Mental health at work: how are SMEs equipping themselves to prevent mental overload?

Nationally recognized, mental health was designated a major national cause for 2025 and renewed in 2026 by the government. In this context, very small businesses (TPEs) and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which employ nearly 7 million people[2] in France and are often perceived as less structured on these issues, nevertheless play a key role. Isospace, an SME based in Boulogne-Billancourt, conducted an internal survey dedicated to mental health and workload, with a clear objective: to listen, understand, and take sustainable action.

A response tailored to a specific context

In September 2025, like many companies in the building and space planning sector, Isospace was emerging from a demanding period marked by reorganizations, departures, and a strong recovery in activity after a cautious first half of the year. Management therefore felt it was important to dedicate time to structured listening to better understand the teams' feelings, objectively assess certain emerging issues, and identify concrete areas for improvement.

The objective was not only to measure a climate, but above all to be able to share the results with employees and to initiate long-term improvement actions.

Valuable lessons for management

Conducted anonymously via the company's HRIS at the end of 2025, the survey collected a participation rate of more than half of the employees, providing a reliable basis for analyzing, during the first quarter of 2026, the real feelings of the teams.

Three major lessons emerge:

• Workload and deadlines are the main sources of tension, with a expressed need for better prioritization and anticipation.
• The team emerges as a true pillar: the importance of support among colleagues is rated at 3,7/5, revealing strong cohesion despite a demanding context.
• Employees express expectations regarding internal communication and recognition, with areas for improvement identified in access to stress management resources (3,0/5) and the promotion of mental and physical health (2,7/5).

A precise action plan in response to employees' expectations

For management, this approach was a key moment of objectivity and awareness.

For Stéphanie Grandiau, Deputy General Manager and HR Director of Isospace: “This survey is an act of listening and responsibility, aligned with the company's values. At Isospace, sustainable performance also depends on the quality of the team, the attention paid to individuals, and our ability to evolve our practices. Once the results were analyzed, we implemented an action plan, proving that taking care of employees' mental health is not a matter of size but of the will to act.”

A structured action plan has already been deployed around four priority areas: strengthening listening and recognition; better balancing workload; improving internal communication; developing prevention in mental and physical health.

In concrete terms, this translates into the implementation of monthly meetings dedicated to employee well-being with the HR department, the creation of an internal alert channel with a guaranteed response time, access to psychological consultations via the company health insurance platform, and an ergonomic review of workstations. The company is also working on revising job descriptions and redistributing tasks "outside the scope of work" in close collaboration with line managers. Another lever is remote work: "Remote work is excellent for reducing the weekly mental workload and reclaiming some time for family," emphasized one employee during the survey.

The objective is clear: to reduce perceived pressure, improve internal communication, and prevent risky situations. With this approach, Isospace demonstrates that, beyond the size of the organization, it is the will to act and the method that make the difference in terms of quality of work life.

[1] Mental Health & QWL Barometer 2026 Qualisocial x Ipsos-BVA January 2026

[2] 6,9 million micro-enterprises + SMEs excluding micro-enterprises according to INSEE

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.