Why employee questionnaires are the key to team wellbeing

All of us want our team to thrive in the workplace. Not only is this simply morally good, but a team that enjoys that delicate balance of being emotionally content and intellectually challenged produces the best work for a company. A thriving team builds a thriving business. Team wellbeing is key to business success.

It makes sense that creating a positive work environment helps people feel safer and more fulfilled at work. This in turn means they are able to thrive and perform at their best, helping you to build your business.

So, it is no surprise that a rising number of companies are opting to invest in tools that will support workplace wellbeing.

What is “workplace wellbeing”?

Workplace wellbeing is a term used to describe the physical, mental and emotional health of the employees of an organisation.  Companies often have workplace wellbeing policies that seek to promote good health in and out of work, through activities, campaigns, and tools. These tools can range from “stop smoking” campaigns to wellbeing webinars (more on that below!).

Companies promoting wellbeing at work are not a new phenomenon. In 1879, the Cadbury family broke ground in Birmingham, beginning their construction of the “Bournville Factory in a Garden”. Workers at the factory were to enjoy spacious homes, recreational facilities, playgrounds, and work kitchens. At the time, this was revolutionary. Most factory workers’ homes were cramped, tightly packed, poor-quality affairs, and working-class housing areas were prone to outbreaks of disease.

Motivated by their strong Christian principles, the Cadbury family felt they had a moral obligation to improve the health of their workforce. They also recognised that wellbeing was not just reliant on physical health. They believed that spiritual health was also important, and in 1866 established a prayer time for workers. They even supported their workers’ transportation costs, negotiating cheaper fares for those using the train to get to work.

Nowadays, the move is increasingly towards providing an all-around package of support that creates an environment that supports mental as well as physical health. It is now recognised that physical health is only one part of a person’s wellbeing and that using tools that build a culture of care around issues connected with one’s mental health has a more significant impact on overall wellbeing.

How do I support workplace wellbeing?

In our digital age, it has never been so easy to deliver support to your employees. There is a range of employee benefits out there, and the best way to deliver your package is via an online platform or app. This gives your team access to their benefits anytime, anywhere. It is the perfect way to care for colleagues who work remotely.

If you are not sure what benefits will support your team’s mental and emotional wellbeing, a great starting point is wellbeing webinars. These webinars help your employees develop greater self-awareness of their health and wellbeing. They give practical tips that they can incorporate into their lives.

During these webinars, lifestyle wellbeing topics such as “resilience” and “dealing with uncertainty” are discussed alongside more traditional subjects like “diet” and “exercise”. It allows your team to gain a holistic understanding of themselves, and how it all ties into their overall experience of life.

Once your team is equipped to understand their mental and physical wellbeing, they can make informed decisions to see improvement in different areas of their life.

How do employee questionnaires help?

But just supplying them with any old employee wellbeing benefit is the equivalent of giving medicine to a patient without first listing their symptoms! How are you going to know whether the medicine is going to have any impact without first diagnosing the problem?

A key way to provide the support that your employees need is to conduct employee surveys. Unless you ask your team how they are doing, you’re not going to know whether they need help.

Employee questionnaires are surveys that ask a range of questions to determine the level of satisfaction that your team is feeling in their work at any given time. They help you determine where the pain points are. Only once this is done will you be able to provide benefits that give can properly support your team.

What can employee surveys uncover?

There are many reasons why surveys help an organisation. You can determine if there are practical reasons why productivity is not as it should be or learn whether the experience of working for the company “on the shop floor” is as you hope it would be. You can also sometimes determine the causes behind company trends, for example, a high rate of staff turnover may be because the environment is not as supportive as it should be.

The beauty of surveys is that you can choose what questions to ask, tailoring each survey to whatever area of work-life you want to. Some of the areas that you may want to think about assessing are:

1. General wellbeing
2. Benefits provision
3. Inclusion and belonging
4. Professional development
5. Work environment

So, to help you build a package of support that promotes the holistic wellbeing of your team, we have put together some of the key questions you can ask on your employee questionnaire to help gauge how they are doing.

Workplace Wellbeing Survey Questions

1)      In a typical week, how often do you lose sleep worrying about things happening at work?

2)      In a typical week, how often do you get stressed at work?

3)      Do you know who to go to if you feel you are stressed at work?

4)      How easy is it to get help if you need support with your work?

5)      How do you find working under pressure?

6)      How easily do you find maintaining a work-life balance?

Based on the feedback from a survey like the one above, you would be able to delve into some of the reasons behind the responses given, identifying problems and potentially developing solutions.

Accessible workplace wellbeing

Delivering workplace wellbeing benefits has never been easier. Unlike Cadbury’s, who had to physically build every structure they needed for their workforce, we have access to a wealth of knowledge and expertise at our fingertips through online digital platforms. Never has it been so easy to measure our team’s wellbeing. And never has it been so easy to provide workplace wellbeing support to help our employees thrive at work.