health in the Workplace
MindForward Alliance. People Manager Training