Name: Why you can't afford to ignore employee health and wellbeing data
Uploaded: 2023-11-02T15:06:10.751Z
Duration: 671.4

Why you cant afford to ignore employee health and wellbeing data V2.mp4

Why you cant afford to ignore employee health and wellbeing data V2.vtt

English

{{00:00:00}}
Angela Loder: The reality, though, of
course, is that there's no reporting

{{00:00:02}}
platform that's streamlining this.

{{00:00:04}}
So that is a big call to the industry
right now, to help us say we know more

{{00:00:10}}
or less what to measure, help us find
more streamlined ways of doing that.

{{00:00:26}}
Sarah Austin: Why should
organisations or businesses bother

{{00:00:28}}
to measure health and well being?

{{00:00:31}}
Angela Loder: Well, it's a
lot of different reasons.

{{00:00:32}}
The first one is retention and sick days.

{{00:00:36}}
So if you have a workforce that is
burning out, stressed out,  missing

{{00:00:41}}
work, possibly thinking of quitting,
it's really important to get a handle

{{00:00:45}}
on that before it becomes a big problem.

{{00:00:47}}
This really became an issue with COVID.

{{00:00:49}}
We saw mental health
crisis, people dropping out.

{{00:00:52}}
It's particularly important
with remote work, because we

{{00:00:55}}
know that a lot of people.

{{00:00:57}}
Managers are less likely to know
there's a problem until it's too late.

{{00:01:01}}
So getting a handle on a culture
of health and making your employees

{{00:01:05}}
feel valued, it's a really great
way to make sure that you get

{{00:01:08}}
healthy, happy, productive employees.

{{00:01:12}}
During COVID, we realised that some
of the biggest reasons why people

{{00:01:14}}
quit or why teams didn't work is
because they didn't feel safe.

{{00:01:17}}
Psychologically safe at work
and they didn't feel valued.

{{00:01:20}}
There wasn't an environment of
care and support in the workplace.

{{00:01:24}}
Sarah Austin: How is it
done at the moment then?

{{00:01:25}}
Kind of how are people measured now and
where are the gaps and how it's done?

{{00:01:29}}
Angela Loder: It's all over the place.

{{00:01:30}}
So we have leading organisations
that have annual surveys and

{{00:01:34}}
they have cultures of health.

{{00:01:35}}
Sometimes use well certification for that.

{{00:01:37}}
Sometimes use other certifications and
then we have other ones that are really

{{00:01:41}}
just afraid of asking any questions
because they're worried about the

{{00:01:44}}
kind of answers they're going to get.

{{00:01:46}}
Often what we see with reporting,
whether that's an organisation

{{00:01:49}}
reporting internally for their own
corporate sustainability report, or

{{00:01:53}}
externally for something like ESG,
is they tend to treat health and

{{00:01:57}}
well being similar to sustainability.

{{00:01:59}}
They want numbers, they want
quantification, and that's okay but

{{00:02:04}}
what it ends up being is a mixed bag
of what we call lagging indicators.

{{00:02:08}}
So those are usually disease and
injury, you know, absenteeism, sick

{{00:02:12}}
days other injuries on the job, and
that's only part of the picture.

{{00:02:17}}
It doesn't tell you why they got sick
in the first place, and it doesn't

{{00:02:20}}
let you know at what point should you
intervene most effectively to really

{{00:02:24}}
make sure your people are healthy
before you count those outcomes.

{{00:02:28}}
Sarah Austin: So if you're not
just counting sick days, what is

{{00:02:30}}
the solution and how do you do it?

{{00:02:32}}
Angela Loder: There's a
couple of different ways.

{{00:02:34}}
We developed.

{{00:02:35}}
We actually saw a lot of these gaps.

{{00:02:37}}
We saw that people were reporting
on, for example, their air quality,

{{00:02:40}}
but they weren't then asking
people how healthy they were or

{{00:02:44}}
how they were feeling at work.

{{00:02:45}}
Or we know they're doing sustainability
reporting and they're not connecting the

{{00:02:48}}
dots on their environmental initiatives.

{{00:02:50}}
With, say, the health and well
being of their people, or even their

{{00:02:52}}
own organisational performance.

{{00:02:54}}
So, we developed with our research
advisory and some survey providers

{{00:02:59}}
a, kind of, 12 competencies for
measuring health and well being.

{{00:03:03}}
This is a five level framework, which
we argue, which we recommend the

{{00:03:07}}
organisations gather data on and we
do five levels because we want them,

{{00:03:12}}
we're trying to bring everybody to the
table and get a more holistic approach.

{{00:03:15}}
And within those five levels, there's
twelve different competencies or

{{00:03:18}}
categories that they can report on.

{{00:03:20}}
And it's meant to be an educational
framework, so if you were, for example,

{{00:03:23}}
interested in thriving, right, it's
really important, this is a big buzz

{{00:03:26}}
word, that your people are thriving, oh,
well you should consider asking questions

{{00:03:31}}
or gathering data on, you know, work
life balance, psychological safety, and

{{00:03:35}}
mental health, and things like that.

{{00:03:37}}
So it's a really a useful framework
that's currently being piloted we're

{{00:03:42}}
hoping to publish the full metrics at the
year, but we really developed it because

{{00:03:46}}
that's what we do at the International
Wild Billing Institute, is take lots of

{{00:03:49}}
different research, we're not prioritizing
one thing or the other, it's really

{{00:03:53}}
based on evidence, and translating
that into practice in actionable

{{00:03:57}}
terms that organisations can use.

{{00:03:59}}
Sarah Austin: Can you give me an
idea then of some of those levels

{{00:04:01}}
or some of those competencies?

{{00:04:02}}
Angela Loder: So the
first level is individual.

{{00:04:04}}
And we do that individually because
that's where you're gathering the data.

{{00:04:07}}
So this would be mostly through surveys,
where you'd ask questions about their

{{00:04:10}}
health and well being, you ask about their
health behaviors, you ask about their

{{00:04:14}}
performance, right, their work engagement.

{{00:04:17}}
This is really important to gather
data on because otherwise, if you

{{00:04:20}}
don't ask people, you really have
no idea how they're doing, how

{{00:04:23}}
they're feeling about work, are they
getting around with their colleagues.

{{00:04:27}}
It's becoming more and more important
that sort of social,  well being,

{{00:04:31}}
that collective well being, is a
key reason why people go back to

{{00:04:35}}
the office and for their health.

{{00:04:37}}
So that's sort of the first
level, often done through surveys.

{{00:04:39}}
The second is organisational.

{{00:04:41}}
This includes organisational performance,
how well the organisation's doing.

{{00:04:45}}
It includes risk management policies,
health and well being policies.

{{00:04:49}}
Resilience mostly policies
and things like that.

{{00:04:52}}
So if they're pursuing sustainability,
they have, you know, a larger

{{00:04:55}}
organisation that has records of that.

{{00:04:57}}
It's probably do not already, but
it's something important to track for

{{00:05:01}}
midsize and small organisations as well.

{{00:05:03}}
The third level is built environment.

{{00:05:05}}
So did you design your
building for health and safety?

{{00:05:08}}
Did you design it for
health and well being?

{{00:05:10}}
Are you testing the air quality?

{{00:05:12}}
This became a huge issue during COVID.

{{00:05:14}}
Do people think, is it actually
safe for people to go in?

{{00:05:17}}
Do you have an inclusive design?

{{00:05:19}}
Are you making this accessible
for all abilities and ages?

{{00:05:22}}
And that is a huge growth opportunity
because it's currently stuck instead

{{00:05:26}}
of building and construction, and
they're not realising the impact

{{00:05:30}}
that can have on the well being
and performance of their people.

{{00:05:33}}
The fourth area is community.

{{00:05:35}}
We're seeing a lot of pressure for social
impact reporting, what's your impact

{{00:05:38}}
on the community with the S,  and ESG.

{{00:05:42}}
And this is really like, do
you have policies and programs

{{00:05:44}}
to engage with the community?

{{00:05:45}}
Do you have modern slavery policies?.

{{00:05:49}}
Do you have policies in
diversity, equity and inclusion?

{{00:05:51}}
We're seeing a lot of pressure to
not just have policies, but actually

{{00:05:55}}
look at outcomes and initiatives.

{{00:05:57}}
And then lastly, because most of these
organisations are doing it anyways,

{{00:06:00}}
is ESG and sustainability reporting.

{{00:06:03}}
What's your initiatives on sustainability?

{{00:06:04}}
What are you reporting on?

{{00:06:06}}
Right now it's kind of in this box
over here, but it does have impacts

{{00:06:09}}
on the rest of your organisation.

{{00:06:11}}
We're really trying to bring all those
threads together to make it a lot easier.

{{00:06:14}}
We've heard from people that
are just so tired with all these

{{00:06:16}}
different reporting streams.

{{00:06:18}}
Sarah Austin: Post COVID, most
organisations do have kind of

{{00:06:21}}
well being policies, at least,
and quite new ones, a lot of them.

{{00:06:25}}
What's wrong with that?

{{00:06:25}}
Why not just have the policies?

{{00:06:26}}
Why do you have to go
to the reporting part?

{{00:06:29}}
Angela Loder: So we saw with
sustainability, that for a long time,

{{00:06:32}}
they were like, Oh, I'm better than, you
know, Bob down the street, and I'm doing

{{00:06:36}}
my thing with environmental reporting.

{{00:06:37}}
And now they're saying, yeah, but
neither of you were doing very

{{00:06:39}}
much, and none of it was related to
actual outcomes that matter, right?

{{00:06:43}}
The world's still on fire.

{{00:06:44}}
And we're seeing these similar criticisms
with health and well being, with the

{{00:06:48}}
S & ESG, saying it's not enough to have
just a policy for women on the board.

{{00:06:53}}
It's not enough to have
workplace  wellness programs.

{{00:06:56}}
We know from the data that the usage
of those workplace wellness programs,

{{00:07:01}}
it's okay, but it's not great.

{{00:07:03}}
It's not usually addressing burnout.

{{00:07:05}}
It's not usually addressing
work life balance.

{{00:07:07}}
The important reason to actually gather
data from your people on what they

{{00:07:11}}
need and want, how they're feeling,
is to be able to pinpoint further

{{00:07:15}}
upstream, that we call this leading
indicators, where the problem is.

{{00:07:19}}
Maybe there's a whole bunch of people
that are new mothers and they need

{{00:07:23}}
more flexibility to be able to bring
their best self to work and to be

{{00:07:26}}
able to have health and well being.

{{00:07:28}}
If you don't deal with that and address
that, you might have people dropping out

{{00:07:31}}
of the workforce and you've invested a
lot of time and money in those people

{{00:07:34}}
to be at that workforce instead of
having to be able to identify upstream,

{{00:07:39}}
hey, if we just change this and we do
this, we can have a more inclusive,

{{00:07:42}}
productive, and thriving community.

{{00:07:44}}
Sarah Austin: And a lot of companies,
though, are already going crazy with

{{00:07:47}}
the amount of reporting and disclosure
they've got to do for the ESG.

{{00:07:50}}
So, how, doesn't this add to it?

{{00:07:52}}
Angela Loder: There's a lot of debate on
what should be reported for the S& ESG.

{{00:07:56}}
And there's not a lot of consensus,
except that it needs to be standardised.

{{00:08:01}}
And we do have some progress with, say,
the UN SDGs, but the problem is that

{{00:08:05}}
a lot of those things are this large
scale social impact, and businesses

{{00:08:09}}
are really struggling, understandably,
in saying, well, What is what I

{{00:08:12}}
do at my business level have to do
with like community social impact?

{{00:08:17}}
What we're trying to say is if you
start at the very beginning and

{{00:08:21}}
realising those synergies of healthy
workforce, equitable workforce, healthy

{{00:08:26}}
environment, healthy environmental
reporting, you could use the same things

{{00:08:30}}
to report on multiple different streams.

{{00:08:33}}
An example of this, for example,
is biodiversity for access

{{00:08:36}}
to nature in the workplace.

{{00:08:38}}
It's not going to fix like
a toxic workplace culture.

{{00:08:41}}
But it has very well established links
to health and well being, performance

{{00:08:46}}
I just was in a session yesterday that
talked about even access to daylight,

{{00:08:50}}
that people's performance when they had
access to daylight and biophilia went up

{{00:08:54}}
over the week, whereas if they just had a
regular office, their actual performance

{{00:08:57}}
went down over the end of the week.

{{00:08:59}}
So like, a pretty big deal,
like up to the equivalent of a

{{00:09:02}}
21 percent increase in salary.

{{00:09:04}}
Understanding to say, hey, if I have,
say, biophilic interventions throughout my

{{00:09:09}}
building, and I do that at the beginning,
I can have a healthier workforce.

{{00:09:12}}
I can improve performance.

{{00:09:14}}
I make my employees feel cared about.

{{00:09:16}}
I could potentially link this to
larger biodiversity sustainability

{{00:09:20}}
initiatives and environmental reporting.

{{00:09:22}}
That's one example of them
being able to cover a lot of

{{00:09:25}}
bases with one intervention.

{{00:09:28}}
The reality, though, of course,
is that there's no reporting

{{00:09:31}}
platform that's streamlining this.

{{00:09:32}}
So that is a big call to the industry
right now, to help us say, we know more

{{00:09:38}}
or less what to measure, help us find
more streamlined ways of doing that.

{{00:09:44}}
So we know there's some organizations
out there that have done this with

{{00:09:46}}
environmental reporting, but we're
looking for, really, partnerships and

{{00:09:50}}
allegiances to help do the same thing for
health, well being, and social impact.

{{00:09:55}}
Sarah Austin: And while
we're waiting for that.

{{00:09:57}}
If I'm a small business organisation
and I hear you, I want to get started,

{{00:10:01}}
what's the best place to start?

{{00:10:03}}
Angela Loder: An easy place to start
would be starting with a certification

{{00:10:06}}
because it's laid out for you
and you can see what you can do.

{{00:10:09}}
So, for example, LEAD or BREEAM, Green
Star, WELL, those do cover, especially

{{00:10:14}}
WELL or FitWell, covers health and well
being and built environment features.

{{00:10:19}}
You could also look at
our 12 competencies.

{{00:10:22}}
So we have the Executive Summary
online, it's fully available.

{{00:10:26}}
The full paper will be published
later this year or early next year.

{{00:10:29}}
An organisation, absolutely for free,
could take a look and say, I really

{{00:10:32}}
want to measure health and well being.

{{00:10:34}}
What are some things I
should gather data on?

{{00:10:37}}
We are also bundling metrics, so
we just bundled metrics recently

{{00:10:40}}
on equity,  for out leadership.

{{00:10:43}}
We're working on circularity metrics
for the World Business Council

{{00:10:46}}
Sustainable Development, so we are
happy to work with an organisation

{{00:10:49}}
and say, what are you interested in?

{{00:10:51}}
Here's what we recommend you start with.

{{00:10:53}}
We never want people to think, if I
don't do all of it, I'm a failure.

{{00:10:57}}
All of this is a journey, right?

{{00:10:58}}
Where are you right now?

{{00:11:00}}
Let's slowly make progress towards where
you want to go, but this really gives

{{00:11:03}}
them a roadmap to be able to do that.

Angela Loder: The reality, though, of
course, is that there's no reporting

So that is a big call to the industry
right now, to help us say we know more

or less what to measure, help us find
more streamlined ways of doing that.

Sarah Austin: Why should
organisations or businesses bother

Angela Loder: Well, it's a
lot of different reasons.

The first one is retention and sick days.

So if you have a workforce that is
burning out, stressed out,  missing

work, possibly thinking of quitting,
it's really important to get a handle

We saw mental health
crisis, people dropping out.

It's particularly important
with remote work, because we

Managers are less likely to know
there's a problem until it's too late.

So getting a handle on a culture
of health and making your employees

feel valued, it's a really great
way to make sure that you get

During COVID, we realised that some
of the biggest reasons why people

quit or why teams didn't work is
because they didn't feel safe.

Psychologically safe at work
and they didn't feel valued.

There wasn't an environment of
care and support in the workplace.

Sarah Austin: How is it
done at the moment then?

Kind of how are people measured now and
where are the gaps and how it's done?

So we have leading organisations
that have annual surveys and

Sometimes use well certification for that.

Sometimes use other certifications and
then we have other ones that are really

just afraid of asking any questions
because they're worried about the

Often what we see with reporting,
whether that's an organisation

reporting internally for their own
corporate sustainability report, or

externally for something like ESG,
is they tend to treat health and

They want numbers, they want
quantification, and that's okay but

what it ends up being is a mixed bag
of what we call lagging indicators.

So those are usually disease and
injury, you know, absenteeism, sick

days other injuries on the job, and
that's only part of the picture.

It doesn't tell you why they got sick
in the first place, and it doesn't

let you know at what point should you
intervene most effectively to really

make sure your people are healthy
before you count those outcomes.

Sarah Austin: So if you're not
just counting sick days, what is

Angela Loder: There's a
couple of different ways.

We saw that people were reporting
on, for example, their air quality,

but they weren't then asking
people how healthy they were or

Or we know they're doing sustainability
reporting and they're not connecting the

With, say, the health and well
being of their people, or even their

So, we developed with our research
advisory and some survey providers

a, kind of, 12 competencies for
measuring health and well being.

This is a five level framework, which
we argue, which we recommend the

organisations gather data on and we
do five levels because we want them,

we're trying to bring everybody to the
table and get a more holistic approach.

And within those five levels, there's
twelve different competencies or

And it's meant to be an educational
framework, so if you were, for example,

interested in thriving, right, it's
really important, this is a big buzz

word, that your people are thriving, oh,
well you should consider asking questions

or gathering data on, you know, work
life balance, psychological safety, and

So it's a really a useful framework
that's currently being piloted we're

hoping to publish the full metrics at the
year, but we really developed it because

that's what we do at the International
Wild Billing Institute, is take lots of

different research, we're not prioritizing
one thing or the other, it's really

based on evidence, and translating
that into practice in actionable

Sarah Austin: Can you give me an
idea then of some of those levels

Angela Loder: So the
first level is individual.

And we do that individually because
that's where you're gathering the data.

So this would be mostly through surveys,
where you'd ask questions about their

health and well being, you ask about their
health behaviors, you ask about their

performance, right, their work engagement.

This is really important to gather
data on because otherwise, if you

don't ask people, you really have
no idea how they're doing, how

they're feeling about work, are they
getting around with their colleagues.

It's becoming more and more important
that sort of social,  well being,

that collective well being, is a
key reason why people go back to

So that's sort of the first
level, often done through surveys.

This includes organisational performance,
how well the organisation's doing.

It includes risk management policies,
health and well being policies.

Resilience mostly policies
and things like that.

So if they're pursuing sustainability,
they have, you know, a larger

It's probably do not already, but
it's something important to track for

So did you design your
building for health and safety?

Did you design it for
health and well being?

Expert Insight

Employee retention, and many aspects of employee performance like productivity are now known to be directly related to health and well-being indicators. So why are so many companies still ignoring this key data on how their workforce is doing? 

Watch the insightful conversation our editor Sarah Austin had with researcher Dr Angela Loder to discover how and why organisations should measure employee health and well-being the pro-way.