Søren Wæhrens
Product Manager, PeopleXact
Many organizations see well-being surveys as temperature checks but are unsure of what they are actually investigating.
Because what is well-being in the workplace, really?
If the purpose of the survey is not well thought out, and if you don't ask the right questions in the well-being survey, you won't get the right answers.
Often, about 80% of the responses in the well-being survey are predominantly positive, and then the management thinks that there is no need to do more. But it still means that there is a need for improvement in the remaining 20%.
In the worst case, it creates conflicts in the workplace where employees become frustrated and tired of all the surveys and questions when they don't see any changes happening in the organization.
Therefore, it is important to ask yourselves, "what do we want to use this well-being information for, and how can we disseminate it throughout the organization?" Explains carsten sørensen.
Remember, the well-being survey is a tool with the purpose of improving the status quo.
It's ingrained in us as human beings to look for mistakes and then try to fix them.
"But if an organization only uses a survey to address poor well-being in the workplace, it creates," says flemming lorenz, business manager at ramboll and a leading expert in employee well-being surveys, "just an average organization."
If the goal is to motivate employees and promote job satisfaction, simply fixing mistakes will only get you so far.
"Creating better well-being in the workplace should not only be about how to eliminate a low score, but rather how to leverage the strengths indicated by a high score," advises flemming lorenz.
He follows it up with another piece of advice.
"It's not about forcing positivity, where we can't talk about problems and have to call them 'organizational challenges.' But we strongly recommend striking a balance so that there is also focus on areas in the organization where there is already a good psychological work environment."
Financial metrics are easy to compare across organizations. But employees and managers are not absolute.
Responses in well-being surveys reflect the reality in which they are given and cannot always be compared with the reality of a competing organization.
External benchmarks certainly have their place and can lead to useful reflection and self-examination. However, they should not be prioritized at lower organizational levels.
"It is much more interesting to see who is performing well within the organization and learn from that," says Flemming Lorenz.
It requires resources and willingness to carry out effective follow-up on a well-being survey, and management needs to be committed to it.
The organization needs to know how it will use the results—whether it's to avoid stress in the workplace, address bullying, or improve communication within and across departments.
Often, the attitude is that there is no need to do anything about the good results and that nothing can be done about the bad ones.
"But the good results can be used for learning throughout the organization, and the bad ones can be an opportunity to change ineffective habits," says flemming lorenz. "This requires a commitment from everyone in the organization to an action plan here and now. Each employee needs to know and keep in mind what their role is in the process of change."
