Scales To Measure Employee Wellbeing

Workplace wellness programs are becoming increasingly popular as companies struggle with an aging workforce, high obesity rates, lack of exercise and unhealthy diets. Globally, there is a frequent increase in chronic disease risks such as diabetes, hypertension and cancer. Employers value healthy employees who are fully engaged, satisfied, energetic and committed to their tasks.

While employers shouldn’t tell their office workers what they eat or how much they exercise, they can offer counseling, education, skills development and support programs. Employees who want to adopt healthier eating habits and engage in more physical activity can adopt these habits. This approach is not about intervening in workers’ lives. Rather, it’s about creating a supportive environment for their efforts to live a healthier life.

These initiatives are undoubtedly beneficial, but simply implementing them in the workplace is not enough. While it’s true that more employees now have access to wellness initiatives, meditation apps, nutrition workshops and online mental health services, it remains uncertain how many are actually using these resources.

This article examines the different scales used to measure employee well-being.

Importance of measuring employee well-being

Many employers rely on traditional wellness programs without a clear strategy for measuring the impact on employee well-being. Tracking physical health, such as checking your weight or the number of steps you take in a day, is simple and straightforward. On the other hand, it requires more effort to understand what people think about programs aimed at maintaining their health (e.g., exercising or eating healthy). This includes knowing what they think and how they view these programs, which can be different for everyone.

Assessing how employees perceive their job satisfaction and well-being requires acknowledging the deeply personal and subjective nature of these feelings. Despite the challenges in quantifying these feelings, companies can use methods to gain insight into how employees view and think about wellness initiatives in general.

How do you measure employee well-being?

Measuring employee well-being is critical for both individuals and organizations. It helps track progress over time. Employers can also use it to assess and determine whether employees’ physical and mental health is improving or deteriorating. There are many ways to do this and here are some of them:

A well-being survey

An employee well-being survey, also known as a well-being survey, examines various aspects of employee well-being.

Some are:

  • How often do people miss work?
  • How many leave their jobs?
  • How committed are the employees?
  • What could cause health problems?

Survey feedback can reveal whether people are working too much, feeling stressed by work, or just overall dissatisfied.

Points to remember

Keep the employee well-being survey short and precise. If it takes too long, people may not finish or give meaningful answers. When conducting an employee survey, it makes sense to concentrate on the essentials. Other questions can be saved for later surveys.

When asking employees about their overall health and well-being, you can include questions like:

1. How are you feeling right now?

2. Does your workplace support your overall well-being?

3. Do you have good office equipment and what do you need to work, both in the office and at home?

4. Do the benefits of your workplace contribute to your well-being?

5. How can your workplace contribute to your health?

6. Can you eat a balanced lunch during working hours?

7. Are there healthy snacks at work?

8. Do you take breaks from your computer while working?

9. Does your workplace offer good wellness resources?

10. What wellness initiatives would you like to see in the workplace?

Absenteeism and fluctuation

How satisfied and healthy employees feel at work is closely related to the number of sick days they take. To measure how well employees are doing, you can keep an eye on absenteeism and turnover. For absenteeism, count the days that employees are not at work, regardless of whether they plan their absence or not. It gives you a good overview of how often people are absent.

To track turnover, you need accurate records of hiring and firing. Be aware of both voluntary (when someone decides to leave) and involuntary (when someone is asked to leave) turnover. It helps to understand why employees may leave the company. Finally, keep an eye on the overall retention rate, or the percentage of employees who stay with the company.

Ask the team how they are feeling physically, emotionally and mentally in a survey. Compare their answers to the number of days they took off. If they report feeling unwell but there are very few sick days, this may indicate that employees are working when they shouldn’t be working, known as presenteeism. It is a scenario where people are still working when they are not at their best, and this is something that should be examined in the workplace.

Increase employee engagement and well-being with a comprehensive corporate wellness program that goes beyond the usual

productivity

How well a company performs depends on how its teams are doing. To understand how employees feel, look at how productive they are. To measure productivity, check how much work gets done in an hour. The best way to collect this data is to use time tracking software. It helps to see how much time employees spend on tasks and how much work they complete. This information helps calculate productivity rates.

Another way to measure productivity is to look at sales figures. It’s important to consider the type of job to accurately assess how productive someone is in their role. However, sales are also a variable of other parameters such as product life cycle, demand, economic situation, seasonality, etc. Therefore, one needs to take these factors into account when trying to find out how productive someone is.

Physical health metrics

Keeping an eye on employees’ physical health with wellness programs is an efficient way to measure well-being. These programs include, but are not limited to, health checks, fitness challenges and workshops. They all contribute to improving employee health and mood. Wellness programs go beyond just medical services and insurance. They take a comprehensive approach to address various aspects of physical health and overall well-being.

An essential part of these programs is health screenings. These regular check-ups help employees monitor and maintain their physical health. This often includes testing for things like blood pressure, cholesterol and body mass index (BMI). By giving employees information about their health, companies help them make smart decisions and take steps to stay healthy.

Open conversations in the workplace

Measuring well-being may require sharing personal information, but employees may be hesitant if the company culture does not encourage this. To create a supportive environment, it’s important to normalize discussions about wellness. Encourage managers to schedule regular one-on-one meetings and emphasize that these sessions are not just about work, but also personal check-ins to understand how team members are feeling. These conversations can take place digitally via platforms such as Teams, Slack or WhatsApp, providing an effective way to stay connected.

The last word

Once you’ve gained insights from your employee well-being survey, it’s time to take meaningful action. Poor employee health can negatively impact engagement and productivity. Therefore, it is important to address the identified issues through tailored wellness initiatives. Choose an employee wellness platform like HealthifyMe to empower subscribers to actively manage their health and wellness. From personal training to metabolic health trackers to nutritional advice, HealthifyMe offers a wide range of options.

Research sources

Employee well-being and employee satisfaction: a study from an Indian university

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