This was certainly the concern of Transport for London, which saw us working together to create a 4 week ‘always on’ listening program focusing entirely on employee wellbeing:
Our approach helped ensure TfL could be agile in their approach to wellbeing, in line with the constantly changing impact of COVID-19 and changing circumstances their employees faced.
We created a short wellbeing tracker entirely tailored to TfL. We ensured the survey was available to all employees and questions were tailored including; those relevant to front line workers, people now working from home and also furloughed employees, to help understand their set of unique wellbeing needs related to their circumstances. As well as supplying live data at the overall TfL level, we created a bespoke insights report which was delivered weekly. The report focused in on three headlines and suggested actions, giving TfL a clear focus of where they should place their resources and efforts to have maximum impact for their employees.
By supplying them with the data they needed quickly and in a format which focused on action, TfL were able to make a significant number of changes to their operations to better support employees. This included increasing support from their occupational health department and increasing the efficiency of their DSE process, so home workers had quicker access to the equipment they needed. Alongside operational changes, there was a focus on managers ensuring they felt supported in overseeing their teams and their wellbeing concerns, as well as an increase in company communications, so all employees felt not only listened to but also informed.
We worked in partnership with TfL to develop a questionnaire that encompassed questions that pointed out whether there were issues with their health and wellbeing and what may have been impacting this. We ensured the questions were relevant to those working from home, on furlough or working in the frontline.
We used an online survey tool and shared a generic link and QR code to the survey for all TfL staff to be able to access this via their laptops/tablets or mobile phones. This online survey tool also allowed to edit or add new questions whilst it was live if required.
For reporting the results, we used an online dashboard which allowed the client to view all the updated results and cut by different splits (i.e. gender, job status (furlough/non-furlough), business areas etc.). We also delivered weekly insight reports which contained the ‘top 3 stories’ and ‘top 3 recommendations’ for the week.
Different business areas across TfL used the data and the insight to support their teams (some areas reviewed their workloads following the outputs, held more engagement sessions etc.).
Set up projects as part of the People Programme group to investigate how can TfL best equip and support managers with line management responsibilities during a pandemic.
Reviewed their DSE processes and set up improvements to enable prompt delivery of tools and equipment to those who needed it.
When looking at their complete wellbeing results as part of their overall employee listening program, between June and September they saw an overall increase of 5 percentage points in wellbeing scores across the entirety of TfL. Our work has also provided TfL with a roadmap of actions which can be addressed moving forward.
The health and wellbeing of our people has always been a priority for us. This has been even more so over the last year. This survey allowed us to understand how people are feeling at this critical time and what more we can do to support them.
Communications Manager; Employee Communications and Engagement, TfL