How To Measure Employee Happiness 

Who needs a happy employee when you can get a hardworking one? This question might be the downfall of many businesses, whether a mom-and-pop enterprise or a Fortune 500 company. 

 

A business is a functional system consisting of different active units all working together to achieve a common goal. Employees are the powerhouse of any enterprise, and their overall satisfaction is a vital recipe for business success. 

 

Daniel H. Wilson said, “Humans are inscrutable. Indefinitely unpredictable. This is what makes them dangerous.” While it is true that human nature is unpredictable, feelings and emotions, on the other hand, can be measured with the right tools. 

 

In this article, we’ll take a look at why employee happiness is essential, tools for measuring employee satisfaction, metrics to pay attention to in the quest to measure employee happiness, and how to utilize the result to create a healthy workplace. 

 

Why is Employee Happiness Important? 

On June 1, 2022, Forbes published an article about Toxic Work Culture as the primary reason for workplace resignation. The write-up highlighted that job hopping is now more common in Gen Zs than in other generations. It is due to more people realizing how workplace happiness plays a significant role in their productivity and are even bold enough to jump ship if they don’t derive that feeling at their jobs. 

 

Working in itself is not a fun ordeal. However, businesses need to create an environment that can cushion the effect of the complex and stressful tasks carried out daily, hence, the conversation about employee happiness. 

 

A satisfied employee has the following effect on a business: 

• A positive working environment that encourages risk-taking. 
• Ability to retain more staff.
• Improved workplace productivity. 
• More committed and hands-on employees. 

 

Additionally, there is something known as the “happiness effect,” where the feeling of satisfaction and gratification in an employee spreads to other team members. It reinforces communication and working relationships within the company, benefiting the business. 

 

Using Pulse Survey To Measure Happiness

The opposite of a happy employee is a dissatisfied one. Constant employee dissatisfaction could be a symptom of an underlying issue— workplace toxicity, amongst other things. After all, a safe and healthy working environment births happy employees. 

 

Wouldn’t it be nice to know that employee satisfaction can be measured before it becomes more severe? This is where Pulse Survey comes in. 

 

From how employees prefer to work to insight into certain workplace practices, businesses can derive meaningful opinions on the current state of their employees using Pulse Survey. It is a process for capturing employee feedback using short questionnaire-like prompts that are not directly related to a particular topic.  

 

Unlike traditional surveys, pulse surveys happen as often as needed. In some cases, monthly, while in others, quarterly. They are also distinct for being brief (about two or three questions) and consistent (measures a particular construct over time). With this method, companies can measure employee performance, happiness, and other important metrics. 

 

Employee Satisfaction Metrics: What Businesses Should Look out For 

There are so many metrics for determining employee happiness. However, there are four major ones businesses should look out for, and they are: employee net promoter score, absenteeism rate, employee satisfaction index, and turnover speed. 

Employee Net Promoter Score 

The eNPS (Employee Net Promoter Score) is easily one of the most popular HR metrics for gauging staff satisfaction. It comes in simple questions that let employees respond in any number from 1-10. An example is, “ On a scale of 1-10, how likely are you to recommend this organization to a friend for work?” 

 

Based on the response to this question, you can divide the employees into promoters, passives, and detractors. The promoters are the ones who responded with 9 or 10. This rating shows that they are satisfied. 

 

Passives, on the other hand, are the ones that responded with 7 or 8. They feel indifferent about the company, would not recommend it to a friend but will not bad mouth them either. 

 

Finally, the detractors are the ones that vote 6 and below, which means they are unsatisfied. 

 

Absenteeism Rate 

The absenteeism rate measures how often employees miss work due to illness and other unforeseen circumstances. In the United States, the average absenteeism rate is 3%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics. 

 

The higher the rate, the more obvious that employees are unhappy with their working conditions. To calculate the absenteeism rate of a company, divide the number of absent days by the total number of work days, then multiply it by 100 to get a percentage. 

 

Employee Satisfaction Index 

Employee Satisfaction Index (ESI) is a survey that helps businesses measure the overall satisfaction of their employees. It is a small questionnaire that lets staff members answer questions about how they generally feel about their workplace. Some common questions to ask on a scale of 1-10 are; 

 

How satisfied are you with your current role? 

 

How closely does your current role match your ideal job? 

 

How well does your current workplace meet your expectations? 

 

Turn Over Rate 

In employee Satisfaction measurement, Turn Over Rate refers to the number of employees that leaves a company within a specific period multiplied by 100 for the percentage. The average Turnover Rate varies in different industries. To gauge employee happiness, compare your business’s annual Turn over rate with that of your industry. 

 

Using Your Result to Improve Overall Satisfaction 

The purpose of measuring employee satisfaction is to make informed decisions when changing workplace policies. Pulse surveys and other measurement tools help provide insight into where the company is doing great and where they need improvement. Some tips to increase overall workplace satisfaction are offering competitive salaries and creative benefits, celebrating employee success, and promoting transparency and communication. 

 

Conclusion 

Measuring Employee satisfaction is not a once-and-done affair but a continuous process that always ends with better workplace policies. With the right data provided by powerful automated survey systems, businesses can be a step ahead in keeping their employees safe, happy, and productive.