Employee Wellbeing and How to Achieve It

In industries such as hospitality, service, and retail, happy employees are a must-have. Without them, your guests and customers will have a bad experience, leading to employee turnover, and as a result, revenue will go down, and costs will go up. Having happy and engaged employees is essential in all organizations, especially in industries where employees interact face-to-face with customers.

Humans are complex, and a myriad of factors are at play when it comes to individual happiness. But as a business owner, HR manager, or people and culture manager, you need to ensure that you do everything in your power to create a work environment and culture where people can thrive.

You Need to Get the Data

To start improving employees' wellbeing, you need to measure how they feel. Do this in a way that is easy and accessible for employees; having them fill out a long, complicated survey via email likely won’t work. With too few respondents, you won't get accurate data. Use software that makes this easy and provides data in a structured way, allowing you to analyze by departments and roles within the organization. Make sure you track relevant topics such as 'Manager relations,' 'Recognition,' 'Personal development,' etc. You need to know which areas are problematic and which are satisfactory so you can focus your efforts. Also, make sure to get eNPS data so you can benchmark with your peers regardless of systems in use.

Another important point: tell your employees why you want them to complete the surveys. Emphasize that you are doing this for them, to make the workplace better. From experience, if surveys aren’t put into context, response rates will be lower.

Measure at Frequent Intervals

Once you have a system in place where employees can easily give feedback, measure it at fixed intervals. Once a year is far from enough; based on my experience, every two to three months is ideal. If the interval is too long, you'll work with outdated data for much of the year; if too short, you risk survey fatigue among employees and may get too small a sample size. Also, ensure the survey is anonymous. Employees may hesitate to be honest if they think their feedback could threaten their job or social standing within the organization.

Follow Up and Take Action

There is no magic bullet to achieve happy employees overnight; it requires strategic, consistent effort. But once you have data on which departments and topics are most problematic, you can focus your efforts. The specific actions you take will depend on the areas of concern. One thing is certain: if employees see action taken based on survey results, it creates a positive feedback loop and encourages them to continue providing feedback. For example, if issues arise around 'coworker relations,' and initiatives for social events and gatherings are implemented, employees can see firsthand that their feedback is taken seriously.

Another certainty: social support works. Give employees the ability to report issues, anonymously if necessary, and ensure you follow up on them individually. Foster a culture where it’s okay to discuss concerns openly rather than sweeping them under the rug. Encourage social support at all levels of the organization.

Giving people more control over their work life and providing them with social support fosters higher levels of physical and mental health. Job control and social support are among the most powerful predictors of job satisfaction, work motivation, and individual performance—often ranking above pay.

- Jeffrey Pfeffer