Stress is normal. But not like this.

Introducing The Real Employee Wellbeing Survey 2026

I want to be upfront about something before you read another word.

This is a small survey. 39 responses. Not a nationally representative study, not a peer-reviewed academic piece, and I'm not pretending it is. What it is, is honest. And in a space full of polished reports that somehow say everything and change nothing, I think that counts for something.

So here's why I did it.

I've spent years working with individuals who are slowly absorbing more and more. More responsibility, more pressure, more of everyone else's problems, and don't quite know what to do about it. The patterns are consistent. The causes are consistent. What kept coming up, in coaching sessions, in conversations, in the spaces where people finally feel safe enough to say what they actually think, was this: everyone knows there's a problem. No one can get traction on it.

I wanted evidence. So I went and collected some.

This is Year One. 39 responses. And yes, I'm already thinking about Year Two, about getting more people to fill it in, about watching the data deepen, about building something that organisations can actually track themselves against over time. But you've got to start somewhere, right?

The thing that struck me most wasn't the headline numbers. It was the stress finding.

We all accept that stress is part of working life. A deadline, a difficult conversation, a period of change, that's normal. What isn't normal is when it stops being occasional and becomes the background noise of every single working day.

41% of respondents experience stress occasionally, within what most of us would consider an acceptable range. But 56% experience it several times a week or daily. More than half have crossed from manageable pressure into something closer to chronic stress. And chronic stress isn't a wellbeing issue. It's a performance issue, a retention issue, and eventually a health issue.

And when I asked what people actually needed?

The answers weren't complicated. Realistic expectations. Genuine check-ins. Being able to say "I'm overwhelmed" without it being held against you. As one respondent put it:

"The biggest problem is that we want to do a good job and don't want to be a problem."

That line stopped me. Because it captures something that no engagement survey tick-box ever will the specific exhaustion of high-performing people who are too conscientious to ask for help.

Another respondent said this when asked what they'd tell their leadership team:

"Managing wellbeing isn't a day in lieu after completely burning out your staff."

And another:

"To care not on paper and in fancy presentations."

There are 39 responses in this survey, and almost every single one says something worth sitting with.

That's what the report is. Not a solution. Not a strategy deck. A mirror. The kind that shows you what's actually there, rather than what you hoped to see.

If you're in HR, people and culture, or a leadership role, this one's for you. Not to read privately and file away, but to take into the rooms where the decisions get made.

Download the full report here, for free.