“I don't know what's going on with us. The processes are right, the people are there — but everything drags like chewing gum. ”
— Division manager of a medium-sized German company
Many companies have a deceptive sense of stability. Sales are reasonably good, meetings are taking place, projects are ongoing — and yet: Decisions are delayed. There is no feedback. Departments talk past each other. Results fall short of expectations. The system works — but with the handbrake on.
This phenomenon has a name: mental friction losses.
They're not visible at first glance, don't appear in any KPI, and can't be fixed with a new process or tool alone. But they are real — and they cost companies billions a year. Studies show: Up to 40% of working time is wasted in German companies due to inefficient communication, conflicts or mental exhaustion (Source: Gallup Engagement Index 2023, BAuA).
And the worst part:
These losses often occur not due to individual weaknesses, but through collective psychological stress, which were never systematically collected or addressed.
Mentalport has worked with hundreds of companies in recent years — and recognized a pattern:
Where mental stress goes unnoticed, silent frictions arise. And where there is friction, productivity falls.
In this business case, we show how companies can get started with an easy start — the free mental health audit — Identify mental frictions, resolve frictional losses and measurably increase your productivity with targeted measures.
In the modern working world, efficiency, process quality and productivity are at the center of entrepreneurial thinking. But despite optimized processes and digitized workflows, one central lever is often ignored: the mental state of employees. Without sufficient mental stability and psychological safety Employees lose all process optimization effectiveness — a paradox that is overlooked in many companies.
Current data from the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA, 2023) show: Around 40% of employees in Germany regularly report emotional exhaustion. In Switzerland, too, SECO and Suva are documenting an alarming increase in psychological stress at work. These figures are not side notes — they describe a structural problem: Processes are being formally complied with, but with a steadily increasing loss of friction.
The causes of this development are complex: Excessive frequency, permanent availability, poorly communicated change processes or an unclear distribution of roles lead to chronic overload. The affected employees react with inner retreat, declining decisiveness and a gradual loss of trust in management and organization. The result is a climate of overwhelming demands that cannot be seen in production figures or sales figures, but is reflected in the interpersonal structure: Projects stall, meetings lose focus, teams work in parallel rather than integrated.
Particularly problematic: Psychological stress — i.e. the individual reaction to stressful working conditions — does not immediately manifest itself. It acts like sand in a machine, which undermines the process culture for months. Hidden conflicts smolder, creative potential is blocked, responsibilities blur. The organization loses internal coherence.
In addition, there is often a toxic team dynamic: When managers do not recognize or minimise warning signs, when emotional security is lacking and basic psychological needs are ignored, even well-structured processes go into a downward spiral. Especially in agile settings, mental uncertainty can lead to a total failure of collective management.
However, many companies lack suitable tools to record these frictional losses. Classic employee surveys fall short or are retrospective — they show symptoms but no causes. Especially in the area of mental process quality, it is crucial to act proactively and make structural burdens visible at an early stage.
A precise analysis can only be achieved through scientifically validated methods — in particular via a Legally compliant assessment such as risk assessment of psychological stress (GBU Psyche) or complementary instruments such as Analysis of corporate culture. Both methods are deeply anchored in the GDA Guideline (Joint German Occupational Safety Strategy) and — correctly implemented — provide an objectifiable picture of the mental process landscape.
Only those who recognize where there is mental friction can take targeted countermeasures: through clearer communication, optimised role profiles, supportive leadership or targeted micro-interventions. This makes mental process quality a real competitive factor.
Mental frictional losses are considered one of the last major blind spots in modern corporate management. While production figures, absenteeism and customer satisfaction are meticulously measured, psychological stress and cultural tensions often elude the business perspective. The economic effects are immense — not only on an individual level, but also on the overall organizational structure.
Studies by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) estimate the global economic damage caused by untreated mental stress at over one trillion US dollars per year. In Germany, the proportion of absences due to illness is now over 17%, and the trend is rising. It is not only the sick days themselves that become a financial burden, but in particular the so-called Presentalism costs: Employees who show up to work despite mental exhaustion but work with significantly reduced performance.
This form of “silent inefficiency” is particularly insidious because it is barely measurable and rarely directly addressable. Studies show that the productivity of psychologically stressed employees can fall by up to 35% — a loss that does not appear in any reporting but can cost millions in total. Bad decisions, slow innovation processes and excessive need for coordination are also often symptoms of an overburdened organization.
A practical example illustrates the extent: As part of a GBU psyche, a medium-sized IT company with 300 employees found that around 40% of employees regularly feel overwhelmed and managers complained of a lack of orientation. After detailed analysis, it became clear that processes were formally correct but emotionally overloaded — for example due to conflicting requirements, constant reprioritization and lack of recognition. The result: delayed project implementation, high error rate, loss of customer satisfaction. Internal opportunity costs were estimated at over 750,000€ per year — due to mental friction losses alone.
These costs can certainly be calculated systematically. Tools such as Mental Wellbeing Productivity Index or that Workload Balance Assessment make it possible to link load and stress with economic indicators. In combination with classic performance data, the result is a precise picture of the hidden efficiency losses. Companies that use such tools not only gain transparency, but also a strategic lever to improve their process culture.
The reputation factor should also not be underestimated: Companies that neglect mental health — or rather: mental wellbeing — are increasingly at risk of being considered an unattractive employer. Younger professionals in particular attach great importance to psychological safety, participatory leadership and a mindful organizational culture. If you fail here, you not only lose talent, but also your innovative strength.
The good news: There is no need for major investments to counteract this. Even with targeted assessments — such as a GBU Psyche in accordance with the GDA standard — structural weaknesses can be identified. Based on this, preventive measures, leadership training or agile change loops can be implemented. What is decisive is the will to no longer treat mental process losses as a “soft skill” problem, but as a first-order business challenge.
Mental wellbeing is not an add-on, not a feel-good program, but a strategic success factor. Anyone who has understood that mental frictional losses disrupt the organization's nervous system can invest specifically in its regeneration — with measurable return on investment.
The journey to achieve this starts with visibility: Through scientifically based assessments such as the GBU Psyche or a corporate culture analysis, the blind spots that conventional KPI systems hide can be uncovered. The results not only provide insights into load structures, but also provide clues to systemic causes — such as conflicting leadership, lack of communication, or unbalanced workloads.
But visibility alone is not enough. The ability to implement is decisive. Modern solutions such as mentalport combine the survey with specific measures: employees have access to digital coaches, managers are trained in micro-interventions, and entire teams experience targeted reflection workshops. Diagnosis becomes dynamism.
Practice shows that companies that consistently follow this path benefit in several ways. Process quality is increasing — visible in shorter decision-making processes, smoother project work and higher speed of innovation. At the same time, absenteeism and turnover are reduced, employer branding is strengthened, and the organization gains resilience.
Particularly exciting: In many cases, dealing with mental wellbeing results in completely new forms of collaboration. Hierarchies are becoming more transparent, communication is becoming more dialogic, and responsibility is shared. The result is a modern organization that is not only efficient but also strong as a person.
Conclusion: Mental wellbeing is not a “care zone”, but a future field with strategic relevance. Anyone who makes mental process quality measurable and specifically strengthens it invests in their internal infrastructure — and thus creates the basis for sustainable corporate success in the 21st century.
The economic relevance of mental wellbeing is still underestimated in many organizations. Numerous scientific studies show that anyone who invests in the mental health of their employees not only ensures their well-being, but also tangible economic benefits. Especially in times of scarce resources, increasing efficiency pressure and dramatic competition for talent, the ability to systematically activate human potential is decisive for long-term corporate success.
The central requirement for such a procedure is the collection of reliable, company-specific key figures. While studies by WHO and the World Economic Forum show an average return on investment (ROI) of 1:4 — i.e. four euros of economic benefit for every euro invested — the real strength lies in the contextualization of these figures. Flat-rate ROI values fall short. Every organization needs data that represents its own reality — differentiated by department, location and process phase.
This is where modern approaches such as the digital GBU Psyche come into play, embedded in continuous analysis and reporting processes. These systematically record early indicators such as emotional exhaustion, team tension or feedback culture and allow predictive management. A mere screening is not enough — the permanent integration of these insights into the corporate decision architecture is crucial.
Digital tools such as mentalport's reporting dashboard make it possible to continuously record relevant KPIs — such as turnover rates, absences due to illness, workload levels, use of coaching services — and link them to HR, financial and performance data. The result is a mental process map that not only retrospectively analyses but also predictively points out risks. This data-based basis is particularly valuable for HR, management and controlling — where strategic leverage is created today.
An underestimated aspect: The data obtained has an effect not only retrospectively, but above all preventively. Rising uncertainty indices following restructuring, mental exhaustion in key areas or falling feedback rates — such developments can be identified, visualized and systematically addressed at an early stage. The result: Intervention costs fall, transformation capacity increases.
Practical examples impressively show the lever: In an industrial company with around 800 employees, the introduction of data-based mental wellbeing management has reduced the average length of illness of mentally stressed employees by 25%. At the same time, the recommendation rate as an employer (eNPS) rose by 18 points — a clear signal of cultural response and economic impact.
The ROI becomes even clearer when looking at hidden costs: Frictional losses in processes, performance losses due to internal dismissal or silent absenteeism add up to 124 billion euros per year in Germany alone. Anyone who proactively counters these losses is not only acting responsibly, but also smartly as an entrepreneur.
In modern companies, it is no longer just operational efficiency that determines long-term success. Rather, it depends on how flexibly an organization can react to change, learn from experience and act systemically. In this context, mental wellbeing is not a side issue, but as a strategically important factor. Used correctly, it becomes a connecting element between personnel development, leadership quality and continuous organizational improvement.
Occupational Health Management (BGM) is a central starting point for this. In many companies, however, it remains isolated, detached from core processes. Mentalport takes a different approach: The platform combines psychological assessments, dynamic stress analyses and digitally supported coaching offers with existing HR and management systems. The GBU Psyche not only serves to comply with the law (§ 5 ArbSchG), but also provides an introduction to a comprehensive, learning system.
A practical example illustrates this approach: In an industrial manufacturing company, the GBU Psyche was used to visualize mental stress in the area of maintenance. The results showed that physical requirements were not the main problem. Instead, there was a lack of communication, clear roles and systematic feedback. The organization responded with targeted leadership impulses, better integration and the restructuring of shift models. After just six months, both the turnover rate and the number of absences fell significantly.
Mental wellbeing thus provides valid data for targeted interventions. Especially in change processes — such as mergers, reorganizations or digitization projects — burdens are identified at an early stage. Companies can minimize the risk of resistance and friction through preventive micro-interventions, team coaching or individual support. This creates resilient structures that not only survive change, but also make it productive.
In addition, mental wellbeing is increasingly part of certified management systems. The platform allows ISO-compliant requirements (including ISO 45001, ISO 9001, ISO 45003) to be efficiently mapped. Companies receive standardized reports that integrate psychological stress into operational risk management — a decisive step towards systematic quality improvement.
Understanding mental wellbeing as a lever for cultural transformation means thinking beyond the traditional understanding of health protection. Because mental security, trust and emotional connectivity are basic requirements for modern collaboration. Only where employees feel that they are viewed holistically can they develop their skills and take on responsibility.
This change is profound — and it usually starts with leadership. Leaders who not only delegate but also listen, moderate and coach create spaces for psychological safety. Mentalport supports this change through evidence-based analyses and specific recommendations for action, e.g. via digital management dashboards or coaching formats. This makes leadership itself a field of development.
A specific example from practice: A medium-sized software company combined its employee development with a continuous mental wellbeing assessment. Not only were performance goals formulated, but mental loads, resources and team dynamics were also included. Managers received data-based feedback in order to work specifically on barriers. The result: Project delays dropped significantly, satisfaction increased — and the number of absences due to illness halved within a year.
The cultural transformation is reflected in many facets: flatter hierarchies, more open communication, a new understanding of responsibility. Instead of simply focusing on efficiency, the question is increasingly coming to the foreground: How do we create meaningful work spaces in which people can grow? Mental wellbeing thus becomes the supporting infrastructure of modern corporate culture.
Getting there requires measurability, courage, and consistency. Companies must be prepared to make unpleasant things visible — and draw conclusions from them. Mentalport not only offers tools for this, but also an attitude: Change starts where people can get involved. Where mental processes are not seen as a weakness but as a central resource. Where stress turns into development.
In an increasingly dynamic and knowledge-intensive working environment, a company's human capital is not just a production factor, but the central driver for innovative strength, quality standards and economic resilience. Against this background, HR management is also facing new challenges: It must no longer just carry out operational personnel work, but also create proactive structures that systematically promote psychological well-being, healthy work and cultural coherence.
Process optimization through targeted psychological risk assessment (GBU Psyche) is therefore not an add-on — it is an integral part of a sustainable personnel strategy. In practice, it has been shown that mental abuses not only impair the ability to work in the short term, but also undermine internal organizational performance in the long term: through internal dismissal, excessive fluctuation, overwhelmed leadership and an implicit climate of uncertainty.
A structured approach — for example along the seven steps of the GDA guidelines — enables HR not only to identify operational stress points, but also to transfer them to a management system that is scalable and auditable. This also means that the classic silos between HR, occupational safety, change management and organizational development are being broken up. Mental health thus becomes a connecting metastructure that integrates both prevention and development.
At the same time, new KPIs are emerging: frictional losses in coordination processes, psychological safety indices, or systemic feedback between team culture and leadership. Companies that systematically record and reflect on these factors create a data-informed basis for true transformation — and thus a structural competitive advantage.
The implementation of a process-optimized GBU psyche or cultural diagnostic analysis is not an end in itself. Rather, it opens up new ways to establish mental health as a strategic management tool. Especially in the context of hybrid working environments, increasing automation and demographic change, this dimension is becoming increasingly relevant: Presence in the workplace is no longer the indicator of performance, but psychological stability, self-management competence and cooperative resilience.
Modern management concepts — for example from systemic organizational development — emphasize that mental stress is often a symptom of dysfunctional organizational logic: excessive timing, lack of autonomy, unclear roles or contradictory goals. Whoever acts preventively here not only relieves employees, but also increases management quality. The aim is to create structures in which orientation, meaning and psychological security are not understood as “nice-to-have” but as a cornerstone of productive value creation.
A concrete impetus for action is not only to measure psychological safety, but also to regularly incorporate it into retrospectives, feedback mechanisms or strategy reviews. The GBU Psyche or further assessments such as cultural and resilience radars provide the starting point for this. Managers are not replaced, but empowered: through validated data, anonymous feedback and precise recommendations for action.
At a time when psychological stress is responsible for more and more sick days and at the same time the shortage of skilled workers is increasing, it is a business imperative to stop leaving mental health to chance. Companies that recognize this not only act responsibly — they act intelligently.
If you want to know where your organization really stands in terms of mental wellbeing — not felt, but based on evidence — then we recommend our free Mental Health Audit. In less than 30 minutes, you will receive a clear assessment of strengths, risks and areas of action — anonymous, validated and legally secure.
You decide for yourself whether and how you will then continue with us. Perhaps with a specific assessment such as the GBU Psyche, perhaps with a workshop on team resilience or an analysis of the corporate culture.
The only important thing is: Don't wait for the next failure, reason for termination or loss of friction. Get proactive.
👉 You can start right here:
https://management.mentalport.app/signup
Or simply get in touch — we are happy to assist you with an asynchronous audit and ensure the best results!
Jetzt unverbindlich & kostenlos starten
.jpg)
-fotor-20240108171455.jpg)
