Duck Score

Tag: Mental Health awareness

  • The Trust Paradox: Unlocking Mental Health Support in the Modern Workplace

    A Duck Score White Paper

    February 2025

    Authors: Mark Dando & Emma Mulqueeny OBE

    Executive Summary

    Organisations face a critical challenge: whilst investment in workplace mental health programmes continues to rise, mental health challenges now cost the UK economy £53-56 billion annually through absenteeism, presenteeism and staff turnover – a 25% increase since 2019. Employee Assistance Programs (EAP’s), which serve over 13 million people across 80,000 UK and Irish organisations, are often the cornerstone of workplace mental health support. However, our comprehensive study of over 500 professionals across the UK, US, and Europe reveals that only 18% of organisations are rated as having “Excellent” mental health support by their employees – highlighting a critical disconnect between provision and effectiveness. Research suggests those most in need of support are often the least likely to seek it, creating a concerning gap in mental health provision.

    Our research shows that trust and privacy concerns manifest differently across organisational hierarchies:

    • Selective Disclosure: Approximately 65% of respondents would only share mental health challenges with select trusted colleagues or HR/wellness staff
    • Universal Privacy Requirements: Across all seniority levels, privacy control and career protection emerge as non-negotiable requirements
    • Role-Based Variations: Senior leaders show higher comfort with disclosure, but still emphasize the need for bounded sharing and privacy guarantees

    With one in eight work days lost due to mental health-related absence, and rising presenteeism costing UK businesses significantly more, addressing trust barriers is both a moral and financial imperative. Our research reveals three critical trust enablers that organisations must address:

    • Granular Privacy Control: The ability to selectively share information emerged as the top requirement across all roles
    • Career Protection: Clear separation from performance reviews and professional development processes
    • Evidence of Impact: Employees need transparent demonstration of how shared information improves support systems

    This white paper presents a new framework for building trust-first mental health initiatives that employees will actually use, based on insights from individuals across organisational hierarchies – from individual contributors to senior management. We provide actionable insights for leaders to transform their approach to workplace mental health support, moving from broad, one-size-fits-all programmes to trust-enabled systems that drive genuine engagement and measurable business impact.

    The Current Landscape

    Deloitte’s 2024 Mental Health Report reveals that nearly 30% of UK employees have either left their jobs or are planning to leave in the next year, with mental health concerns driving almost 40% of turnover costs. Despite substantial investments, current approaches are delivering diminishing returns, with presenteeism remaining the largest challenge and staff turnover rates climbing.

    This organisational challenge exists against a backdrop of growing personal investment in mental wellbeing. Employees are increasingly taking proactive steps to manage their mental health, evidenced by the explosive growth of mental wellness and mindfulness apps. Platforms like Calm and Headspace now serve over 170 million users globally, with individuals willing to invest their own time and money in mental wellbeing tools. This personal commitment to mental health makes the organisational trust gap even more striking – while people are actively seeking support through private channels, they remain hesitant to engage with workplace mental health provisions.

    The current approach to workplace mental health typically centres on service availability and basic utilisation metrics. While organisations track service access and satisfaction scores, this surface-level analysis misses crucial opportunities for deeper insights and proactive intervention. According to Deloitte’s research, proactive interventions consistently deliver better outcomes and higher returns on investment than reactive approaches.

    Organisations that successfully collect trusted mental health data gain access to critical insights that extend far beyond individual wellbeing. These insights can inform change readiness assessments, helping leaders understand their teams’ capacity for transformation. For example, as organisations navigate the implementation of AI into current business processes, understanding employee resilience and adaptability becomes critical to success. Early warning signals about resource pressure points and team stress levels can help leaders time and pace such significant operational changes effectively. This data-driven approach to transformation is particularly crucial given that 82% of employees report experiencing work-related stress, with the majority citing the need for better support during periods of organisational change.

    Understanding Trust Barriers

    The challenge isn’t just about providing mental health support—it’s about creating an environment where employees feel safe accessing it. Traditional approaches to workplace mental health often fail to recognize how trust dynamics vary across different organisational levels and contexts.

    Senior leaders, while often advocating for mental health support, face unique challenges around vulnerability and information control. Our data shows that while they may be more comfortable discussing mental health in principle, they are particularly conscious of how their disclosures might impact their leadership authority. Middle managers find themselves in an especially complex position, needing to both support their teams’ mental health while managing their own challenges. Individual contributors, meanwhile, express the strongest concerns about how mental health disclosures might affect their career trajectories.

    The impact of these trust barriers extends beyond individual wellbeing to affect critical business decisions. Without reliable mental health data, organisations struggle to accurately assess team capacity for change, identify optimal timing for major initiatives, or predict potential burnout points.

    The Broader Impact of Trust

    While our focus is on mental health support, building trust architecture has far-reaching implications for organisational performance. Harvard Business Review research demonstrates that high-trust organisations achieve remarkable advantages over their peers, including 76% more engagement, 50% more productivity, and 40% less burnout. Trust becomes the foundation upon which high-performing teams are built, enabling more effective collaboration, increased innovation, and greater resilience during periods of change.

    These benefits create a virtuous cycle – as teams experience the positive impact of trust in one area (such as mental health support), they become more likely to extend that trust to other aspects of work. Organisations that successfully build trust architecture for mental health support often find these same frameworks enable better change management, stronger team dynamics, and more effective leadership overall.

    Building Trust Architecture

    The path to effective mental health support requires organisations to fundamentally rethink how they build trust with their employees. Our research reveals three critical components that together create an environment where employees feel safe sharing mental health information:

    Granular Control Systems

    Traditional mental health support often forces employees into binary choices: share everything or nothing at all. Our research shows that employees need nuanced control over their information. This means:

    • Selective sharing capabilities that allow employees to choose specific trusted colleagues
    • Tiered privacy settings that enable gradual expansion of trust circles
    • Clear visibility of who has access to what information
    • The ability to adjust sharing permissions over time

    Professional Safeguards

    Career protection emerged as a non-negotiable requirement across all organisational levels. Effective trust architecture must include:

    • Clear separation between mental health support and performance management
    • Protected career pathways that demonstrate disclosure won’t impact progression
    • Transparent policies about how mental health data influences business decisions
    • Strong governance frameworks that protect employee interests

    Evidence of Impact

    Employees need to see tangible benefits from sharing their mental health information. This includes:

    • Anonymous aggregate insights that help organisations make better decisions
    • Clear examples of how shared information leads to positive changes
    • Regular feedback loops that demonstrate the value of participation
    • Measurable improvements in organisational support systems

    Implementation Framework: Next Steps for Leaders 

    Building effective trust architecture requires a systematic approach that balances employee privacy with organisational insight. Our research identifies four key implementation phases:

    Phase 1: Trust Assessment

    Before implementing new systems, organisations must understand their current trust landscape:

    • Conduct anonymous trust surveys using validated metrics like the Leadership Trust Index (LTI)
    • Map existing informal support networks
    • Identify key barriers to mental health disclosure
    • Assess current data protection and privacy mechanisms
    • Benchmark current trust levels against industry standards

    Phase 2: Technology Infrastructure

    Select and implement technology solutions that enable:

    • Granular privacy controls that put employees in control
    • Anonymous aggregation of mental health data
    • Secure data storage and transmission
    • Integration with existing wellbeing initiatives
    • Seamless connection with daily workflow tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams
    • Single sign-on to reduce platform fatigue

    Phase 3: Trust-Based Rollout

    Implement changes gradually to build confidence:

    • Start with pilot groups who can champion the approach
    • Demonstrate privacy protections in action
    • Show clear examples of how aggregate data informs decisions
    • Build feedback loops for continuous improvement
    • Implement recognition programmes that reward participation with additional wellbeing days
    • Create positive feedback loops between engagement and rewards

    Phase 4: Measuring Impact

    Establish clear metrics for success:

    • Engagement rates with mental health support
    • Reduction in absenteeism and presenteeism
    • Employee trust scores
    • Business impact of data-informed decisions
    • Overall team performance improvements

    Conclusion

    The trust gap in workplace mental health support represents both a challenge and an opportunity. While organisations have demonstrated their commitment through increased investment, the path to effective support lies not in spending more, but in building better trust architecture. By implementing the framework outlined in this paper, organisations can create an environment where employees feel safe sharing mental health information, leading to better individual outcomes and stronger organisational performance.

    The benefits extend far beyond mental health support alone. As organisations build trust architecture, they create the foundation for high-performing teams, better change management, and more resilient workplaces. In today’s rapidly evolving business environment, this trust-based approach isn’t just about supporting mental health—it’s about creating the conditions for sustainable organisational success.

    How Duck Score Enables Trust Architecture

    Traditional workplace mental health solutions often suffer from low engagement due to trust and privacy concerns. Duck Score is designed to bridge this gap by providing a safe, simple, and privacy-controlled way for employees to engage with their mental wellbeing without fear of career consequences.

    Granular Privacy Controls

    • Employees can self-assess their mental wellbeing through a 1-5 scoring system, with optional private journaling
    • Control over sharing: Employees choose whether to keep scores private, share within a trusted nest (small support group), or contribute anonymously to organisational wellbeing trends

    Separation from Performance Reviews

    • Duck Score operates independently from HR and performance evaluations
    • Employees engage voluntarily, without risk of managerial oversight or judgement

    Evidence of Impact: Data-Driven Wellbeing Insights

    • Organisations receive aggregated, anonymised insights to understand trends without compromising individual privacy
    • Provides leading indicators of wellbeing, helping employers make proactive adjustments to workplace culture and support systems

    Flexible Implementation for Any Workplace

    • Available as a standalone employee wellbeing tool or as an enterprise integration (e.g., Slack, Microsoft Teams)
    • Supports organisations in monitoring the effectiveness of mental health initiatives through real-time, ethical data tracking

    By embedding trust into workplace mental health initiatives, Duck Score transforms how organisations support employee wellbeing—without compromising individual autonomy.

    Appendices

    Full Survey Results

    The survey engaged over 500 professionals from diverse industries and organisational hierarchies. Key demographic details include representation across technology, healthcare, finance, and manufacturing sectors. Respondents ranged from individual contributors to C-suite executives, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of workplace mental health dynamics.

    Methodology Details

    Duck Score conducted an anonymised online survey between January 1 and January 15, 2025. The questionnaire consisted of both quantitative and qualitative sections, exploring attitudes, concerns, and preferences regarding workplace mental health support. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic coding to uncover trends and insights.

    References

    • BBC News (2024). “Investigation into EAPs: how the industry has reacted.” BBC Radio 4, 15 March 2024.
    • Deloitte (2024). “Mental health and employers: The case for investment – pandemic and beyond.” Deloitte UK, March 2024.
    • Deloitte (2022). “Mental Health and Employers Report.” Deloitte UK.
    • Duck Score (2025). “Trust in the Workplace: Mental Health Support Survey.” Survey of 500 professionals across UK, US, and Europe, January 2025.
    • Forbes (2024). “Leadership Trust Index: Quantifying Trust in Organizations.” Forbes Business Review.
    • Harvard Business Review (2024). “The Impact of Trust on Organizational Performance: A Quantitative Analysis.”
    • Journal of Occupational Health Psychology (2024). “Predictors of Engagement in Workplace Mental Health Initiatives.”
    • McKinsey & Company (2024). “Psychological Safety as a Driver of Performance.”
    • Mind (2023). “Mental Health and Wellbeing Survey.”
    • MIT Sloan Management Review (2024). “Innovations in Employee Wellbeing Programs.”
    • REBA (2024). “Inside track: Is your EAP delivering for your workforce?”
    • World Health Organisation (2024). “Economic Impact of Workplace Mental Health Issues.”

    About Duck Score

    Duck Score is a newly emerging company dedicated to transforming workplace mental health through innovation and evidence-based solutions. Our mission is to empower businesses with tools and strategies that foster trust, privacy, and psychological safety.

    As a small but dynamic team of experts—including technology industry veterans Emma Mulqueeny and Mark Dando, psychiatrists and neuroscientists, data scientists, graphic designers, and developers — we bring diverse perspectives and skills to solve this critical issue. Our app, already live, captures data, generates insights, and facilitates small trusted groups, providing organisations with actionable frameworks to enhance employee well-being.

    With this white paper, we aim to collaborate with forward-thinking organisations in piloting our solutions and testing hypotheses that address the pressing trust gap in workplace mental health. Join us in shaping the future of workplace well-being.

  • The Trust Paradox in Workplace Mental Health: New Data Reveals Disconnect

    A fascinating paradox has emerged in workplace mental health support: as organisations invest more in mental health initiatives, employees remain deeply hesitant to engage with them. Our recent survey of workplace mental health attitudes reveals that even in companies rated as having ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ mental health support, 73% of respondents would only share mental health challenges with select trusted colleagues – or not at all.

    This mirrors findings from the 2023 Mental Health and Wellbeing Survey by CIPD, which found that while 84% of UK employers have increased mental health support, only 49% of employees feel comfortable discussing mental health at work. The disconnect is stark.

    Our data suggests the core issue isn’t the availability of support, but trust and control. Every senior leader in our survey cited ‘control over who sees the information’ as a crucial factor in their willingness to engage with workplace mental health initiatives. This aligns with discussions in BMC Public Health, highlighting that trust and perceived effectiveness are significant factors in employee engagement with mental health programs.

    Perhaps most telling is the consistent concern about career impact. Across all seniority levels, from individual contributors to executives, respondents emphasised the need for mental health support to be ‘separate from performance reviews.’ One senior manager noted poignantly: ‘I know for a fact that all mental health issues discussed will be in the back of their mind when deciding on promotions.’

    This creates a challenging dynamic: organisations aim to support mental health but may inadvertently foster environments where employees feel hesitant to utilize that support due to concerns about their professional standing.

    The implications are significant. According to the 2024 NAMI Workplace Mental Health Poll, while 74% of full-time employees in the U.S. believe it’s appropriate to discuss mental health concerns at work, only 58% feel comfortable doing so.

    This disconnect underscores the importance of not only providing mental health resources but also cultivating a workplace culture that encourages open dialogue and psychological safety.

    Our data suggests a potential way forward. While respondents were hesitant about broad workplace disclosure, there was strong interest in systems that enable sharing within small, trusted groups. 68% of respondents indicated they would engage with mental health support if they had granular control over information sharing.

    This points to an evolution in workplace mental health support: moving from broad, organisation-wide programmes to frameworks that enable intimate, trusted connections while maintaining professional boundaries.

    As we continue analysing this data, one thing is clear: the future of workplace mental health support isn’t just about providing more resources – it’s about creating environments where people feel safe enough to use them.

    What has been your experience with mental health support in the workplace? Have you observed similar patterns in your organisation?

    The next article in this series will be published tomorrow: The Privacy-Support Balance: What Employees Really Want

  • When Social Media Meets AI: The Case for Digital Authenticity

    As we hurtle towards 2025, an intriguing paradox has emerged: despite unprecedented digital connectivity and rapidly advancing AI, many of us feel more disconnected than ever. Our children scroll endlessly through carefully curated highlights of others’ lives, while AI chatbots offer companionship without true connection.

    The original promise of social media was beautiful – a digital town square where people could share, connect, and support each other. Instead, we’ve created performance spaces where authenticity is sacrificed for likes, and genuine vulnerability is met with judgment rather than understanding.

    Now, as AI enters the equation, we face a critical juncture. Will we use this powerful technology to deepen the artifice, or can we harness it to foster genuine human connection?

    Through our work at Duck Score, we’ve discovered something fascinating. When given the choice, people naturally gravitate towards smaller, more intimate digital spaces. Our beta testing revealed two distinct patterns: those who create small, trusted groups (what we call ‘nests’) for mutual support, and those who prefer private reflection enhanced by AI insights. Both groups share a common thread – they’re seeking authenticity in their digital interactions.

    The data tells an interesting story. In our beta community of 250+ users, the average ‘nest’ size is just five people. When one person shares their emotional state, others often reciprocate within hours. This isn’t the viral spread of social media; it’s the natural rhythm of genuine human connection.

    This has led us to a radical conclusion: maybe the future of digital connection isn’t about scaling up, but scaling down. Instead of broadcasting to hundreds of followers, what if we focused on meaningful connections with those who matter most? What if AI served not as a replacement for human interaction, but as a tool for deeper self-understanding and more meaningful connection?

    We’ve seen the impact firsthand. One parent shared how their teenager used our platform to signal they needed support, preventing a potential crisis. Another user noted how seeing others share their ups and downs helped reset their notion that “everyone else has it all figured out.”

    The path forward isn’t about rejecting technology – it’s about reimagining its purpose. We need digital spaces that celebrate authenticity over performance, that use AI to illuminate rather than mask our true selves, and that prioritize genuine connection over endless growth.

    As we enter 2025, we’re faced with a choice. We can continue down the path of performative social media and artificial engagement, or we can build something different – something that uses technology to enhance rather than replace human connection.

    The future of digital interaction doesn’t have to be more disconnected. By combining thoughtful AI implementation with intentional design focused on genuine connection, we can create digital spaces that actually strengthen our relationships and support our mental wellbeing.

    It’s time to put the ‘social’ back in social media – one authentic connection at a time.

  • The Surprising Stability of Our Mental Health: Insights from Duck Score

    At Duck Score, we’ve observed an intriguing trend among our users. Many people begin using our app with the impression that they’re constantly anxious or stressed. However, after consistently tracking their mental state, they’re often surprised to discover a much more stable and positive picture than they initially perceived.

    This phenomenon speaks to a fundamental aspect of human psychology. Research in cognitive psychology has long established that our brains are wired to pay more attention to negative experiences. This ‘negativity bias’ can skew our overall perception of our mental state, making us feel more unstable than we actually are.

    The simple act of daily mental health tracking can be revelatory. Consistent tracking creates a habit of self-reflection, allowing users to see patterns over time rather than focusing on momentary lows. This insight aligns with broader trends in mental health research. Studies have shown that people often overestimate the impact of negative events on their overall well-being.

    By providing a daily check-in, Duck Score offers users a more balanced view of their mental health journey. Quantifying our experiences can lead to surprising insights. It’s not about ignoring negative feelings, but about putting them in perspective.

    Of course, this doesn’t mean that mental health challenges aren’t real or significant. Rather, it underscores the importance of awareness and perspective in managing our mental well-being. Sometimes we don’t realise how resilient we are until we step back and look at the bigger picture.

    The simplicity of tracking one’s mental state daily can have profound effects. Just as people are often surprised by how simple it is to maintain physical health habits, they’re amazed at how impactful daily mental health tracking can be.

    At Duck Score, we believe that mental health awareness is a powerful tool, and it doesn’t have to be complicated. By providing a simple, daily check-in, we’re helping users gain a more accurate picture of their mental state over time.

    This trend highlights the gap between our perception and reality. By bridging this gap, we can empower people to better understand and manage their mental health.

    In a world that often feels chaotic and stressful, it’s heartening to discover that we might be more stable and resilient than we give ourselves credit for. And sometimes, all it takes to uncover this truth is a simple daily practice of self-reflection.

    Have you ever been surprised by the stability of your own mental health? We’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.

  • Embracing ‘Good Friction’: How Duck Score is Rethinking App Design for Mental Health


    Last week I had a really interesting conversation with Dave Birss, a friend from his Ogilvy days, my absolute hero AI teacher and a person with a very brilliant mind. I love talking to him, I always learn something. This time he told me about a book he wrote a few years ago called Friction and how we need more in our lives. I of course ordered it immediately and have been reading it. It struck that many of our design decisions in Duck Score are based on tiny pauses which we did to allow awareness, but then I began really thinking about it. Here are some thoughts…

    In the tech world, ‘frictionless’ has long been the gold standard for user experience. However, Dave’s book challenges this notion, arguing that some friction can actually enhance user engagement and create greater value. At Duck Score, we’ve found this principle particularly relevant in designing our mental health app.

    For instance, when users input their daily ‘duck score’, we don’t provide easy sliders or pre-set options. Instead, we present a clean interface with two boxes separated by a decimal point. This intentional friction point encourages users to pause and reflect on their current state of mind.

    Similarly, we’ve incorporated a brief waiting period while our AI generates personalised insights. This moment of anticipation can trigger the release of dopamine, enhancing the user’s engagement with the forthcoming information.
    Perhaps our most charming use of ‘good friction’ is our ‘floating feathers’ feature. Users can send supportive notes to others in their ‘nest’, and these notes float across the screen before opening. This brief delay builds anticipation and, we believe, enhances the emotional impact of the supportive message.

    As Dave says in his book, ‘Friction isn’t something to be avoided. It can generate adrenaline, dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins to drive increased engagement, meaning, belonging, rapport, assurance, competence, and exclusivity.’ Our design choices aim to leverage these neurochemical responses to deepen your engagement and promote mental health awareness.
    In the words of Adam Grant, ‘If you think eliminating effort is the key to good design, get ready to think again.’ At Duck Score, we’re rethinking app design for mental health, embracing ‘good friction’ to create more meaningful, impactful user experiences.

    By intentionally incorporating these moments of pause, reflection, and anticipation we’re crafting an experience that encourages mindfulness, deepens emotional connections, and ultimately supports our users’ mental well-being.
    In a world that often prioritises speed and convenience above all else, we believe there’s value in occasionally asking our users to slow down, to think, to feel. After all, isn’t that what mental health is all about?

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