Measuring the effectiveness of wellbeing programs – lessons from QBE

The 3rd Annual Workplace, Mental Health and Wellbeing conference took place on 22nd & 23rd May 2018, in Sydney. Drawing speakers from a cross sector of Australian businesses including Vodafone, Qantas, Coca-Cola Amatil, SEEK, QBE Insurance, the conference covered the many challenges HR professionals face regarding  better mental health programs and reducing psychological injury at work.

At the event, delegates were privileged to hear Shailendra Tripathi (Head of Work Health and Safety, QBE Australia) share a Case Study on ‘measuring effectiveness of your wellbeing at work programs‘. Through this case study, he shared lessons on how to:

• Benchmark programs
• Assess participation rates and
• Apply measurements which help customise employee assistance and support programs

We were lucky enough to catch up with Shailendra before the event and asked him:

What are some key methods organisations can use to measure the effectiveness of their wellbeing programs at work?

His answer –

Effectiveness of wellbeing programs cannot be measured in isolation. When combined with metrics such as:  absenteeism, employee engagement score, incidents and claims data, employee relations issues and
reported personal health issues – an overall improvement or decline over past years can be a good indication of success or failure.

Increase in reported MH issues, early RTW due to personal illness and reduction in ergonomic issues after few months of wellbeing initiatives are some key short term predictors of a successful wellbeing program. Long term measurements include decrease in employee turnover and increase in team productivity. Last but not the least , when your employees are talking and posting on social media (such as yammer or intranet) about these program, you can say it’s working.

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Did you attend the Workplace Mental Health & Wellbeing conference? We would love to hear your inputs and reflections from the two days. Email: [email protected]