Using data to improve your wellbeing strategy

It’s one thing to have a corporate wellbeing strategy and quite another to know what sort of a difference it makes. That’s  why it’s pivotal to collect data that concerns the wellbeing of your staff. The right kind of data, taken over an ongoing period, can be used to measure employee wellbeing – and benefits to your organisation can be priceless.

The data you collect will help to monitor trends over a period of time and give you an indication of whether or not the interventions you are running for your wellbeing strategy are having the desired effect.

Data Collection

The type of data you collect about your wellbeing strategy should provide you with an insight into things like:

• General absenteeism through sickness
• Time taken off work caused by musculoskeletal disorders
• Mood
• Levels of stress in the workplace
• The workplace environment
• Financial wellbeing

The more relevant the data you can collect, the better the picture you can build up of your employees’ overall wellbeing and the overall temperature of mental health in your organisation.

How should data be used?

Collecting data in a responsible way presents HR with an excellent opportunity to gauge the impact that wellbeing interventions and the wider wellbeing strategy has on its staff. This opportunity can then be further broken down to figure out how best to support employees and how to bring about a healthy working environment, with a balance between the health of an individual and their level of productivity. This is exactly how wellbeing analytics should be used.

The benefits to your organisation can be endless, leading to a happy workforce and improved productivity.

Putting your employees at ease

The easiest way of collecting data about an employee’s wellbeing is by carrying out regular surveys. The regularity helps to build up a picture over time and keeps track of changing mood and prevailing circumstances. The survey duration should not, however, be overly long. The shorter, the better as otherwise, the process can feel intrusive and a bit ‘big brother’-ish.

Avoiding a ‘big brother’ scenario is vital, so it is essential to discuss the strategy with your employees. You can explain how the information collected will be used to analyse mental health, with a view to making recommendations to improve the company’s ability to improve staff wellbeing.

Pulse surveys are most effective because not only do they contribute to seeing the bigger picture, but they also give employers the opportunity to introduce different questions, thus widening the field of research.

Choosing the right software is key

Without data, no wellbeing strategy can ever be effective. That is why it is vital to work with the right software. It makes it easier to input data, track and analyse it, learn from the input and deliver more effective wellbeing strategies.