How happy is your workplace?
In this blog, we delve deeper into the topic of workplace happiness and how a new tool, Friday Pulse is helping us measure and enhance employee well-being. We will also highlight some key findings and insights from our experience using this tool, providing valuable information for other organisations interested in prioritising employee happiness.
So, if you’re curious about measuring the happiness of your workplace and how it can impact your team’s success, join us as we explore this important topic with insights from our HR Manager, Helen Parker.
It’s long been recognised that a happy workforce is a productive workforce. But increasingly firms are seeing the wider value of workplace happiness – in terms of recruitment and retention.
According to a recent study carried out by the MIT Sloan Institute for Work and Employment Research, job seekers said that they would trade a 10.5% pay cut to work for a company with an above-average happiness score. Furthermore, in a separate study, 72% of job seekers say workplace happiness is important when considering a future employer.
“Workplace happiness is a top concern for today’s employees and employers,” explains Helen Parker, HR Manager for A2Z Cloud.
“At A2Z Cloud, we are passionate about creating & maintaining a supportive workplace culture where people feel valued and can make their views heard”, she adds.
“But, we’re always keen to find new ways to measure employee happiness and wellbeing – and that’s how this particular project came about.”
The happiness tracker
For the past three months, A2Z Cloud has been trialling Friday Pulse – a workplace happiness tool. This tool is designed to provide a quick temperature check of how individuals and teams within the workplace are coping and feeling. It’s the brainchild of Nic Marks, who has spent more than 25 years researching workplace culture.
“We already have many ways for employees to feed back their views and we also have a team recognition channel”, says Helen. “But, Friday Pulse gives us real-time insights on all aspects of our company culture.”
Helen explains that Friday Pulse sends a short questionnaire, by email, once a week to everyone at A2Z Cloud. It contains a series of questions designed to gauge workplace happiness and wellbeing. Employees have three days to complete the questionnaire. The questions take around five minutes to complete.
These questions are broken down into:
How happy are you at work this week? This provides a happiness score out of 100 – a Happiness KPI™.
Team successes, frustrations, ideas and thank yous for the week.
Random ‘icebreaker’ questions – such as ‘Do you have a hidden skill?’ designed to encourage conversations across teams.
Company culture questions – every quarter, there are psychometrically-tested questions on topics around the company culture – covering appreciation, work-life balance, pride, learning and creativity.
Taking the business forward
The results are presented using a user-friendly dashboard with real-time data and actionable insights, helping company leaders identify any issues and track the impact of changes that are introduced over time.
The results can be broken down by location, age and gender. So, companies can look at trends and compare benchmark data from other companies across the UK.
“The results are proving very interesting and highlighting areas where we are doing well and areas where we need to do better”, says Helen.
“For example, our people feel that they have a great work-life balance at A2Z Cloud but they would like greater involvement in influencing decisions – and that’s something we can now work on. This tool is particularly useful for us, as we have people based across several continents.”
Since the results are anonymised, the survey highlights issues that employees want to flag but may prefer not to raise directly with a line manager or colleague.
A quick wellbeing check
“Friday Pulse also offers a personal wellbeing check – and makes you think about how you’re feeling”, explains Helen. “So, if you’ve had a difficult week, you’ll reflect on those challenges but Friday Pulse also encourages you to think about all the successes too.”
The management team at A2Z Cloud is now analysing the results in greater detail and potentially looking at Friday Pulse as a future offering for clients. “We can definitely see the potential for Friday Pulse more widely, particularly for clients whose employees are dispersed across many different sites, countries and even continents”, explains Helen.
“This is where employee communication and engagement can become more challenging. Having a quick way to monitor staff wellbeing and happiness is a real advantage. The potential for Friday Pulse is huge”, concludes Helen.
How happy are you at work? Find out by taking the test.
For more information on Friday Pulse, go here.
Boost your workplace happiness
Ready to create a happier workplace? Discover how Friday Pulse can enhance your team’s satisfaction and productivity. Contact us now to learn more.
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