Why Once a Year Isn't Enough

Updated from my 2022 article for Training Industry.

As a former Gallup consultant, I've always had deep respect for asking the right questions and measuring the right things. Measure the wrong things, or ask too many questions, and you end up busy solving problems that barely move the needle for employees or the business.

So of all the surveys and tools out there, what can you measure that, when it improves, almost guarantees better business results, a better culture, and a better quality of life for your people? The answer is wellbeing.

Employee wellbeing sits at the root of nearly every major people issue: retention, productivity, absenteeism, healthcare costs. It all comes back to whether people feel good about their work and their lives. And wellbeing is not a soft metric. It is a measure of empowerment. Empowered employees innovate, think clearly, and feel like they are in the driver's seat of their lives.

But you have to measure it the right way. You can't tack a few mental health questions onto the end of a long survey and call it a day. A real wellbeing measure covers three things.

Engagement. Work is where we spend most of our waking hours, and it's central to our identity. People have to feel an emotional connection to what they do. If they don't, the rest of life suffers too.

Individual wellbeing. How are people doing in their lives overall: socially, financially, physically, mentally, and emotionally? This is your end result. You want to see lives getting better over time.

The cultural barriers and drivers of wellbeing. This is where most surveys fall short. It's the impact the workplace itself has on people: the root causes of burnout, manager support, leadership behavior, and the signs of a toxic culture.

When I first wrote about this in 2022, I encouraged leaders to ask these questions at least once a year. Since then, my thinking has evolved. Once a year is not enough. People's lives change week to week, and an annual survey tells you what happened months ago, long after you could have helped. Too many employees tune it out, and too many leaders never act on the results.

That's why I co-founded WAIOS. Measurement has to be continuous, effortless for employees, and tied to action, so managers know what to do next and executives can see wellbeing as clearly as any other business metric.

And measurement alone will never move the needle. Pair it with learning on three tracks: one for every employee, to help them help themselves; one for managers, who are the glue of any wellbeing strategy; and one for senior leaders, who set the cultural tone and need to understand the ripple effect of their own wellbeing. Measure what matters, act on it, and teach it. That's how wellbeing becomes part of the fabric of a culture.

Danielle Posa