Mental health at work is not an individual issue or a question of "resilience." It directly reflects working conditions: mental load, pace, quality of coordination, psychological safety. When suffering at work arises, it is almost never a sign of personal fragility: it is the system that is overwhelmed.

Under the Labor Code, employers have a legal obligation to protect the physical and mental health of their employees, in particular through the DUERP (Single Document for the Assessment of Occupational Risks) and preventive measures carried out with the CSE (Social and Economic Committee) and employee representatives. But on a day-to-day basis, the role of the mental health manager is to act on concrete levers: clarity, pace, interactions, and trade-offs. Here are four practical steps to improve health at work and prevent burnout.

Clarify the framework and expectations to reduce mental load

Provide a clear framework to reduce mental load

Organizational ambiguity is one of the primary triggers of suffering at work. When priorities change without being made explicit or when rules remain implicit, everyone interprets them in their own way... and the mental load quickly increases.

Concrete example:
In a marketing team, the manager realizes that everyone is working on ten "priority" projects. She brings the team together, sets three priorities for the week, specifies what can be postponed, and explains the room for maneuver. Within two days, the pressure eases. Clarifying priorities immediately reduces mental load and stabilizes employee health.

Clarifying the framework means:

• Define three realistic priorities 
• Name what may be out of place 
• Making trade-offs visible
• Securing room for maneuver

Building a shared understanding to avoid anxiety-provoking interpretations

A goal may seem obvious, but as soon as everyone interprets it differently, the pressure mounts. It is often these differences in understanding that give rise to anxiety, fear of doing wrong, and the first faint signs of suffering at work.

Concrete example:
In a support team, the goal of "improving the customer experience" is understood in four different ways. Some imagine reducing delays, others improving the quality of exchanges, and others reviewing internal processes. The result: dispersion, mental fatigue, and tension.

However, a ten-minute collective reformulation is enough to align the criteria for success. A shared framework reduces the fear of making mistakes and protects mental health at work.

Once this foundation has been clarified, another issue arises: pace. Even with stable expectations, a team can become overloaded if the intensity becomes too high.

Regulate the team's pace to prevent overload

Identify cycles and signs of overheating

Chronic overload is one of the primary psychosocial risks. It manifests itself through subtle signs: minor errors, repeated delays, irritability, and back-to-back meetings. These indicators suggest that the system is becoming overwhelmed and should alert the manager.

Concrete example:
In a product team, errors skyrocket at the end of each month. By observing how the team works, the manager realizes that three departments send their urgent requests at the same time. The problem is not individual, it is structural.

Identifying these cycles allows us to intervene before the pressure becomes sustained and suffering at work sets in.

Adjust the pace to prevent pressure from building up

Stabilizing your pace is essential, but it is not enough to protect your mental health. Tensions arise mainly in everyday life: they arise, grow, or subside in everyday interactions.

A sustainable pace protects both performance and physical and mental health. When the tempo becomes too fast or too irregular, pressure builds and the team loses focus.

Concrete example: In an IT team, the manager observes that developers are interrupted every twenty minutes. He introduces two daily focus periods. Within a few days, the team "gets some breathing space" and the quality of deliverables improves significantly. A simple adjustment to the pace changes the work dynamic.

To regulate the pace, the manager can:

• establish focus periods;
• sequence deadlines to avoid peak workloads;
• filter certain requests to protect in-depth work;
• preserve mental recovery time.

Stabilizing the pace is essential, but it is not enough to protect mental health. Tensions often arise in everyday life: they emerge, intensify, or subside in everyday interactions. This is where the third managerial action comes in.

Monitoring daily operations to detect and address weak signals

Establish short rituals to pick up on subtle signals

The first signs of suffering at work are often subtle: emotional fatigue, withdrawal, irritability, and a decline in mutual support. Without regular rituals, these signals go unnoticed.

A real-life example:
Every Friday, an HR manager conducts a ten-minute one-on-one meeting. An employee confides that he feels overwhelmed. She adjusts his workload on Monday. This micro-ritual prevents burnout.

To explore this approach in greater depth, the NUMA eBook " Managing Emotions and Conflicts " shows that the prevention of psychosocial risks depends on the regularity of these brief interactions.

Making work visible to prevent suffering at work

Invisible work creates uncertainty... and therefore stress. Making work visible reduces mental load and improves psychological safety.

Concrete example:
In a project team, a weekly "progress/blockages/tensions" ritual brings to light a blockage that two members did not dare to mention. The workload is rebalanced, and the tension immediately eases.

These rituals help detect weak signals, but their impact depends on the manager's attitude.

Adopting a managerial approach that protects mental health

Leading by example by taking responsibility for one's own regulation

A consistent and transparent manager provides more protection than any tool. Identifying limitations, explaining trade-offs, or slowing down a project sets the tone and strengthens the health and safety of the group.

Concrete example:
During a busy period, a manager puts a secondary project on hold to preserve the quality of the main deliverable. The team then allows itself to express its tensions instead of hiding them.

This managerial approach also fits into a context where expectations of management are changing. The NUMA webinar " Managing the New Generations " sheds light on these needs for transparency, psychological safety, and quality relationships at work.

Making courageous decisions to ensure safe working conditions

Protecting mental health at work sometimes means saying no, redistributing, postponing, or clarifying. Making clear decisions reassures the team and reduces occupational risks.

Concrete example:
In a finance team, one employee is handling all urgent matters and showing signs of exhaustion. The manager redistributes responsibilities and suspends an internal project. The pressure eases within a few days.

Mental health at work depends on the environment, pace, daily interactions, and managerial attitude. These four actions form the basis of preventive measures and provide long-term support for employee health. Transformation begins with a simple step: choose one, implement it this week, then observe the effects on the team.