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01 Sep 2021

How to measure the employee experience in relation to your wellbeing strategy

Workplace wellbeing is more important than ever given the ongoing challenges of Covid-19 and the toll this has had on physical and mental health and the economy. Organisations not only have a duty of care to support employees, but the right wellbeing initiatives can actually provide the boost every organisation needs and be key to business recovery.

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The business case for wellbeing in the workplace has been well established in recent years, with Deloitte finding a return on investment of £5 for every £1 spent. Much of the financial benefit comes in the form of cost saving through reduced absence, presenteeism and turnover, alongside increased productivity of around 12%. Organisations not investing in staff wellbeing therefore have to consider carefully whether they can afford not to.

While the need for wellbeing support and the business case are both clear, the research also shows that the impact of different wellbeing initiatives can vary. Planning the right strategy and measuring impact is vital. Measurement is key, not only to monitoring impact, but setting direction which is often something that can be overlooked.

Collecting data

Many workplaces have some form of employee wellbeing activity, however only around half of UK organisations have a strategy to pull this all together. This can mean initiatives are less impactful and the employee experience is not as positive as it should be. Before planning new wellbeing initiatives, any organisation should establish need and set a baseline to track progress, which forms the actions and the targets to help develop or update wellbeing strategy. So, measuring employee experience has to start before wellbeing initiatives do.

The starting point should be data that is already there – this might include absence, turnover, OH referrals, productivity/performance, and management information for any wellbeing services or support (ask providers if they can share this if they are not already). Think about whether this data is useful and whether more is needed.

Tracking progress

Consider how the approach to measurement links back to the aims and objectives of the wellbeing strategy, or set some clear aims if not already in place. For a holistic strategy with multiple workstreams and objectives, there should be various ways to track progress. If strategy is very specific to reducing absence or improving mental health problems, for example, focus on measuring in this area.

Think about what else could and should be measured – options could be a wellbeing survey, interviews and focus groups, data from apps and gamification, health screening, stress risk assessment, and engagement records for any initiatives or campaigns.

Once a picture of current state has been established this makes it easy to plan new wellbeing initiatives to meet need and help employees to be healthier and happier. And this can be used to check if existing or planned wellbeing programmes are actually going to help.

Monitor outcomes

As wellbeing activity is delivered, continue to use the existing and newly-established measurement processes to monitor outcomes and impact. Pull this together into a report or dashboard on a monthly or quarterly basis. Behaviour change always takes time so do not expect rapid results. Share the information with key stakeholders. Do this regularly, look for trends and consider what other factors within and outside the organisation will affect results. Compare with external data such as CIPD’s annual health and wellbeing survey. Any progress in the right direction will make a difference for your people and your organisation.

Plan future activity to build on strengths, target areas of concern and this will continue to enhance the employee experience helping organisations to become employers of choice with healthy, happy people who can perform at their best, which is what we all need right now.

This article is provided by Health Shield.

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