How to measure employee satisfaction and prevent burnout?

Employee retention is one of the top priorities for HR professionals[1] who struggle with turnover and a lack of quality candidates in the market. Up to 49%[2] of employees are at risk of burnout and companies may lose them. Find out how you can prevent burnout early and keep them in your company with the new Behavera Well-being Index.

Lenka Šilhánová

Nov 1, 2022

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2 mins

Burnout: a hot topic that is transforming the workplace

‍Burnout is a hidden pandemic of modern times. Nearly one million people died from burnout last year alone^[3], a World Health Organization (WHO) study revealed. During the pandemic, the situation worsened as working hours while working from home increased by 53%^[4].

The study revealed that a work week of more than 55 hours increases the likelihood of stroke by 35% and heart disease by 17% compared to a traditional work week of 35-40 hours.

We spend a third of our lives at work, yet humanity has been stripped from our work environment. Many companies still think of their employees as mere resources that can easily be replaced by other resources––human or artificial intelligence. So the pressure to perform has been compounded by fear for the future, which only adds fuel to the fire.

But are there better days ahead? Employees are returning the ball to the employer's court with their resignations (Great Resignation) or minimal effort at work (Quiet Quitting), and many companies are finally starting to actively address employee well-being.

HR professionals have taken to surveying employees, most often in the form of questionnaires. But is there a more elegant and effective solution?

Satisfaction surveys––a lot of work for little data

68%^[5] of respondents to our Biggest HR Challenges 2022 survey said they measure employee engagement and satisfaction using their surveys. However, HR professionals themselves admitted that they usually only survey once a year, with a few exceptions a few times a year, and often responded that they send out surveys irregularly.

Using questionnaires to measure employee satisfaction and well-being has several pitfalls:

You have to be able to ask good questions or you won't get good answers. And given how relatively new the issue of well-being is, it can take you a while to learn.
Surveys tend to have low completion rates due to their lengthiness and unpopularity with employees. For many people, it's another task on an already packed to-do list.

There's a boatload of work ahead of you to compile them and analyze the output. It's manageable with small teams, but it's a solution you can grow out of quickly.

Behavera Well-being Index

The Well-being Index helps companies understand what threatens the well-being of their employees and recommends practical steps for improvement. Instead of a survey, you will be provided with a chatbot from behavioral psychologists. You'll get a fun and quick way to do an employee satisfaction survey.

In the report, you'll then see what percentage of employees have already talked to the chatbot, who is most likely to be burnt out, what the top risk factors are for team well-being and how to work with them, and what your company's overall Well-being Index is.

Each employee has a user-friendly profile. You can create groups in the overall overview and see how you are doing overall as a company. So you no longer have to hunt for data from cluttered Excel spreadsheets. In addition, you'll have the output enriched with easy-to-understand recommendations from behavioral psychologists on how to address the problem and prevent dissatisfaction, burnout, or resignations. Prevention is an investment that pays for itself many times over.