Assessment Tips

At the beginning of the 20th century, scientific methods rapidly gained popularity. The idea was that tasks should be divided up as much as possible so that employees became experts at performing a very small subtask. Employees in that approach were little more than a cog in a larger machine. The work was repetitive and boring. Production standards were high, and those who couldn't keep up were replaced without mercy.

Around 1930, Elton Mayo and Fritz Roethlisberger decided to conduct a study in the Hawtorne factories. The idea was that there would be an ideal brightness level. Surprisingly, employee productivity increased whether the brightness increased, decreased, or remained constant. As it turned out, it was human attention that led to increased productivity.

Since then, we have come a long way. We have discovered that management has both a hard and a soft side. Both are necessary. Steering by numbers is necessary. The PDCA cycle requires setting measurable goals and measuring and evaluating results to adjust plans. On the other hand, a good relationship with colleagues and managers is essential for job happiness.

Improving work happiness is a good idea

More and more companies are realizing that job happiness is important. When you're more comfortable in your own skin, things simply go a lot easier. That may sound a bit soft, but ultimately, higher job happiness leads to healthier employees and better productivity. This translates into lower absenteeism costs and lower labor costs for the same turnover (or more turnover for the same labor costs).

So it's a good idea to actively work to increase employee job happiness. But...how do you go about it?

Start measuring job happiness

Every improvement program begins with a baseline measurement. Setting goals is easy to do during a brainstorming session. But to determine how to achieve these goals, you need to know where you're coming from. Fortunately, work happiness turns out to be surprisingly easy to measure.

Together with leading scientists, experts in the field, and specialists in research methodology, the Amsterdam-based company TestGroup has developed an instrument with which you can measure the work happiness of all employees quickly and efficiently. This instrument, called The Bridge Work Happiness Indicator, can be used both for baseline measurement and for subsequent measurements with which you can examine whether your efforts are bearing fruit.

Online assessment of work happiness

One of the biggest advantages of The Bridge Work Happiness Indicator is that the entire work happiness assessment is conducted online. As a result, you can start taking tests as early as 30 minutes after ordering the test. Employees receive an invitation via email and can take The Bridge's Work Happiness Indicator where and when it is convenient for them. Once they send their answers, the smart algorithm ensures that the answers are processed into a reliable (and valid) happiness at work report. Herein you can read how all the dimensions of happiness at work are doing (engagement at work, proactive vitality, job satisfaction, commitment to the organization, and happiness at work), but you also receive warning signals if the risk of burnout is imminent.

You can order the test for one employee, or for your entire workforce. You can use the results immediately to improve workplace happiness.

Video: The Bridge Happiness at Work Indicator