Five key ways to measure workplace wellbeing

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A wellbeing audit should help you to plan and deliver a measurable wellbeing strategy linked to business outcomes. Robust evidence provides a solid foundation for your wellbeing programme – and helps to convince the board too.

So where do you start? Check out our five tips below for conducting a wellbeing audit, and make sure you attend our wellbeing event taking place in London in September:

PES Workplace Wellbeing Conference: 7 steps to happy employees
12 September 2019, 9am-12pm, Osborne Clarke, London EC2

BOOK NOW

You can find out more below. In the meantime, here are five key principles for your wellbeing audit.

Five tips for running a workplace wellbeing audit

At PES, we believe firmly in starting any wellbeing programme with a realistic, company-wide temperature check. This is much more than devising a few ‘wellbeing’ questions and running an online survey.

Make sure your workplace wellbeing audit includes the following.

  1. Self-reported health measures. Ask your employees: how much do they drink, smoke or take exercise? What kind of foods do they eat? How stressed do they really feel, and why?
  2. Health checks by an independent assessor, ideally face-to-face, so you can check whether the self-reported measures are accurate.
  3. Employee feedback on how people feel their health and wellbeing is affected by work.
  4. A balance between online surveys and face-to-face focus groups, to get a mix of qualitative and quantitative feedback.
  5. A national benchmark against which to assess your findings, so you can see how your employees’ health and wellbeing compares to the national average.

Why do face-to-face health checks matter?

It’s important not to rely on self-reported health measures. Questionnaires are a great starting point to get employees focused on their health, but face-to-face health checks will:

  • give you an evidence base for introducing specific wellbeing measures
  • remind your employees why health matters, so they’re more likely to take follow-up action
  • show that you take their health seriously, which is good for employee engagement. It demonstrates that the wellbeing survey hasn’t been just a one-off activity.

Health checks may even be available for free through your existing healthcare benefits providers, saving you money.

Is work bad for your employees’ health?

Next to physical health, the all-important question is, does your workplace culture help or hinder employee wellbeing?

Issues might include:

  • policies being applied inconsistently (such as flexible working – one manager may support this, while another doesn’t)
  • poor communication
  • uncertainty over job roles and lack of clear direction
  • poor delegation
  • lack of autonomy.

Experience has shown us that line managers play a crucial role in how positive employees feel about their organisation. Employee feedback will help to shape what line manager or leadership training will make a difference.

How can you take your next steps?

Join us for the PES Workplace Wellbeing Conference: 7 steps to happy employees
12 September 2019, 9am-12pm, Osborne Clarke, London EC2

Join us to hear a line-up of industry experts giving evidence-based ideas on how to make employees happy and productive. Speakers include:

  • Brian Heyworth, Global Head of Client Strategy, HSBC – why mental health matters
  • Mary Lawrence, Partner, Osborne Clarke
  • Karen Williams, Chief Financial Officer, Avios Group – a practical case study
  • Evan Davidge, reward and wellbeing strategist – how to ignite your wellbeing strategy
  • Debbie Kleiner, Head of Workplace Happiness, PES – a 7-step approach to measurable workplace wellbeing
  • Andrew Drake, Head of Making Friends, PES – using technology for an outstanding employee experience

The event is aimed at HRDs and will be a great opportunity for peer-to-peer networking.

Spaces are limited, so book now!

BOOK NOW

About PES and happypeople

happypeople from PES is an employee benefits platform that lives up to its name. We provide employee benefits expertise, broking skills, technical know-how and outstanding customer service. Perfect for organisations with up to 1,500 employees.

Looking for complementary HR, wellbeing or financial services? We offer those too. Contact us to find out more.