The Future of Workplace Wellbeing: Beyond Survey Bias to a Data-Driven Culture

By Charlie Coode, Founder of Culture15

In the past, organisations measured workplace wellbeing through traditional tools like employee engagement surveys and questionnaires on satisfaction. Yet, with remote and hybrid working models here to stay – combined with the rapid uptake of technologies like AI and the changing expectations of younger generations (particularly Gen Z) – it’s clear that these methods alone no longer suffice.

Rather, the future of workplace wellbeing now lies in a deeper, more nuanced understanding of company culture – one driven by data, real-time insights and a focus on strategic business outcomes. What’s more, making the shift from one model to the other could be the difference between retaining top talent and losing staff – between seizing opportunities and falling behind the competition.

New working styles and their impact on wellbeing

The permanent shift to remote and hybrid working since COVID-19 has introduced both opportunities and challenges. On the one hand, employees have gained flexibility, reduced commuting stress and, hopefully, a better work-life balance – though a comfy location is no guarantee of this. On the other hand, then, the blurring of home/work boundaries has led to increased burnout, loneliness and a sense of isolation, with one study by Buffer reporting that 22% of remote workers struggle with unplugging from work, whilst 19% find loneliness their biggest challenge.

With such complexities to navigate, it’s clear that traditional engagement surveys – often completed hurriedly or in a state of survey fatigue – fail to provide a true reflection of wellbeing across teams as a whole. In fact, they tend to only capture surface-level sentiments that can be skewed by factors such as the timing of surveys or the current mood of the respondent, for example, perhaps leading to initiatives aimed at boosting morale that, whilst well-intentioned, fail to address the root cause. Imagine your company launched its survey during the Christmas period, for instance, when personal and professional commitments alike tend to overwhelm employees, causing them to rush through the questions. Data skewed under this lens, with festive spirit in full swing, might suggest the need for more social events – missing the real issue: burnout from excessive workloads.

The role of technology in measuring culture

To truly understand and improve workplace wellbeing, then, companies must go beyond outdated measures towards tech-driven metrics. This is where advanced solutions such as AI and SaaS platforms come in, measuring and monitoring specific behaviours on a consistent basis, to provide a more accurate and real-time picture of culture by analysing tangible data points and prioritising collective behaviours over subjective self-reporting. By way of example, organisations might track patterns in communication, collaboration and participation in wellbeing schemes over days, months and even years, gaining insights that are far more actionable than generic, time-capsule scores on satisfaction.

A data-driven approach likewise reduces the margin for error. Your engagement survey might indicate that employees are generally satisfied, but behavioural analyses reveal a different story, for example. It’s a common problem, with a Future Forum survey revealing that, whilst 85% of leaders believe their employees are thriving, just 33% of workers agree with this assessment. Perhaps surveys show that everything is fine, but employees are actually becoming increasingly disengaged during virtual meetings, collaboration between teams is in decline or response times to emails are getting longer, for example. All of these things suggest underlying engagement issues that are easily missed by surveys but that, if left unaddressed, could lead to a serious dip in overall productivity, wellbeing and morale.

Finally, tech-driven tools can help to mitigate interpretation bias. Traditional methods of assessing culture can be misconstrued or taken out of context – either consciously or unconsciously – by the people analysing results. By contrast, AI can process and interpret vast amounts of cultural data without these biases, not only saving time but also transforming qualitative inputs – such as employee comments or feedback in their raw narrative form – into quantitative outputs. This offers organisations a much clearer, more objective view of their cultural health.

Gen Z’s influence on workplace expectations

With Gen Z workers now making up a significant portion of the workforce, the emphasis to get wellbeing and culture right has never been higher. Indeed, this generation places high value on wellbeing, flexibility and purpose, with a Deloitte survey revealing that 46% of this core demographic prioritises work-life balance over any other aspect when choosing an employer, whereby most respondents defined this elusive concept as the ability to engage in meaningful work – something that all regarded as key to wellbeing. For this generation, then, wellbeing is more than just a perk: it’s a prerequisite. Employers are now expected to foster a culture that supports physical and mental health, personal and professional growth and general happiness – and if this is not provided, people are unafraid to take their talent elsewhere.

Achieving such outcomes requires more than just offering wellness programmes or perks like gym memberships, however. Companies must also align their wider culture with their own strategic goals and performance outcomes if they are to be successful. When organisations focus on tangible behaviours that drive business success – such as effective communication, collaboration and innovation – wellbeing naturally follows as a consequence of a strong, thriving culture at a company positioned to offer more. It’s not about chasing engagement for its own sake but fostering a culture that supports the company’s core objectives, which in turn, enhances the experience and wellbeing for staff.

A strategic approach to wellbeing

Ultimately, the future of workplace wellbeing lies in data-driven strategy. By leveraging AI and behavioural analytics tools, organisations can gain a deeper understanding of their culture, free from the biases and limitations of traditional survey tools. This allows them to take more targeted actions that not only improve employee wellbeing but also drive business performance – with employees now recognising that the two can be achieved together.