The National Alliance on Mental Illness just released new data that shocked me. In its third annual poll gauging nationwide sentiment about mental health at work, conducted by Ipsos, NAMI surveyed full-time employees at companies with more than 100 workers. What they found is alarming: One in four employees has considered quitting their job because of the impact work has on their mental health. Whoa. One in four. In most conference rooms, that is the person sitting right next to you.

I have spent years covering the workplace — the design of it, the culture of it, the humans that make organizations run. In the past, mental health in the workplace was almost never discussed. While we are starting to talk about mental health, which is good, we still aren’t doing much about it.

Consider: only about half of employees — 54% — believe their company actually makes their mental health a priority. More than four in five respondents say they want training in stress and burnout management, identifying a mental health crisis, and understanding the resources their employer offers. Yet fewer than one in three report receiving any mental health-related training at work. That is a staggering gap between what workers need and what they are getting.

NAMI CEO Daniel H. Gillison Jr. framed it well when he said: “We see a growing trend of increased stress among American workers, but we also see how the right mental health supports can make a difference.” His prescription is straightforward: “By prioritizing mental health at work — through resources, training, and open conversation — employers have the opportunity to build a culture that breaks down stigma and enhances well-being throughout the organization.”

Employees at companies that offer mental health training feel more supported by their managers and their leadership, and they are less likely to worry about the stigma of speaking up. The returns on investment here are not just human. They show up in retention, engagement, and the kind of organizational health that cannot be faked on an employee satisfaction survey.

Managers, in particular, are caught in an impossible position. Employees consistently identify their direct supervisors as the key to creating comfort around mental health conversations. But only 28% of managers report having received training to support those conversations. We are asking people to navigate emotionally complex terrain without a map.

And the cost of leaving managers without support is steep. Those who lack adequate workplace mental health resources are far more likely to feel burned out themselves — 73% versus 45% among their better-supported peers. They are also more than twice as likely to have considered quitting for mental health reasons: 41% compared to just 18%. The people we rely on to hold teams together are themselves coming apart.

There is a cultural dimension here too, and it is one that frustrates me as someone who believes deeply in the potential of the modern workplace. Three in four employees say it is appropriate to discuss mental health at work. People get it intellectually. They understand that the subject belongs in the office. But when it comes to their own struggles, nearly half worry they would be judged for sharing them with colleagues.

Megan Delp, NAMI’s director of workplace mental health, put it plainly: “People see mental health as relevant and appropriate to talk about at work, and that’s encouraging. But real barriers persist in the form of stigma and fear of retaliation or lost opportunities.” That is the gap we have not yet closed; between acceptance in the abstract and safety in the particular.

People are more comfortable discussing aspects of their physical health, even their personal identity, than they are revealing that they are struggling mentally. We have built workplaces where it is easier to say “I threw my back out” than “I haven’t been okay.” That is a design failure, and like all design failures, it can be fixed if leaders choose to fix it.

For our industry in particular, the NAMI data should not be seen as a failure on our part. While we can affect happiness in the workplace, there’s only so much a great office chair or quiet pod can do. Ultimately, it is a management issue. Still, understanding that workers are struggling is important for our industry to understand.

Why? Because the NAMI data can also act as a blueprint for the industry. It tells us exactly where the gaps are and, by extension, exactly where employers can act. And that includes the workplace.

Thoughtful, human-centered designs incorporating natural light, greenery and ergonomic, flexible spaces — can increase employee happiness by up to 33% and reduce turnover by 58%. Conversely, sterile or poorly planned environments often foster stress, emotional exhaustion, and poor health.

That one-in-four figure should be the thing that changes the conversation. Every leadership team in America should be asking: Who in our organization is considering walking out the door because of their mental health? And more importantly — what are we going to do about it?