Mental Health Day 2025: Why We Choose to be Radically Human

At LS, we are known for our fearless ability to deliver under pressure and the desire to ‘Go Beyond’ for our clients, but one thing we have always been clear on is that this can't come at the expense of our team and their wellbeing.

As a female-led company, so much of our focus is built on replacing some of those colder, cliched, production stereotypes with kindness and genuine care. Our focus is to be radically human in the way we deliver production excellence, which stems from one of our core business values: "We are People People."

We believe that world-class work is powered by world-class relationships, and that means putting our people first. Everyone at LS is expected to ‘Go Beyond’, so as a business, it’s only right we commit to ‘going Beyond’ for them. Because how can you solve those seemingly impossible production challenges if you are struggling?

So on World Mental Health Day 2025, we thought we would share some of the ways in which LS strives to prioritise the people part of production and how we have placed focus on wellbeing and mental health to enable our teams to deliver their very best.

Building an Open and Honest Workplace

Our mission has always been to create an open and honest workplace where employees can discuss mental health problems as part of everyday language and to ensure the necessary support is known via signposting and available to employees when needed. We operate in a zero-judgement and open environment across all levels of the business, where we are committed to providing initial and ongoing support and help for employees going through mental health problems.

Creating Policies that Enable Effective Change

Back in mid-2021, in peak Covid and following consultation with the team, we decided to cut ties with the old, clunky Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and create a ‘Supporting Positive Mental Health Policy’. An entirely collaborative piece of work with team members from across the business, this policy has become a lightning rod to quickly and effectively build a tailored suite of support for staff, underpinning our commitment at LS and enabling us to build a tailored suite of benefits for the team.

Instant Access to Professional Mental Health Support

A major game-changer was to find a means by which we could provide instant and qualified support to staff going through mental health problems. We found the right solution in the form of Spill, which gives every permanent team member access to qualified therapists in a few clicks. Critically, LS covers the full cost, and because of the therapists' availability, the team can usually speak to someone within 24 hours of booking. This was a massive, immediate boost. Plus, as it’s private, engagement is high, and the feedback is consistently positive. The only information the business gets is the engagement rate - the sessions are completely confidential.

The Right to Disconnect: Set Your Boundaries

Finally, we actively encourage our team to switch off. Production is known for long hours, but at LS, we want to do things differently, and unpicking this challenge is part of our drive to place our people first. Ultimately, it's about knowing the difference: Working late because you have to is a given in production; working late because you feel like you have to is what we want to stop.

In early 2023, we established the Right To Disconnect Guiding Principles. This policy aims to help everyone set clear personal boundaries and prevent unnecessary communication outside of working hours. We worked with every department to get the wording right, because it needed to be applicable company-wide.

This isn't just a nod to a trending topic; it's about protecting the energy and passion of the brilliant people who make the impossible happen. We’re proud of the steps we’ve taken to reinforce our commitment to a supportive and open workplace. We'll always keep looking, listening, and innovating.

At LS looking after our own team is an intrinsic part of our DNA.