Supportive leadership
Managers play one of the biggest roles in employee wellbeing.
Providing managers with the confidence to recognise early signs of stress, hold supportive conversations and manage workloads effectively can have a significant impact across the organisation.
Leadership should also model healthy behaviours, such as taking annual leave, setting realistic expectations and encouraging a healthy work-life balance.
Regular check-ins with employees should form part of everyday management. Simple questions such as:
“How are you finding your workload?”
“Is there anything making work more difficult at the moment?”
can open valuable conversations before problems escalate.
Supporting physical health
Physical health might include:
- Health promotion initiatives
- Good rehabilitation practices
- Health checks and wellbeing benefits
- Health insurance or protection
- Support for employees with disabilities
- Occupational health support
- Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs)
Physical safety is equally important. This could include:
- Safe working practices
- Appropriate and safe equipment
- Personal safety training
- Risk assessments for different working environments
Supporting mental health
Mental health should also be considered as part of the wider approach to workplace health. This might include:
- Stress management
- Mental health risk assessments
- Conflict resolution training
- Training managers to have difficult conversations
- Support for employees experiencing mental ill health
- Occupational health support
- Employee Assistance Programmes
The aim isn’t to make managers responsible for diagnosing or treating mental health conditions. Instead, they should have the skills and confidence to recognise when someone may be struggling, have an appropriate conversation and signpost them towards professional support.
Create good working conditions
Wellbeing is closely connected to the day-to-day experience of work.
Charities should consider whether their working environment, management practices and workloads allow people to do their jobs effectively without creating unnecessary pressure.
Working environment
Consider whether employees have:
- Ergonomically suitable working areas
- The equipment they need to do their jobs safely
- An open and inclusive working culture
- A working environment where people feel comfortable raising concerns
Good line management
Effective people management can make a significant difference to employee wellbeing.
This includes:
- Clear and effective people management policies
- Training and support for line managers
- Effective sickness absence management
- Regular one-to-one conversations
- Clear expectations around performance and workload
Work demands
It is also important to consider whether roles are realistically designed around the resources available.
This could include reviewing:
- Job design and responsibilities
- Workload
- Working hours
- Job quality and satisfaction
- Work-life balance
- Whether individuals are regularly taking on responsibilities outside their role
Autonomy
Giving employees an appropriate level of control over their work can support engagement and wellbeing.
Consider whether employees have opportunities to:
- Influence how they work
- Suggest improvements and innovate
- Raise concerns safely
- Contribute ideas and solutions
Change management
Change can be particularly challenging for charity teams, especially when organisations are managing funding pressures, restructuring or changes to services.
Clear communication, employee involvement and visible leadership can help people understand what is happening and feel more supported through periods of uncertainty.
Create boundaries around emotionally demanding work
For charities supporting vulnerable people, emotional fatigue is a genuine risk.
Employees may spend their working day dealing with difficult stories, challenging situations or people experiencing significant hardship. Without appropriate boundaries and support, this can become emotionally exhausting.
Managers should help employees recognise when they need time to reset and create a culture where taking a break is seen as part of working sustainably, rather than a sign of weakness.
Practical steps could include:
- Holding debriefs after challenging cases or incidents
- Encouraging people to take breaks after emotionally demanding work
- Giving employees opportunities to talk through difficult experiences
- Avoiding expectations to answer emails outside working hours
- Making it acceptable for employees to say when they are at capacity
- Reviewing workloads following particularly demanding periods
Wellbeing strategies you need to remember
Don’t forget your volunteers
Many charities focus their wellbeing initiatives on employees, but volunteers can also be exposed to pressure, emotional demands and challenging situations.
Volunteers are a vital part of many charitable organisations, and supporting their wellbeing can help charities retain the people who give their time to the cause.
Depending on the organisation and the role, this could include:
- Regular check-ins
- Clear expectations and role boundaries
- Appropriate training
- Recognition and appreciation
- Access to relevant support
- Opportunities to raise concerns
Volunteers should feel valued, supported and clear about where they can go if they are struggling.
Celebrate successes
Charity teams often move straight from one challenge to the next.
When workloads are high, it’s easy to forget the impact your team is making.
Sharing success stories, celebrating milestones and recognising individual contributions can remind people why their work matters and boost morale across the organisation.
Celebration doesn’t need to mean expensive rewards. A genuine thank you, sharing positive feedback from a beneficiary or recognising someone’s contribution in a team meeting can go a long way.
Supporting wellbeing doesn’t have to be expensive
Many charities assume that improving wellbeing requires significant investment.
In reality, some of the most effective initiatives cost very little.
These might include:
- Regular one-to-one meetings
- Mental health first aiders
- Employee and volunteer recognition programmes
- Clear communication during periods of change
- Encouraging employees to take their annual leave
- Regular workload reviews
- Manager training
- Peer support opportunities
- Creating clear boundaries around working hours
- Regular employee feedback
Consistency often delivers greater results than one-off wellbeing campaigns.
A wellbeing week can be a great way to raise awareness, but it shouldn’t be the only time wellbeing is discussed.
The role HR plays in employee wellbeing
HR shouldn’t only become involved when problems arise.
Effective HR support can help charities build wellbeing into everyday people management, rather than treating it as a separate initiative.
This may include:
- Developing wellbeing policies
- Training and supporting managers
- Reviewing sickness absence trends
- Conducting employee engagement surveys
- Supporting organisational change
- Reviewing flexible working policies
- Managing difficult wellbeing conversations
- Supporting employees returning to work after sickness absence
- Ensuring legal compliance around health and wellbeing
- Reviewing whether existing policies are working in practice
For smaller charities without a dedicated HR team, external HR support can provide access to experienced advice without the cost of employing a full-time HR function.
By taking a proactive approach, charities can reduce risk while creating a more engaged and sustainable workforce.
10 simple ways to improve wellbeing in your charity
You don’t need to transform everything overnight. Start with practical changes that can make a difference to your team.
Schedule regular one-to-one wellbeing check-ins.
Encourage employees to take their full annual leave entitlement
Train managers to spot the early signs of stress and burnout.
Review workloads regularly and redistribute work where needed.
Celebrate team successes and recognise individual contributions.
Offer flexible working where possible.
Include volunteers in relevant wellbeing initiatives.
Signpost support such as an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) or occupational health services.
Ask for employee feedback through regular surveys and conversations.
Review your wellbeing strategy regularly and make changes based on what your people need.
Building a heathier future for your charity
Looking after employee wellbeing isn’t simply about reducing stress. It’s about helping people continue delivering the incredible work charities exist to do.
When employees feel supported, organisations can benefit from stronger engagement, better collaboration, improved retention and higher-quality services for beneficiaries.
Every charity’s challenges are different, which is why wellbeing strategies should reflect your people, your culture and your mission.
Whether you’re developing a wellbeing strategy for the first time or reviewing your current approach, having experienced HR support can help ensure your approach is practical, sustainable and tailored to your organisation.
The best wellbeing strategy is one that works for your people — not simply one that looks good on paper.
Is your charity doing enough to support employee wellbeing?
Supporting your people shouldn’t be an afterthought. Whether you’re developing a wellbeing strategy from scratch or reviewing what you already have in place, the right HR support can help you create an approach that works for your people, your budget and your charity’s needs.
Let’s talk about how we can support your charity.
Frequently Asked Questions about wellbeing in charities
Why is employee wellbeing important in the charity sector? 
Employee wellbeing is particularly important in the charity sector because employees and volunteers can face high workloads, limited resources and emotionally demanding work. A proactive wellbeing strategy can help reduce the risk of burnout while supporting engagement, retention and sustainable performance.
What should a charity wellbeing strategy include?
A charity wellbeing strategy should consider physical and mental health, workload, working conditions, management, flexible working, communication, employee support and the specific emotional demands of the organisation’s work.
How can small charities support employee wellbeing?
Small charities can support wellbeing without a large budget. Regular one-to-ones, workload reviews, flexible working, recognition, clear communication and manager training can all make a meaningful difference.
How can charities prevent burnout?
Preventing burnout starts with identifying and addressing the causes of excessive pressure. Charities should regularly review workloads, encourage employees to take breaks and annual leave, train managers to recognise warning signs and create an environment where employees feel comfortable raising concerns.
Should volunteers be included in a charity’s wellbeing strategy?
Where appropriate, yes. Volunteers can experience many of the same pressures as employees, particularly when working directly with vulnerable people or supporting emotionally demanding services. Clear expectations, regular check-ins, recognition and appropriate support can help protect volunteer wellbeing.
What role does HR play in charity employee wellbeing?
HR can help charities develop practical wellbeing policies, train managers, review absence and engagement data, support employees through difficult situations and ensure people management practices meet legal requirements. For smaller charities, external HR support can provide access to this expertise without requiring an in-house HR team.
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