How to measure employee wellbeing

The foundation for every successful wellbeing initiative is robust measurement. Wellbeing measurement provides a starting point for targeted action, allows change to be monitored  and tracks ROI. The question is how to measure employee wellbeing effectively. We recommend 2 steps:

1. Identify your objectives

If you don’t know what you want to achieve, you are unlikely to get the data you need. So, start by getting clear on your measurement objectives. Common objectives of wellbeing measurement are:

• uncover key pressure points in the organisation
• provide an overview of wellbeing across the whole organisation
• give individual employees insight into their current levels of wellbeing
• highlight collective strengths
• identify opportunities for development (individual and collective)
• understand the impact of leadership on psychological safety

2. Develop your data-gathering process

The wellbeing data you collect needs to be good quality and easy-to-use. So, before you start measuring, consider the following points:

• What data is currently available?
• What additional data do you need to gain deeper insight?
• How can you include the whole organisation: individual employees, groups/teams, leaders and the organisation?
• What tools are available to help you get the data you need?
• How can you include both qualitative (descriptive) and quantitative (counted) data?

Let’s look at some examples of common objectives and how to achieve them.

1. Aim: To give individual employees insight into their wellbeing

Wellbeing psychometric reports give individual employees insight into their current levels of wellbeing. They also give feedback on the positive coping strategies they use to manage pressure.

2. Aim: to help managers enhance team wellbeing

Team wellbeing surveys and psychometric reports aggregate and anonymise data on team wellbeing. This insight into collective wellbeing enables managers to plan effectively.

3. Aim: To provide feedback on how leaders impact psychological safety

Incorporate feedback on how leaders support team wellbeing in 360 reviews.

4. Aim: To understand the current wellbeing landscape of the organisation

Conduct a wellbeing survey to build a picture of wellbeing across different demographics. Combine with data on absenteeism and EAP utilisation.

Getting wellbeing measurement right is an ongoing process, so take time to reflect. What works well? What can you do differently next time? To find out more about how to measure employee wellbeing, check out our guide for HR teams.