Why get staff to do a wellbeing assessment?
A wellbeing assessment enables you to get a picture of where an employee’s wellbeing is currently sitting.
It helps to identify areas where your people may need support as well as creating awareness for the individual about what level their wellbeing is at.
Doing the assessment through an online platform enables the employee to complete it in their own time and avoids the awkwardness of having to answer questions with someone face-to-face. It means that their answers are more likely to honest, and people can add more detail given the time available to think about it.
Another benefit is that all employee data in the system is aggregated, which enables you to see any consistent patterns across your organisation. You can therefore look at these areas and develop strategies to address them. For example, there may be heightened stress levels after a particular event or at certain times of the year when things are busier so extra support mechanisms can be put in place to address this.
Post assessment wellbeing support is critical
Completing the assessment is only the first step.
Any identified areas of concern within the assessment must trigger immediate support. If not, this will further impact wellbeing by individuals not feeling that their concerns have been taken seriously and their time has been wasted.
Staff can be offered a range of support in this regard including EAP, access to a psychologist or referral to a provider of your choice.
What should you look for in a wellbeing assessment tool?
There are a couple of key things to consider when looking at assessment tool options.
Has the assessment been developed by a qualified professional in the field of health & wellbeing?
Does the tool have multilingual and cultural capability so your team feel valued and the assessment is fully understood by those it is sent to.
Is there the offer of instant support to the individual once the assessment has been completed?
Is the platform secure? Cyber-attacks are a major risk for any platform where personal data (especially health-related information) is being provided. You must therefore ask if the security of the platform meets ISO:27001 certification. If a platform has no ISO:27001 certification, there is a significant risk on how secure your data will be stored and protected. The next risk and question is, how long does the provider hold your data for and can they provide evidence to ensure data cleansing after a term you agree to.
Is peoples’ data being kept private? A privacy policy is crucial, and this should be requested and reviewed to ensure clarity on the process of managing personal data.
Find out more about our online assessment tool here.