Where to start with workplace wellbeing?

Establishing your wellbeing baseline

If you are are trying to improve wellbeing in your organisation, it is sometimes hard to know where to start, and the last thing you want to do is waste your budget. So to make sure you get plenty of bang for your buck, it is worth conducting a wellbeing survey with employees, to find out exactly where you are up to, and then you can decide what you might need to improve on.

From there, a meaningful strategy can be set, that meets the needs of your people.

We have pulled together some questions that you could use as part of your workplace wellbeing questionnaire – some might not be relevant to your organisation, some will, so use what you think fits for your business.

Questions relating to personal health and wellbeing may raise concerns with employees, so it is important to frame these questions correctly, to ensure that it is understood that the purpose of the questionnaire is to get the right wellbeing strategy in place, not to single out employees with health issues – making the questionnaire anonymous would help with getting more truthful answers.

Workplace wellbeing questionnaire

Answer these statements with a number from 1 – 10. Where 1 is disagree completely and 10 is agree totally. Answer N/A if you have no experience of the statement.

CULTURE

  1. I believe that employee wellbeing is a priority for (company name)
  2. We are encouraged to get a good work/life balance, whilst still meeting company targets.
  3. I would feel comfortable taking advantage of flexible working arrangements available to employees
  4. Leaders of the organisation care about employee wellbeing
  5. I feel supported by my colleagues
  6. I feel that what I do at work is valued and worthwhile

MANAGEMENT

  1. My manager cares about my wellbeing
  2. I feel able to raise wellbeing issues with my manager(s)
  3. I feel supported by my manager(s) generally
  4. I feel supported by my manager(s) when I raise wellbeing issues with them

PERSONAL WELLBEING

11. I regularly feel overwhelmed and stressed with my workload
12. I regularly feel that I have achieved something at the end of the working day
13. I feel fresh and ready for the day ahead when I start work
14. I am in good general health
15. My overall wellbeing is good
16. There are aspects of my health and wellbeing that could be improved at work
17. Out of the initiatives listed below, I have highlighted the ones that I would benefit from:

    1. Program to help me eat healthy and maintain a healthy weight
    2. Regular cross team networking opportunities
    3. Regular breaktime exercise sessions
    4. Regular after work exercise sessions
    5. Motivation to maintain a healthy lifestyle
    6. Regular health and wellbeing group sessions
    7. Stress management advice
    8. Health checks

18. I would benefit from assistance in the following areas of health and wellbeing (list your top 3).

19. Please give us any other comments that you think are relevant to health and wellbeing within the workplace.

Now what?

Once you have got the results of the survey, you need to look at your data. Where have you performed well? Remembering that for some questions you will want a high score, and some you will want a low score. From looking at the spread of your data and the averages, you will be able to identify where there might be some room for improvement – whether that’s across the whole business or just in certain departments.

Once you have identified your areas for improvement, you need to work out how you can improve them.  Depending on the size of your organisation, a staff focus group might help with this, or you might know most of the employees personally, so you get what they need.  Research the available options, and cost them out, there are so many out there from healthcare insurance, discounted gym memberships to lifestyle change programs like Be Strong – just make sure it’s the right fit for your business.

When you have worked out your best option, get the senior managers on board and implement. Make sure you communicate regularly with employees so they know what is happening following the survey, then about how you are going to implement programs to improve areas that need it.

Measure engagement with programs over a period of time, and then re-evaluate with a follow up wellbeing questionnaire annually, then the process starts all over again. Make sure you celebrate your successes though, within and without the organisation to help with retention and recruitment.

Health and wellbeing within an organisation can’t be a token gesture, employees see through that. It needs to be something that is at the heart of the business and considered as important as outcome and outputs, and if you get it right other areas of the business will grow too.

Be Strong can help to build health and wellbeing into the fabric of your organisation through our workplace packages. Take a look at our options, to see what fits for your organisation.

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