My Whole Self Day – 10th March 2026

By Lisa Fricker, Head of Solicitor Services & Quality Assurance

MHFA England has launched an initiative called ‘My Whole Self’, which is a campaign for workplace culture change. MHFA England wants employers to create cultures where people feel safe to bring their whole self to work, if they choose. Teams that feel safe and connected work better together, driving improvements in mental health and performance.

MHFA England are warning employers of the risks of deprioritising equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI), cautioning that doing so could impact employee and business health.

Research published by them recently to mark ‘My Whole Self Day’, reveals almost a third of employees (30%) say people in their organisation sometimes reject others for being different. 1 in 10 employees (9%) said they do not feel their team treat each other with respect.

The research was carried out by MHFA England in partnership with Henley Business School, among 2,000 employees. It also revealed the number of people who feel they can bring their whole self to work has dropped dramatically in the past five years, as EDI initiatives come under threat globally. Companies such as Google, Meta, McDonald’s, and Amazon have announced they are scaling back EDI initiatives.

There’s been a 25% drop in the number of people who feel they can bring their whole self to work, (66% in 2020, 41% in 2024) risking employee wellbeing and productivity. Of the employees surveyed, around a third agree that not being your whole self at work has an impact on productivity (31%), mental health (34%), and engagement with work (36%), demonstrating the knock-on wellbeing, purpose, and performance.

Data released for ‘My Whole Self Day’ 2025 reveals that only half of the number of people who think it’s important to bring your whole self to work feel able to do so. 82% think it’s important people are able to bring their whole self to work, but only 41% of people feel they can, and only 31% felt their colleagues could do so in practice.

This is particularly true for those with protected characteristics. 54% of Black people say not being able to bring your whole self to work impacts productivity and 51% of gay or lesbian people say it impacts their mental health. Only 1 in 4 (25%) people with mental ill health felt they could bring their whole self to work. The more energy employees use to hide parts of themselves at work, the less energy they have to focus on work. By deprioritising EDI employers risk increasing this further. This brain drain could result in a significant loss of talent and a decline in productivity.

There is also concern about the disconnect between manager and employer perceptions of psychological safety. MHFA England research shows that while senior managers are most likely to recognise the importance of being able to bring your whole self to work, they tend to overestimate the extent to which they feel their colleagues can do so.

This year, MHFA England have worked in partnership with Henley Business School, publishing a new report exploring how psychological safety can influence employee engagement and wellbeing.

You can read the full report; MHFA England white paper: The business case for belonging. How psychological safety drives engagement, wellbeing, and performance by following the below link. 

https://mhfaengland.org/mhfa-centre/research-and-evaluation/the-business-case-for-belonging/

In addition, MHFA England provides a range of free tools and activities for organisations to use to start changing their workplace culture and empower their employees to bring their whole selves to work. You can access the resources needed to get involved by following the below link.

https://mhfaengland.org/my-whole-self/

At Temple Legal Protection, we are fully committed to supporting our staff’s Health & Wellbeing, ensuring that equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) is at the forefront of employee wellbeing. With a dedicated Mental Health & Wellbeing page on our internal homepage, topical webinars provided by Mental Health in Business (MHiB) yearly and a MHFAider. We provide the support and encouragement we can, to create a culture where staff feel valued and that they can bring their ‘Whole Self’ to work.