How Do You Measure Workplace Wellbeing (Promptly and Reliably)?

You’ve surely heard on the grapevine that employee wellbeing is key to a successful business.

Studies show that there is a positive correlation between a person’s wellbeing and their job performance. Workers who feel “good” are more likely to engage positively with tasks, leverage creativity and be more productive.

Along similar lines, Deloitte’s 2021 “Global Human Capital Trends Report” shows workplace wellbeing as a crucial factor in employee retention. People who feel happy at work are much more likely to remain with an organization, which obviously reduces costs involved with constantly recruiting and training replacements.  

That said, for management and human resources professionals the all-important question remains: So how exactly do I measure workplace wellbeing or get an accurate read on it?

This article explores different ways to assess workplace wellbeing, and looks in more depth at one innovative approach: the MPO Solution’s Wellbeing Indicator (WBI).

Information herein can aid organizations in fostering work environments that center on personal job-related fulfillment, while also boosting collective performance and business results.

Classic Wellbeing Assessment Methods in Workplaces

Assessing wellbeing has long been a part of a challenging quest led by managers and HR professionals as they seek to achieve a high level of job fulfillment for their charges. Here are a few of the more classic methods that are typically employed to assess workplace wellbeing:

1. Surveys and Questionnaires 

A method which essentially consists of gathering staff opinions using a list of questions that pertain to workplace wellbeing, such as job satisfaction, work/life balance, work relationships, staff perception of management, and so on.

Answers are then compiled and scrutinized to pinpoint any negative or positive trends and areas for improvement. The popularity of this method lies its relative simplicity and in its ability to capture both qualitative and quantitative data.

That said, administering surveys and analyzing all that data can be a time-consuming endeavor – to say the least – especially when more open-ended question techniques are employed. Beyond this, there can also be issues with subjectivity – both at the interview level and when scrutinizing people’s responses – which can cloud judgment and affect reliability.

2. One-on-One Appraisals

Appraisal meetings give managers a chance to interact and converse more directly with staff to better understand their concerns, preoccupations and needs. Open conversation and free discussion can achieve more depth of perspective on workplace wellbeing.

Appraisal meetings, however, are quite time-intensive – and results depend largely on whether a manager’s communication skills are up to scratch for this kind of task. It’s also quite possible that employees won’t want to be entirely frank about their worries and concerns while talking to one of their bosses or the human resources department.

People can be unhappy at work without being able to name a reason nor clearly pinpoint why.

3. Analyzing Turnover and Absenteeism Numbers

High turnover and/or high levels of absenteeism can indicate workplace wellbeing issues. When people keep leaving or taking sick leave, it could indicate there is an issue with more widespread job-related stress or discontent.

Data can only provide a partial picture. It doesn’t allow for a deeper understanding of the underlying causes. It can show you a problem on a global level but without any clue where to even start to fix things on an individual level with the people involved.

These three long-established methods can prove useful, knowing that each has its own limitations with respect to speed and reliability when measuring workplace wellbeing.

This is where the more innovative approaches come into the picture to provide a more thorough and precise read on workplace wellbeing. One such model is MPO’s Wellbeing Indicator (WBI).

How Does the Workplace Wellbeing Indicator (WBI) Work?

Ngenio, designer of the MPO Solution, has built the Wellbeing Indicator (WBI) as a novel and more comprehensive assessment method, looking at workplace wellbeing from a behavioral perspective. It’s a very modern tool that gives a particularly detailed picture of both employee and team wellbeing for an organization.

Here’s how it all works:

1. A Team Wellbeing Overview:
   The WBI uses job perception data collected by the MPO Questionnaire to give a visual snapshot of a team’s overall wellbeing.

   With this overview, it’s easy to see trends in thinking, grasp a team dynamic, and pick up on areas that might need special attention. The data provides managers with a more holistic vision to get an overall sense of team wellness, which is essential to effective management and a healthy team dynamic.

2. Comprehensive Individual Reports:
   The WBI also gives a comprehensive assessment for each individual staff member. This wellbeing analysis covers key factors that tend to impact wellbeing for specific individuals. It considers data related to workload, personal fulfilment, overall satisfaction, stress levels, a sense of accomplishment, and more. With this particular approach, you can target specific issues and invest your valuable time in areas that are most likely to enhance workplace wellbeing.
3. Team Wellbeing Across Time:
   One of the WBI’s most powerful features is its ability to track wellbeing as it progresses over time. Looking at data collected over a prolonged period, the WBI can pick up on any trends and significant developments. This is a great tool for managers and HR professionals to see whether the wellbeing initiatives they’ve implemented are proving effective and to adjust accordingly.

Conclusion

Assessing workplace wellbeing is a necessity in an ever-evolving work climate. While conventional methods have proven themselves over time, the workplace Wellbeing Indicator (WBI) is a thorough, precise and proactive tool that can both measure and improve workplace wellbeing. It can even help with impact assessments to pick up on how changes are affecting people, such as a new manager or other changes in workplace conditions and business initiatives.

By using the WBI, managers and HR professionals can build healthier, more productive and more attractive work settings that can benefit the whole organization on many levels.

Would you like to explore WBI further and find out exactly how to transform your team?