INTHEBLACK November 2021 - Magazine - Page 37
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originally been set at 5 per cent in order
to get some easy runs on the board, then
increased to at least 30 per cent of staff each
year. Program activities relate to physical
activity, general health, mental health and
nutrition. Monash has achieved its target
for the past six years.
Reported at the highest levels of the
university – all the way to the chief operating
officer and the vice-chancellor – the KPI has
proven very valuable in raising the profile of
staff wellbeing, according to Dr Vicki Ashton,
Monash University’s chief medical officer and
occupational health physician.
“It’s helped create the cultural shift we
wanted from the outset, that of strengthening
the importance of health and wellbeing in the
workplace for our staff,” says Ashton.
The university’s wellbeing KPI is also
reported to the faculties and divisions
each quarter.
“If the wellbeing KPI is low in a certain
area, we approach that area and ask what they
need and how we can best support them,”
says Ashton.
“We actively seek staff feedback and are
looking to include other measures, such as
opportunities for staff to come together.”
Walton has also seen participation rates
used as a wellbeing KPI in some of her
former in-house wellbeing roles. “In one
instance, the wellbeing KPI was linked to
salary bonuses for senior leaders and middle
managers, according to the participation rates
of both themselves individually and their
teams,” recalls Walton. “How leaders and
managers were supporting the health and
wellness of their team also formed part of
their performance review discussion.”
Another KPI Walton had used involved
a target for managers to offer their staff one
department-based wellbeing initiative each
quarter. “We helped ensure that the initiatives
offered were based on staff need, and we gave
the managers resources and a budget to help
them succeed,” says Walton.
Successful adoption of a wellbeing KPI
takes work, Walton says.
“It took a lot of advocacy and relationship
building to help ensure it was well received.
Communicating the benefits – to help create
high-performing teams – was key.”
Pressure on workplaces to adopt
wellbeing KPIs will continue to build, says
Kirsten, given concerns about rising rates
of mental health conditions, more focus
on organisations’ social responsibility and
growing demand for environmental, social
and corporate governance reporting.
Whether wellbeing KPIs can achieve
their true purpose of caring for staff will
depend on how they are framed, explained,
executed and supported. If they are owned by
employees at all levels, they have the potential
to be powerful enablers of creating workplace
cultures that truly care.
Above: Dr Vicki Ashton,
Monash University
TIPS FOR
S U C C E S S F U L LY
E M P L OY I N G A
WELLBEING KPI:
Ensure heath and wellbeing are written
into your workplace’s business strategy,
so that the wellbeing KPI has a clear link
to business goals.
Wait until you have some runs on the
board with your wellbeing program
before introducing a KPI. This allows you
to build relationships and establish trust
with staff first.
Invest in a communication strategy that
explains the value of having a KPI – namely,
to help the organisation fulfil its
responsibility to care for staff and create a
healthy work environment. Otherwise, it may
be seen as a negative form of control and
monitoring, and generate backlash.
Consult staff when choosing KPI measures.
Make the KPIs realistic, particularly for
time-poor middle managers.
If collecting personal wellbeing data,
ensuring privacy and anonymity are
paramount.
Don’t look at the results in isolation.
Investigate low wellbeing KPI hotspots
to help identify causes in order to offer
targeted support.
If the same wellbeing KPI is to be applied
equally across the organisation, all staff
need to have equal access to the wellbeing
programs and services.
intheblack.com November 2021 37