The ROI of Mental Performance Initiatives

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June 25, 2025

In its 2025 Work That Works report, Employment Hero offers compelling insight into the true business value of investing in workplace wellbeing and mental performance. The research arrives at a critical time—UK productivity ranks fourth among the G7, behind the US, Germany, and France, with SMEs trailing large firms by as much as 50% in some industries.

The key message? Mental performance initiatives are no longer a “nice to have”—they’re essential for driving sustainable business growth.

The Productivity Challenge Facing SMEs

Small and medium-sized enterprises, while agile and entrepreneurial, often suffer from structural inefficiencies. The productivity gap between SMEs and large firms isn’t just down to resources. It’s also due to the under-prioritisation of core people strategies, such as job satisfaction and recognition.

Satisfaction and Recognition: The Real Performance Drivers

Two of the strongest levers for improving employee productivity—job satisfaction and recognition—are consistently overlooked:

Job satisfaction correlates almost perfectly with employee performance.
Recognition significantly increases motivation, retention, and discretionary effort.

The data is striking:

Employees with high satisfaction are three times more likely to feel committed and twice as likely to be self-motivated.
27% are less likely to go the extra mile when only monetary rewards are offered.
33% are more likely to exceed expectations when their contributions are recognised.
Recognition-rich companies are 40% less likely to face staff retention issues.

Despite these clear benefits, half of employees say they don’t feel recognised enough, while just 37% of leaders think this is a problem—pointing to a significant disconnect between leadership perception and employee experience.

Even more concerning, recognition ranked 19th out of 20 productivity priorities among business leaders—one of the lowest on the list.

Where Mental Performance Ranks (and Why That Matters)

The misalignment is just as visible in how job satisfaction is valued:

Large organisations place it 7th in their list of priorities.
SMEs, however, rank it only 9th.

For SMEs already battling internal productivity gaps, deprioritising mental performance initiatives is a missed opportunity. These are precisely the businesses that would benefit most from improved staff engagement, retention, and motivation.

Mind Strength for Professionals: A Strategic Solution

Mind Strength for Professionals addresses this issue directly. By helping individuals build psychological resilience, find meaning in their work, and manage stress, the programme fuels individual and organisational performance.

Unlike surface-level wellbeing perks, mental performance initiatives like Mind Strength for Professionals goes deeper—supporting both personal and professional growth. The result is a more resilient, focused, and productive workforce.

The Bottom Line: A Smart Investment

Mental performance initiatives deliver quantifiable benefits: