In our latest Health and Wellbeing at Work report with the CIPD¹ we found that 44% of organisations have a well-being strategy. But it’s important to note that a wellbeing strategy can only be successful if you know how to measure its performance.

We understand it can be tricky to know where to start when it comes to this, so we’ve pulled together our top methods to help you get the most from your wellbeing initiatives, and evaluate the return on your investment:

1. Measure employee sentiment with surveys

Employee satisfaction surveys are a valuable tool when it comes to measuring wellbeing. At Simplyhealth, we run a monthly Engagement survey. This gives us a regular pulse check on how our employees are feeling, as well as insights on specific issues like stress and anxiety.

Insight can also be gained by running health and wellbeing surveys to understand the wellbeing priorities of your staff, and it’s worth considering how changes in the current climate, i.e. COVID-19, could be of impact too.

2. Use HR data

Workplace metrics like number and frequency of absences, quality and quantity of work output, and levels of staff retention² can be useful reference points when tracking changes in wellbeing.

We use HR data alongside the results and scores from our employee surveys for a clearer indication of employee wellbeing within Simplyhealth.

3. Create an open culture, and talk!

Tracking wellbeing often requires disclosure, but employees are unlikely to feel comfortable doing so if the culture in your organisation isn’t right.

Normalising conversations around wellbeing is a good place to start. Encourage managers to set-up regular one-to-ones with their team, or why not run an informal coffee morning? Our team of mental health first aiders host a weekly drop-in session for a cuppa and a chat – a great solution for supporting employees and helping them support their peers.

4. Management Information (MI)

MI is a powerful tool for employers striving to improve their understanding of their employees’ health and wellbeing challenges. Exploring data such as age demographics, gender splits, and claim trends, can help inform and develop your health and wellbeing strategy whilst providing your HR team with valuable insights.

5. How to spot risk areas

Consistently monitoring your wellbeing strategy will help to identify risk areas. Keep an eye out for changes in feedback, set benchmark figures for your HR and MI data, and use verbatim feedback collected from employee surveys to combine the data and identify trends.

If you’re measuring employee wellbeing successfully you’ll be able to look at key themes from your data to see how it might be affecting business performance