Step 2: Identify the Problem

The next step is to identify the problem or issue your committee or team will address by assessing key workplace conditions that may drive poor employee health and well-being. Tailoring your initiative to the specific needs and context of your organization is critical for effective implementation,^3,21 and this can be best achieved by encouraging staff engagement and input in the assessment process. Your initial assessment will also establish a baseline for comparison with any later evaluations, enabling you to determine the effectiveness of your initiative and whether any adjustments are needed.

Gather Input

To identify and address the key drivers of stress and poor health in your workplace, you’ll need to gather data about the organization in strategic ways. Conducting a baseline assessment is widely recommended as an effective strategy for tailoring your intervention to your organization’s specific needs.³

Consider the Three Principles of Work Design for Health

As you approach the assessment phase, consider the three principles of Work Design for Health as a way of centering your data-gathering efforts. As outlined in the first three modules of this toolkit, strong evidence suggests that three work dynamics—job control, job demands, and social relationships at work—are root drivers of worker health and well-being^.10 By focusing data collection on assessing these psychosocial conditions in your workplace, you will target factors that can have substantial impact on worker well-being. Be sure to identify areas of strength, not just concern, since existing workplace resources can be used to build solutions to workplace stressors.

Remind yourself of the work design principles by reviewing Table 1 below. This table outlines the Work Design for Health principles in abbreviated form as well as provides multiple examples of problems and solutions corresponding to each principle. You can refer to this table throughout your implementation process to remind yourself of the core work dynamics you should target to achieve your employee well-being objectives. For an in-depth review of these principles and their basis in research evidence refer to the previous three modules. Also, review the linked resources in the “Helpful Resources” section to locate survey tools for assessing these three work design dynamics and relevant employee well-being outcomes.

Table 1: Work Design Principles

Types of Data to Gather

Many different types of data can be effective for determining the health and well-being needs of your workforce, including the following:

• Informal conversations with key organizational stakeholders or frontline employees
• Anonymous comments in employee suggestion boxes
• Information from exit interviews
• Employee surveys 
• Focus groups (facilitated small group discussions on a focused topic)  
• Administrative data on worker’s compensation claims, sick leave patterns, worker turnover, absenteeism 
• Policy and procedure documents relating to worker health and well-being.

Whether you use a survey or more informal methods for collecting data, you’ll want to gather information about employee well-being and related factors (for example, high stress levels) as well as the underlying workplace conditions that may be driving these outcomes (for instance, long working hours or unpredictable schedules). Review Table 2 (below) for examples of workplace conditions and employee well-being outcomes you might consider targeting in your assessment. Consider measuring outcomes that are beneficial both to employee well-being as well as organizational health, since such outcomes will demonstrate the value of the initiative to both employees and leadership. Survey measures for most of these items can be found in the “Helpful Resources” section of this step.

Scale your assessment to fit the organization’s size and needs. If an organization is relatively small, it may be sufficient to use informal methods such as one-on-one or small group conversations with employees and other key stakeholders. However, medium or large employers may want to consider using more formal methods such as surveys and/or focus groups to capture variation in employee experience across different parts of the organization. Even with limited resources, an assessment can provide valuable insights that help develop evidence-based, actionable improvement plans.

If you decide to use survey methods, we suggest reviewing the “Helpful Resources” section below to identify tools for assessing workplace conditions and employee well-being outcomes. These tools can be used to build on an existing company survey or to create a new standalone one.

An Alternative Use of Assessment Data

Some organizations launch their health and well-being committees in response to a specific, well-recognized, yet pressing problem. In this case, it might make sense to use the assessment phase as a springboard for exploring the root causes of the target concern rather than as a broad-ranging needs assessment tool. In this scenario, assessment tools such as surveys, focus groups, or informal conversations can be used to define the breadth and nature of the problem and its underlying causes more carefully. In either case, the steps taken to conduct an assessment and action plan are very similar.

Use Diverse Data Sources and Feedback Channels

Regardless of which types of data you choose, drawing on multiple sources of information in this phase is important to ensure a more holistic picture of workplace stress and well-being. Recognize that different employees may prefer different methods of communication by offering diverse feedback channels. For instance, setting up comment boxes in key locations around the workplace to collect anonymous employee comments about workplace concerns may elicit more candid feedback from employees who might otherwise be reluctant to share their opinions in other contexts. 

Draw on Existing Assessment Practices

Consider repurposing and/or expanding existing quality improvement or data collection practices, such as annual employee surveys, to include questions about employee health, well-being, and workplace conditions. 

Encourage Broad and Inclusive Participation

Ensure that you hear from a broad cross-section of your employees, including those from different roles, departments, social backgrounds, and organizational ranks. This will guarantee an inclusive understanding of workplace concerns and the ability to tailor change to issues most important to a large segment of the workforce. As mentioned earlier, communications from senior management about their support of assessment efforts are important. Still, frontline employees and supervisors, particularly those who are steering committee members, can also be valuable sources of peer influence in getting the message out. Build employee trust and motivation to participate by reminding staff about the goals of the assessment, how it will be used, and why their feedback is critical for creating positive change.

Ensure Confidentiality

To create an environment where people are comfortable sharing concerns candidly during the assessment phase, communicate to staff that their feedback is confidential and that findings (whether you use formal or informal methods) will only be presented in aggregate form. Efforts should be made to limit the collection of identifying information, and it must be carefully de-identified before results are presented in any public forum. One study of a participatory intervention found that staff fear of identification during assessment prevented them from fully participating in the survey.⁶ Communicating clear procedures for ensuring confidentiality will build employee confidence in the assessment process and increase the likelihood of broader participation and candid responses.

Review Data and Identify Key Areas of Concern

Work as a team or committee to identify themes or patterns that are common across the data and which correspond to one or more of the three work design principles. Use Table 1 to identify themes you are seeing in the data that correspond to the three principles of Work Design for Health. The table provides many examples of the types of workplace concerns that may surface in your assessment, as well as possible solutions. Consider organizing your findings according to the three major areas of concern outlined in the Work Design for Health approach:

1. lack of employee control over work
2. excessive work demands
3. lack of social support in the workplace.

Larger companies should consider analyzing assessment results separately for groups of workers operating in different work roles and environments to capture potential variations in employee workplace conditions and concerns. Related to this strategy, you might also consider comparing departments doing similar work but which have different well-being outcomes (higher vs lower stress levels or burnout) and look for patterns in your data on workplace conditions that might help explain why one department is faring better. These kinds of comparisons can help you understand the source of the problem and potential solutions. If you use a multiple-committee approach, the steering committee may oversee the data collection process, but the unit- or department-level teams are best suited to identify relevant key themes and patterns.

Getting Help with Your Assessment

For more detailed guidance on conducting surveys and focus groups, see the linked resources in the “Helpful Resources” section below. Medium to large organizations may be able to consult with their Human Resources or Occupational Health & Safety departments for help with using more formal assessment methods like surveys and focus groups. Or you may choose to use an outside vendor—a for-profit or not-for-profit service provider of worksite health promotion or occupational safety and health—to design and perform your workplace assessment. Although the latter involves added expense, an outside vendor can increase confidence in your results and reduce the burden of implementation.

Communicate Key Areas of Concern

Organizational leaders can demonstrate their investment in workers’ well-being and build support for the initiative by sharing assessment results, as well as the key areas of concern that emerged, with the wider workforce. Sharing this information can help employees feel included in the intervention process and communicates that their input is being heard and taken seriously. A potential risk with this strategy is that it may create unrealistic expectations for an immediate response and resolution to the concerns raised. Therefore, expectations must be managed carefully by emphasizing that not all concerns can be addressed immediately and that change takes time and staff engagement.

Step 2: Checklist

Ask yourself whether you have accomplished the following:

• Designated responsibility for assessment with the steering committee or external consultants.
• Gathered input on employee experiences of stress and and their levels of health from a broad, inclusive range of employees using multiple methods.
• Considered the three principles of Work Design for Health in your data-gathering efforts.
• Analyzed the data for common themes or patterns of workplace stressors and strengths, as well as variation across work areas, using the Work Design for Health principles to guide your analysis.
• Communicated results to employees and leadership across the organization.

Step 2: Helpful Resources

Assessment Tools (Company Level)

• Good Jobs Strategy Diagnostic – A survey from the Good Jobs Institute that was designed for CEOs, executives, and managers; it identifies strengths and areas for improvement in your current people strategy.
• Good Jobs Scorecard – A tool from the Good Jobs Institute that assesses your company’s performance by examining the experience of your employees and customers as well as operational metrics.
• Workplace Integrated Safety and Health (WISH) Assessment – An assessment tool from Harvard’s Center for Work, Health & Well-Being that measures workplace policies and practices that focus on working conditions and worker health.
• The B Impact Assessment – An assessment tool from B Lab to help companies measure and compare their practices in relation to their workers, the community, and the environment.

Assessment Tools (Employee Level)

• CPH-NEW All Employee Survey – designed to provide organizations with an overall assessment of employee attitudes related to health, safety and wellness. The user manual provides guidance on how to administer and score the survey results.
• CPH-NEW Focus Group Guide for Workplace Safety, Health and Well-being – a script for running a focus group to gather perspectives from employees about issues they see as important for well-being in the workplace. The guide also provides helpful tips for how to facilitate focus groups.
• CPH-NEW training video – This webinar provides guidance on how to use the CPH-NEW all-employee survey and focus group tools to identify health and safety priorities in your workplace.
• NIOSH WellBQ – The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Worker Well-Being Questionnaire provides an integrated assessment of worker well-being across multiple spheres, including individuals’ quality of working life, circumstances outside of work, and physical and mental health status. 
• Quality of Worklife Questionnaire – A questionnaire from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) that covers work hours, workload, worker autonomy, layoffs, job security, and job satisfaction.
• What Works Wellbeing Question Bank – A bank of validated questions from What Works Wellbeing that can be used by employers to measure employee well-being; includes advice on choosing questions, adapting the questions or response scales, and understanding survey results.
• Employee Wellbeing Snapshot Survey – A short, 13-question survey from What Works Wellbeing that is intended to capture a snapshot of employee wellbeing at regular intervals.
• HERO Health and Well-Being Best Practices Scorecard  – A survey from Health Enhancement Research Organization that allows employers to receive emailed feedback on their health and well-being practices and assigns an individual score relative to a national database.

Assessment Tools (Employee Level)

• CPH-NEW planning guide for evaluations – provides guidance on how to carry out both outcome and process evaluations and includes an evaluation plan template to track your progress.