Developing Managers to Support Wellbeing and High Performance
About Leeds Mind
A Mindful Employer Charter Signatory since 2006, Leeds Mind is a medium-sized third sector organisation providing mental health services across Leeds. Supporting a diverse workforce across a range of services, the organisation recognises that managers play a vital role in creating a workplace where people feel supported, valued and able to perform at their best. Drawing on its experience as both a mental health provider and employer, Leeds Mind has invested in developing managers' confidence, capability and understanding to lead inclusive, psychologically safe teams.
The Challenge
Leeds Mind recognised that managers have a significant influence on both employeewellbeing and organisational performance. However, supporting people effectively requires more than good intentions. Managers need the confidence to have supportive conversations, understand individual strengths and support needs, consider reasonable adjustments where appropriate, and create environments where people feel safe to contribute, ask questions and speak openly.
The organisation also recognised that effective management is about creating the conditions for people to perform at their best. Rather than adopting a one-size-fits-all approach, managers are supported to understand individual strengths, working preferences and support needs, enabling them to adapt their approach while balancing wellbeing, performance and accountability.
Approach in action
Leeds Mind has invested in developing managers who are confident in supporting both wellbeing and high performance. Rather than relying on a standard management style, managers are encouraged to understand each person's strengths, working preferences and support needs, helping them identify the conditions in which people do their best work. This means recognising that different people perform best in different ways and adapting management approaches to enable individuals and teams to succeed. This includes recognising where flexible working, job design, reasonable adjustments or different ways of communicating can enable colleagues to perform at their best.
Manager development also focuses on creating psychologically safe teams where colleagues feel able to ask questions, contribute ideas, raise concerns and learn from mistakes. Managers are supported to have honest, constructive conversations that combine empathy with clarity and accountability. Rather than avoiding difficult conversations, they are encouraged to build trusting relationships where supportive challenge is part of helping people succeed. Rather than seeing wellbeing and performance as competing priorities, Leeds Mind equips managers to recognise that creating the right conditions for people to perform at their best is fundamental to both wellbeing and organisational performance
This approach is reinforced through the use of Wellness Action Plans for people at all levels regular one-to-one conversations, quarterly performance and development reviews, employee voice mechanisms and ongoing learning. Managers are also encouraged to listen to feedback from colleagues and use this to continually improve team culture, ways of working and employee experience.
Impact and learning
As part of its wider investment in inclusive leadership, manager capability and psychologically safe working environments, Leeds Mind has seen positive organisational outcomes. Between 2022 and 2026, sickness absence reduced from 5% to 3.4%, annual staff turnover reduced from 41% to 5%, and more colleagues felt confident disclosing disabilities, mental health conditions and neurodivergence at work.
These improvements have been accompanied by wider external recognition, with Leeds Mind being named one of the UK's Best Workplaces™ and UK's Best Workplaces™ for Wellbeing 2026. Based on anonymous colleague feedback, 97% of employees said people care about each other, while 96% said their work has special meaning and is not "just a job."
The organisation's experience has reinforced that investing in managers goes beyond supporting employee wellbeing—it also helps people perform well, retain talented colleagues and build stronger teams.
Leeds Mind has learned that supporting managers is an ongoing process rather than a one-off training exercise. Building confidence, encouraging regular conversations and helping managers understand individual strengths, support needs and working preferences enables them to lead more effectively while contributing to positive outcomes for both employees and the organisation.
Key takeaway for other employers
Supporting managers to manage well is about more than building confidence to have difficult conversations. Equipping managers to understand individual strengths, create psychologically safe teams and adapt their approach to different people helps create the conditions for employees and organisations to perform at their best.