On World Mental Health Day, Human Resources spoke with three members of the board of the Pact for Mental Health in Work Environments: Frederico Fezas Vital, Executive Director, and Deputy Executive Directors José Sintra, Head of People Strategy at VDA, and Liliana Dias, Managing Partner at Bound.Health. They discussed the results of three years of collaborative work and the publication of the Roadmap for Mental Health in Organizations, a practical tool offering a structured path to integrate mental health into organizational strategy.
More Than Three Years After Its Creation, Does the Initial Mission Remain the Same?
Frederico Fezas Vital:
Essentially, the mission and initial objectives of the Pact remain the same, although, naturally, there have been normal adjustments and adaptations arising from the dynamic interaction with the member organizations — who, as such, are co-builders of its goals and ambitions.
In July 2022, when we laid the first stone of this “Pact for Mental Health in Work Environments,” with the first Summit and the launch of the research note “Mental Health in the Workplace – A State of the Art and Guidelines for Action,” we already understood the strategic importance of this topic for organizations — not only as one of the pillars of sustainability but also as a key business vector. We also knew, from the conclusions of that research and from the empirical observation of the transformations brought by the pandemic, that 2022 — in the aftermath of COVID-19 and in a period of individual and collective reflection — was the right time to act.
The question then was: What would be the most effective way, the most efficient model, for mental health to gain the role within organizations that evidence already showed it deserved — both for people’s well-being and for productivity and efficiency? Social innovation gave us some important clues:
- It had to be a model that reflected and addressed the concerns and needs of organizations.
- It should offer a clear value proposition that would encourage adherence and engagement.
- It was crucial that it felt like something that truly belonged to the participating organizations and whose progress was guided by them — because without that sense of ownership, sustainability would be doomed from the start.
- Finally, it needed to generate tangible results that could benefit not only the participating organizations but also those still seeking guidance to develop their own mental health strategies — thus reinforcing organizations’ systemic responsibility.
I believe this mission still makes perfect sense today. And we’ve already achieved several of the ambitions initially set out. The Pact’s objectives, after normal iterations in the evolution process, can now be summarized in three main points:
- Creating value for members — We want to grow in number and maintain diversity in size, sector, maturity, and nature (public, private, or social).
- Sharing knowledge and practices — A “safe space,” built on a spirit of service, where members share openly and, by sharing, also benefit from the collective knowledge of all.
- Creating synergies with strategic entities — We are aware that to achieve the initiative’s full potential, we must engage multiple actors in this ecosystem, and we’ve been working constantly toward that.
What Have Been the Main Challenges and Opportunities Throughout This Period?
Frederico Fezas Vital:
An initiative with this ambition and with the scale it has already reached naturally brings many challenges — and, of course, many opportunities as well. To keep it concise, I would highlight two of each, which I consider the most relevant.
Challenges:
- Coordination and stakeholder engagement – A shared vision ensures a willingness to collaborate. However, in day-to-day reality, the pace and level of engagement vary across organizations, and for the Pact’s leadership, it is a constant challenge to find ways of involvement that truly mobilize everyone.
- Defining common value propositions – Since the Pact’s goal is to meet the needs of organizations of very different sizes and levels of maturity, the focus on delivering value in a way that is broadly satisfying always represents a major challenge.
Opportunities:
- The opportunity of diversity – We firmly believe, and the feedback we’ve received confirms it, that this is one of the Pact’s greatest strengths: learning among peers, even when their mental health strategies differ greatly in maturity and scale. That very disparity allows more advanced organizations to keep questioning the basics, while less advanced ones can learn from and feel inspired by those “ahead of them.”
- The opportunity for depth – From the beginning, we have done demanding and time-intensive work in groups of organizations. This effort has allowed us to dig deeper into the roots of mental health management within companies. To go deep, you need time. And to dedicate time, initiatives like the Pact help define ambitious goals, milestones, and timelines. We believe this structure helps organizations continuously deepen their understanding of a topic that cannot be treated superficially or lightly.
How Was the Collaborative Building Process Developed Over These Three Years?
Frederico Fezas Vital:
It was a gradual and progressive process in which organizations became involved to the extent of their possibilities — through working groups to explore specific topics and share best practices, through the organization of our annual Summits (moments to share results, expand networks, and debate key issues), and through meetings for reflection and learning created by the Pact’s leadership over the years.
What I can say is that it has been a journey of tremendous growth and, in our view, a strong example for society. To mention just one point in which we believe we are a model to follow: four major companies from the energy sector — BP, EDP, GALP, and REN — are part of the Pact and have been very active in sharing and collaborative work. This sends an important message to Portuguese society: when it comes to mental health — a topic that cuts across all sectors — there is no room for competition. Only for collaboration, cooperation, and alignment.
Today You Already Have 32 Companies Involved. What Commitment Do They Make When Joining the Pact?
Frederico Fezas Vital:
In fact, there are now more than 32, with recent additions such as Leroy Merlin, Leya, Central de Cervejas, and Dorel, just to name a few.
Beyond the symbolic commitments made by signing the Pact, participation translates into five main lines of action:
- Develop and present action plans to support good mental health within organizations.
- Promote a corporate culture of openness around mental health, working to eliminate stigma, with the active involvement of leadership.
- Empower all employees to manage and prioritize their own mental health and to support one another.
- Guide employees toward mental health tools and support when needed.
- Regularly measure the impact of mental health initiatives within companies.
There is also a commitment to the fundamental principles that guide participation in the Pact, with which all organizations must align:
- Ownership: This is a movement that belongs to all and to each of the organizations involved. For that reason, all decisions about the Pact’s direction and activities are made during the annual plenary sessions and later implemented by a delegated team.
- Service: Organizations that join the Pact seek not only resources and learnings that can enhance their own strategies, policies, and measures but also contribute to the collective progress of others through sharing tools, networks, and experiences both inside and outside the Pact. This must be a common and cross-cutting goal of the corporate world, reflected in the Pact’s culture and identity.
- Safe sharing: It is important that moments of sharing among organizations take place with openness and honesty so that learning can be built not only on successes but also on what went wrong — the errors and the strategies used to correct them. The initial alignment with the Pact’s action lines and foundational principles ensures that this sharing happens safely and that there is a natural selection of organizations that truly belong.
Is It Already Possible to Measure the Pact’s Impact on Member Companies?
Liliana Dias:
We are currently developing impact measurement tools together with a scientific council, in order to make our theory of change more robust and to establish concrete objectives and indicators for assessing the results achieved by member organizations.
Until now, impact assessment has been carried out informally, through the sharing of learnings, good practices, and less successful steps taken by members. The culture we’ve built within the Pact values honest sharing — not only of successes but also of challenges, unsuccessful pilots, and difficulties faced when effectively promoting mental health in the workplace.
What Does the “Roadmap for Mental Health at Work,” Presented This Year, Consist Of?
Liliana Dias:
The Roadmap serves as a manual designed to guide organizations through a critical path of maturity in managing mental health in the workplace. It was created collaboratively, always grounded in science, international and national benchmarking of best practices, and the sharing of concrete cases implemented by member organizations.
Because mental health promotion is a complex, demanding, and relatively recent topic in organizational management, our aim was to simplify, inform, and guide practical implementation — while remaining anchored in scientific evidence — so that mental health programs can achieve real, measurable impact for organizations.
What Objectives Were Defined?
José Sintra:
In developing the Roadmap, the Pact sought to create a participatory and dynamic resource offering a complete guide on how to design, implement, and evaluate mental health promotion programs within organizations.
We now want to make the Roadmap a concrete and action-oriented capacity-building program — the Roadmap Lab — through which each chapter of the document will become a training and action session. We plan to launch the Roadmap Lab in January 2026, fully led by the Pact but open to the wider community. This will go beyond the guide itself and become a hands-on capacity-building program for all organizations.
With this cycle, we also aim to test its real applicability and incorporate improvements for a second version of the document, to be finalized by the end of 2026.
How Was the Roadmap Developed, and What Role Did the Companies Play in the Process?
Liliana Dias:
The design of the Roadmap was entirely collaborative — from ideation to implementation — through working groups that drafted each chapter. Members were involved in every stage: from scientific research and benchmarking, to creating tools, consolidating critical input, sharing applied case studies from their organizations, and participating in the final review of the document.
What Practical Tools Does the Roadmap Offer to Organizations?
Liliana Dias:
The Pact provides tools for every stage of the workplace mental health promotion process:
- How to self-assess an organization’s level of maturity on the topic;
- How to diagnose mental health risks among employees and cross-reference them with other key organizational performance indicators;
- How to set priorities and take successful steps in implementation, as well as internal and external communication;
- How to draw inspiration from best practices while ensuring proper adaptation and contextualization;
- And how to measure the effectiveness of interventions and their impact results.
What Indicators Are Used to Evaluate Progress in Workplace Mental Health?
Liliana Dias:
There are several key indicators, grouped mainly into five major categories:
- Psychosocial risk indicators;
- Absenteeism and presenteeism indicators;
- Indicators gathered through occupational health activities — such as medical exams, health results, work fitness assessments, and sick leave;
- Engagement and satisfaction indicators — including employee satisfaction, employee NPS (Net Promoter Score), and organizational climate;
- ROI indicators — measuring the return on investment of health and productivity programs.
Is There Evidence That Mental Health Is Becoming a Strategic Lever for Productivity, Innovation, and Talent Retention?
José Sintra:
There is consistent evidence that investing in mental health brings measurable benefits for productivity, innovation, and talent retention.
Productivity:
We know that presenteeism — being physically present but mentally absent due to psychological issues — costs companies far more than absenteeism. For example, the 2023 report “Prosperity and Sustainability of Organizations” published by the Portuguese Order of Psychologists shows that each employee can lose up to 15.8 working days in productivity due to presenteeism. This is roughly double the productivity loss due to absenteeism, which averages 8 working days.
Innovation:
There is a direct relationship between psychological safety and creativity. Teams where employees feel supported and can express vulnerability without fear are more likely to foster a climate of innovation.
Talent Retention:
The impact is perhaps even more evident here. Younger generations, in particular, actively seek employers who demonstrate genuine commitment to well-being. What was once seen as a perk has now become an essential competitive differentiator.
What Have Been the Main Challenges in Implementing Mental Health Policies in Companies?
José Sintra:
The biggest challenge remains raising leadership awareness to see mental health as a strategic priority, not just a cost or “nice to have.” Without top-level commitment, initiatives tend to be superficial.
Another significant obstacle is measuring results. Unlike other HR metrics, the impact of mental health policies is harder to quantify, making it difficult to justify investments to management.
Finally, especially in SMEs, there is often a lack of budget, qualified professionals, and time to implement comprehensive programs. Many companies end up doing isolated actions rather than integrated strategies.
How Do You See the Future of Mental Health in the Portuguese Business Context?
José Sintra:
I see a promising future, but there is still a long road ahead. We are witnessing an important generational transformation in the labor market, and younger professionals are demanding healthier work environments.
I believe we will see evolution on three main fronts:
- Integration of mental health into organizational strategy — it will no longer be just an HR concern.
- Development of leadership — leaders will be better prepared to manage teams with a focus on well-being and mental health.
- Changes in occupational health and safety legislation, particularly in the assessment and prevention of psychosocial risks.
- The challenge for Portugal will be ensuring that this transformation is not limited to large companies or multinationals. We need scalable solutions that reach SMEs, which represent the majority of our business landscape.
What Are the Next Steps for the Pact and the Roadmap?
Frederico Fezas Vital:
After the July 2025 Summit, where the Pact launched its first product — the Roadmap for Mental Health at Work — and following the strategic meeting with Pact members in early September, we defined four major pillars of focus for the near future:
- Governance — increase the number of members and enhance engagement across all organizations.
- Research — define four main research lines, from the impact of digital transformation on mental health to leadership quality and its influence on workplace mental health strategies. Applied research aims to create tools, develop impactful community projects, and influence public policy.
- Training — leverage the Roadmap, translating its eight steps for creating a workplace mental health strategy into a sequential training cycle open to all organizations, members or not.
- Communication — continue and strengthen communication efforts, not only about Pact initiatives and results but also about initiatives developed by each member organization.
Overall, I would conclude that we need to grow our membership, maintain diversity among organizations, and increasingly ensure this remains an initiative by organizations, for organizations, in Portuguese — from Portugal, for Portugal — so that in the near future, there is no doubt about the importance of including mental health in the strategy of any organization, regardless of its size, nature, or sector.