Press release:

CMI partners with MHFA England to deliver research around managers and mental health in the workplace

Wednesday 09 October 2019

The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England are pleased to announce a partnership to undertake research examining best practice for managing mental health in the workplace

CMI and MHFA England have launched this initiative as a result of recent CMI led research that revealed that only 30% of managers had received training on managing mental health in the workplace in the last twelve months, with nearly half never having received training. The survey also disclosed that:

  • 51% of managers reported that they have had a member of staff disclose a mental health problem
  • Over three fifths (62%) of managers who have had a member of their team disclose a mental health problem to them have either never received any training, or received it over 12 months ago.

CMI and MHFA England believe that line managers play an absolutely critical role in supporting employees’ mental health and wellbeing. This research aims to improve the knowledge, awareness and resources available to managers to support better mental health at work.

Ann Francke, CEO of The Chartered Management Institute welcoming the new partnership with MHFA England said:

Our partnership with MHFA England underlines CMI’s commitment to highlight growing levels of mental health issues in the workplace. We hope together with MHFA England we will provide greater insight and solutions to tackle mental health problems at work.

Simon Blake, Chief Executive at MHFA England said:

We are delighted to be working in partnership with the CMI to further understanding of mentally healthy management.

Managers are the linchpin of healthy, productive and successful workplaces. But too often the statistics tell us that many aren’t given the training and tools they need to have quality conversations about mental health and develop and implement positive practice.

Through this research we hope to empower managers from all walks of life to improve how they approach health and wellbeing at work.

- Ends -


Media contact:

John Kaponi Head of Media Relations, CMI

Notes to editors

The Manager's Voice is a survey undertaken by CMI of their practising members. Fieldwork was undertaken between 6th November and 4th December 2018 and 940 UK-based members responded.

Chartered Management Institute

  • The Chartered Management Institute is the chartered professional body for management and leadership, counting 132,000 managers and leaders in its membership community.
  • Backed by a unique Royal Charter, CMI is the only organisation able to award Chartered Manager status - the ultimate management accolade, which is proven to boost individuals’ career prospects, management capability and impact in the workplace. There are currently 6,856 Chartered Managers in membership.

Mental Health First Aid England (MHFA)

  • Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England offers evidence-based mental health training, including Mental Health First Aid, a mental health skills and awareness programme.
  • Mental health first aid training is the mental health equivalent of physical first aid training and gives people the skills, knowledge and confidence to recognise the signs and symptoms of common mental health issues and effectively guide a person towards the right support, be that self-help or professional services.
  • As experts in workplace mental health, MHFA England have been training people since 2009 and has trained hundreds of thousands of delegates in mental health knowledge and skills.
  • A social enterprise which reinvests its profits back into community training, MHFA England has a vision to improve the mental health of the nation and is on a mission to train one in ten of the adult population in mental health awareness and skills.

More information about MHFA England and its training can be found at mhfaengland.org or by emailing  info@mhfaengland.org.