INTHEBLACK November 2021 - Magazine - Page 36
F E AT U R E
// M E AS U R I N G W E L L B E I N G
S TA F F W E L L B E I N G
IS GOOD FOR
BUSINESS
Companies that create a culture
of health by specifically
focusing on the wellbeing and
safety of their workers
outperformed their competitors
in the stock market by a factor
of 3:1 from 2000 to 2014,
according to a 2016 study
published in the Journal
of Occupational and
Environmental Medicine.
to a select number of people outside of line
management, they were more receptive.”
The index developed by Topham’s team
measures employee mental health using a fivequestion survey. Employees are asked to take the
survey once a fortnight, using a stress and mental
wellbeing app. Once per month, they are also
asked to select an emoji that best represents how
they feel at the time. This allows an organisation
to keep its finger on the pulse of how employees
are faring and direct individual employees
to relevant resources and support contacts,
according to their survey results.
IF NOT WELLBEING, THEN WHAT?
An alternative to measuring wellbeing itself
is measuring workplace behaviours or job
conditions known to influence employee
wellbeing.
The wellbeing behaviours of leaders is one
possible focus, as research shows they influence
employees’ health behaviours, participation
in wellness initiatives, job satisfaction, stress
levels and safety, says Katrina Walton, founder
and director of workplace consultancy
Wellness Designs.
When a leader takes a break for lunch or leaves
work on time, for example, this not only supports
their own wellbeing, but also sends a clear signal
to their staff that these behaviours are not only
acceptable, but also encouraged.
Safe Work Australia has identified several
other factors that affect the psychological
36 ITB November 2021
wellbeing of employees, including control over
your work, supportive relationships, rewards
and recognition, and role clarity. A KPI built
around these would help workplaces fulfil their
obligation to create a psychologically
safe workplace.
Supportive relationships at work have
proven to be an especially potent buffer against
workplace stress, but how do you turn that into
an actionable, quantifiable KPI?
One way is to require managers to ask about
the health and wellbeing of each staff member
when conducting a performance review.
Providing guidance for managers on how to do
this, through mental health training for example,
can help alleviate any concerns by managers that
they have to be a counsellor before opening up
the conversation.
KEEPING IT SIMPLE
Given the complexities involved, it is not
surprising that some organisations already using
a wellbeing KPI are keeping it simple by basing
it on participation rates.
“While it’s not a measure of success, it makes
sense to use this measure to begin with,” says
Kirsten. “If no one is participating in your
wellbeing program, it won’t have any effect.”
Monash University, winner of the 2016 Global
Healthy Workplace Award, has been using a
university-wide wellbeing KPI since 2009. It
measures individual participation in a single
wellbeing event over 12 months. The target had
Above: Wolf Kirsten,
Global Centre for
Healthy Workplaces
IF A PUBLIC
C O M PA N Y C O L L E C T S
D ATA O N S TA F F
WELLBEING, SHOULD
IT BE REPORTED ON
E X T E R N A L LY ?
Wolf Kirsten from the Global
Centre for Healthy Workplaces
is not a fan of the idea. “It’s
very sensitive and certainly
not fair to compare companies
on that basis.” He gives the
example of a tech company
that employs lots of young
people, which will likely have
a much better health profile
than that of a manufacturing
company that employs older
people, due to the age-related
and socio-economic
differences in their employee
population, quite apart from
the workplace factors.