The Work Happiness Score and work happiness survey are now the Work Wellbeing Score and work wellbeing survey, respectively. Learn more and access our most up-to-date resources.

Following the last few years, employees have been focussing increasingly on mental health, happiness and wellbeing. Indeed’s 2021 State of Work Happiness Report, shows that 44% of people report that expectations around workforce wellbeing are higher now than they were just five years ago. As attracting and retaining quality candidates become more competitive, employers have also turned their attention to happiness and wellbeing in the workplace. One way of evaluating those metrics is through employee feedback.

The challenge of getting credible feedback

Having a true picture of how employees feel at work is essential for long-term success as it will indicate programs and policies that are well-received and points that need to be addressed. There are several ways to survey employees, whether online or in person, but there is always the challenge of getting a true picture. Organizations cannot mandate participation to these studies as coercion could not only lead to skewed results but could also lower the overall levels of job satisfactions and trust in the organization.

Even when these surveys are messaged as voluntary and anonymous, loaded questions, fear of reprisal, not wanting "stir the pots" and distrusting that the survey is truly anonymous can lead to respondents self-censoring or tempering their views.

It doesn't mean organizations should not survey their own staff, but it should be one of many collection methods, getting feedback through third party channels is another complementary way of getting feedback.

Leveraging third-party channels to gauge how current and former employees feel

Looking at engagement and comments on your social channels from current and former employees, or even clients (who could be employees) is another way of getting impressions about your company that will determine if the organization is seen as a positive place to work at.

Ratings and reviews, such as those on Indeed Company Pages allow, not only identify wins and misses from employees, they allow you to respond in real time so that current and prospective employees can witness that you take issues seriously and are committed to improving your employer brand image.

The Indeed Happiness Score, which gives a more in-depth look at employees' perception on workplace happiness and wellbeing in your organization allows you to identify and isolate dimensions (whether it be support, flexibility, diversity, etc.) where you may be excelling or not doing as well and, thus, can course-correct.

Reviews and feedback on third-party sites, even when negative, are also important because recent statistics reveal a majority of people trust (62%) and rely on (89%) uncensored, third-party reviews, with nearly half (45%) more likely to support businesses that respond to less-than-positive concerns.

You can't improve on what you don't know

You can't make improvement to your workplace if you don't know how it is perceived by your employees. Cultivating a culture of happiness and wellbeing, to ensure long-term success in attracting candidates and retaining talent requires starts by assessing how your organization is perceived by its employees and third-party channel can help gain more credible insights.

For more on this topic, download our latest Work Happiness and Wellbeing white paper on why collecting credible employee feedback is key.