Sir Charlie Mayfield and the Case for Rehumanising Work

Sir Charlie Mayfield was quite clear at the recent Work and Health Summit: workplace health is not fixed by piling on more wellbeing programmes. The true repair comes from better relationships. This sharp observation builds on his Keep Britain Working review, but was made even more pointed in his recent update. The facts speak for themselves — over one in five working-age adults are out of work, with mental ill-health among younger adults hitting a 76 percent rise since 2019. The economic cost is staggering — a £212 billion bill to the state each year. Yet, what Mayfield highlights now is less about policy and more about practical connection: the relationships, or lack thereof, that determine whether people get help early, or become isolated.

One comment from an employee has lingered with the review team: "If I had a great line manager, I wouldn't need this. If I had a bad one, I wouldn't want it." This sums up the difference between intention and structure. Goodwill alone isn't enough; you need systems that make early, honest contact routine, not exceptional.

This is the very argument I explore in Rebuilding the Village. Goodwill was never the problem — we've simply pulled apart the structures that once supported it. Where once extended family, community groups, and local connections shared the burden, now isolated relationships are expected to do the work of many. Little wonder they buckle under pressure.

Mayfield paints the same picture inside workplaces. Colleagues signed off on long-term absence often hear nothing from their employer for months. Not due to indifference, but because no system is in place to make early connection the norm. Occupational health teams confirm that employers frequently only reach out when an absence becomes long, missing opportunities to offer support sooner. The relationship exists, but without the structural support to activate it, it too often fails.

The ASPIRE framework is designed precisely to build those structures. Accountability in this context isn't about blaming managers for missing signs; it's about embedding early noticing into how organisations operate. Support needs to be present before a crisis, not added on later. Purpose and Inspiration create the conditions where employees feel safe to speak up early, knowing their value isn't diminished by temporary struggles. Resilience is a shared system property, and Education equips managers with the conversations they should be having before someone reaches crisis point.

Mayfield also reminds us that SMEs mustn't be left out. Nearly two thirds of UK workers are in small and medium businesses — with less access to HR resources, they are even more vulnerable without the right structures in place. Fixing workplace health isn't an optional extra for large companies; it must be a priority for all.

The path forward will involve testing what works in practice, across different employers and regions. But solutions will be irrelevant if organisations do not start from the premise that this is about fixing structures, not blaming individuals. No resilience training can substitute for a workplace that's designed to notice, care and connect from the start.

This applies not just to work, but to schools, communities, and families. The challenge is always the same: we try to treat the person, when what's needed is to rebuild the village around them.

Rebuilding the Village, my forthcoming book due early 2027, explores this theme in full. If you'd like to register interest, please visit rebuildingthevillagebook.com.

← All articles