Prioritizing Mental Health At Work: Systems And Self-Regulation

Farah Bala is Founder & CEO of FARSIGHT. An executive coach, consultant, strategist, Farah hosts the leadership podcast, FARSIGHT Chats.

Companies often chase efficiency and productivity, but forget that these outcomes depend on something more fundamental: employee health and wellness. A workforce cannot be productive without prioritizing well-being holistically, and that begins with mental well-being. This includes the executives themselves helming the workforce.

As of the end of July, 1,358 CEOs have left their jobs in 2025, and in just three months, over 300,000 Black women have exited or been pushed out of the workforce. While there are multiple factors behind these shifts, they create ripple effects within the companies and organizations impacted, forcing employees to deliver more with fewer resources.

This invites the question: Who is fully responsible for an employee’s mental health: the employer or the employee? I believe it is neither, but rather a co-creative process between both.

What’s In Your Employees’ Backpacks?

To explain this, I often use what I call the “backpack” analogy. Every person carries an invisible backpack filled with their lived experiences: childhood memories, workplace wins and traumas, cultural messages, identity and systemic barriers and personal value systems. It also holds potential triggers people may not recognize until they surface.

Leaders and employees alike bring these backpacks into every meeting and project. The state of each backpack influences how people show up, how teams collaborate and how businesses perform. When that backpack becomes too full, it rips. This may present as sudden anger, resentment or withdrawal. Trust erodes, the nervous system shifts into survival mode and relationships fray.

Which means investment in well-being is not a “nice-to-have”; it is directly tied to whether organizations achieve the productivity they seek.

Individual Self-Regulation Versus Company Responsibility

Managing the backpack begins with self-regulation. Each of us must reflect on our experiences, choose what to keep, heal or release, and build daily habits that support mental, physical and emotional recovery—whether through sleep, exercise, journaling, therapy, coaching or time with loved ones. No workplace can do this for us. When we carry unresolved baggage into new roles, even small interactions can trigger big reactions. Self-regulation is each individual’s responsibility

Simultaneously, organizations create and shape the environment where self-regulation can succeed or fail. Employers must recognize that not every person experiences burnout the same way. Too often, onboarding reduces people to procedures and policies. What is missing is curiosity about the whole person: their journey, their needs and how they can thrive.

The company’s responsibility is to foster inclusive conditions where people can bring their authentic selves to work. That means:

• offering accommodations and benefits that support well-being;

• encouraging mentorship and feedback; and

• anticipating that each employee will benefit from a diverse set of tools based on their own history and identity.

Done well, the workplace can partner with an individual to support a balanced backpack. Self-regulation and company responsibility form a partnership. When both are in place, people reach their potential, and so does the business.

Psychological Safety Versus Safety

Psychological safety within the workforce is a big part of employee well-being. However, there is a misconception that psychological safety is the same as safety. For example, when disagreement or a tough conversation (including feedback) is perceived as unsafe (a potential signal of a lack of self-regulation), workplaces become conflict-averse and avoid tough conversations. That undermines both performance and culture, creating an environment of fear and distrust.

True psychological safety requires leaders who model authenticity, invite disagreement and admit mistakes. This creates a culture where employees can voice ideas and receive critique without fear, even when it feels uncomfortable or risky. The practice of psychological safety is not the absence of risk, but the presence of resilience, courage, vulnerability and accountability.

What Leaders Can Do

So, what can leaders do to bridge these responsibilities?

1. Get curious. Ask before telling. Listen without judgment.

2. Give regular, direct feedback and coaching. Being nice is not the same as being clear. Directness delivered with empathy builds trust. Proactively address and repair conflict or misunderstandings.

3. Co-prioritize empathy with accountability. Respect your team’s challenges, offering accommodations as needed, while calling for a high level of commitment and accountability.

4. Model well-being. Take that mental health day, and talk openly about your own self-regulation practices. It normalizes that health is a priority for everyone.

5. Invest in learning and the future of work. Management training must adapt to new realities of neurodiversity, the prioritization of mental health and shifting generational and employee expectations. Create support systems and resources that reflect the diversity of the workforce.

Leadership means creating conditions where employees feel both supported and accountable. That balance drives growth for both people and the business.

The Bottom Line

Well-being is the foundation of productivity. Employees must take responsibility for their own self-regulation, while organizations must create environments where that work can thrive.

The invisible backpacks we all carry will never be empty, but they do not have to be explosive. When leaders foster curiosity, clarity and authentic care, they help employees lighten the load, and the whole company can grow stronger and healthier.

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