A workplace survey should never be a surprise. It is best to speak with your workm8tes in person about the reasons for the survey. Then follow-up in writing with an email or a poster on the notice board to notify your team about the survey.
Here are some draft words to guide your chat and the following email and text correspondence – remember put it in your own words to make it your own.
Spreading the word
Workplace Risk Assessment
We've developed some draft words to guide your chat and the following email and text correspondence, and some pointers on what to do when the results are in.
Take a look at the steps below and when you are ready to jump in launch your survey.
Want to know more about the No Stress M8 survey tools, and the positive impact they can make to your workplace safety and productivity?
Or do you just want to know about the questions we will ask? Download them here.
Still not convinced? Take a look at out 4 page overview and business case and make the case to your get your leadership team onboard.
Download a printable copy of the business case here
Ready to act?
Leaders & supervisors - maximise your impact.
Step 1. Give a 'heads up' to your m8tes
Give your m8tes a 'heads up' in person at a team meeting
“Here at {insert organisation name] we are committed to addressing the causes of workplace stress. Part this is finding out how you are doing and what is going on for you at work - so we can take action to address any issues.
To do this we will be sending out an all [team or workplace] survey on identifying workplace risks. This survey will take about 7 minutes and can be completed on your phone. The survey is confidential, we are not able to see any individual responses.
Once the results are in, we will discuss them as a team and work together to prioritise and assign the actions we take – checking back in every three months to see how we are tracking. This is not meant to be a time-consuming process – just a couple of hours across the year.
Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey. We want you to be honest, as your thoughts and experiences are going to shape the actions we take.
If anyone would like to chat about this privately just let me know. I’m keen to hear any questions or suggestions do you have"
Close the conversation by thanking your workm8tes for their involvement in creating a mentally healthy workplace.
Step 2. Share the survey with your workm8tes
You've launched the Workplace Risk Assessment and logged into the No Stress M8 tool dashboard, and completed the workplace supervisor questions to generate your unique survey link.
To keep answers anonymous, at least five workers will need to complete this survey before your results will be available. Consider setting some time aside during the day for your workm8tes to complete their survey, and you may want to send a reminder or two. The survey will remain open and your workplace link won’t change, but we suggest you use a deadline of about two weeks to give your m8tes a chance to complete it.
Grab your automatically generated link from the No Stress M8 dashboard and email or text it your team or workplace. We've developed some draft wording you can use.
Email a M8
Subject:Team [or Workplace] survey on the work-related causes of stress
Dear [insert team name, or personalise]
As discussed at our recent [name of] meeting we at [insert organisation name] are committed to addressing the causes of workplace stress. Part this is finding out how you are doing and what is going on for you at work - so we can take action to address any issues.
To do this we are using the No Stress M8 worker survey tool, designed specifically for the manufacturing sector, to identify the challenges you face at work to identify workplace risks . This survey will take about 7 minutes and can be completed on your phone. The survey is confidential, we are not able to see any individual responses.
Access the survey here: [insert link generated in the No Stress M8 dashboard]
The survey is open for two weeks. Respond now or anytime until [insert date].
Once the results are in, we will discuss them as a team and work together to prioritise and assign the actions we take over the next 12 months.
Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey. Your views and experiences are important. We want you to be honest, as your thoughts and experiences are going to shape the actions we take.
If you have questions, please reach out to me or [insert a second contact person email and phone number].
Regards,
TXT a M8
Remember the survey can be completed on your phone, and you can always send these survey links by text to your workm8tes.
Just copy and paste the link into a text message to your workm8tes. Feel free to use our suggested wording.
Dear [insert name/ or other greeting]
Team [or Workplace] survey link: We want to know how you are doing and what is going on for you at work - so we can take action to address any issues.
To do this we are using the No Stress M8 worker survey tool to check-in with you ask about the challenges you face at work. This survey will take about 7 minutes and can be completed on your phone. The survey is confidential, we are not able to see any individual responses.
Access the survey here: [insert link generated in the No Stress M8 dashboard]
The survey is open for two weeks until [insert date].
Next steps: When the results are in, as a team we will discuss and prioritise the actions we take over the next 12 months.
Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey. We want you to be honest, as your thoughts and experiences are going to shape the actions we take.
If you have questions, please reach out to me or [insert a second contact person email and phone number].
Regards,
Step 3. Discuss the results with your workm8tes and take action together
Download the results & talk about it
The Workplace Risks tab on the No Stress M8 tool dashboard will display your workplace's results and action plan as they come in.
View the results
The No Stress M8 dashboard shows the results of the workplace risk assessment survey covering the work-related factors that impact worker stress and a list of prioritised actions and mitigations. Note, to maintain anonymity at least 5 workers need to complete the survey in order to access your workplace results.
Hotspot matrix
The dashboard presents a hotspot matrix of your team or workplace's risk profile against each of the work-related risk factors, this is a useful visual to see where there may be any areas of attention needed.
Aches, pains & fatigue insights
Further insight into the physical manifestation of stress in your workm8tes can be seen in the aches, pains and fatigue graphs. Take a look at how the results about the physical impact of work on your workers and follow up on any commonalities, as you just may have a physical injury waiting to happen.
Download your results into an action plan
The prioritised recommended actions are designed for manufacturing workers, to amplify the positive job design attributes and remove or reduce the high-risk work-related factors you are exposed to. Mitigations are not as effective as actions at removing or reducing risk – but are useful at offsetting negative elements of work. Actions should be prioritised over mitigations, but mitigations are useful to help reduce stress generally.
Your prioritised recommended actions and protective mitigations lists can be downloaded as excel files and uploaded into the No Stress M8 action register template so you can easily share the results and record your progress against the actions.
Download the template and follow the instructions on sheet 1.
The actions are presented in order of priority based on research into the needs of your sector that will deliver the biggest impact to your workm8te. It is recommended that you address the topmost actions first and work your way down the list - giving you the biggest bang for your buck!
Share the results & take action, together
We strongly recommend that you share the results with your team or workm8tes.
Come together as a group to discuss the results and work together to develop a plan to address the actions, identifying who will take the lead for each action, and by when.
Share and talk through the results of your hotspot matrix, the prioritised recommended actions and preventative mitigations lists.
The recommended prioritised actions and preventative mitigations lists are designed to address the work-related factor risks in the hotspot matrix. Ask your m8tes for their input. Are the proposed actions right for your workplace? If not, talk about how you can modify them to suit. Ask about the prioritisation - perhaps change the order in which you tackle your actions. And remember to be mindful of timing - avoid significant changes in times of high work demand or late in the year.
Discuss the aches, pains & fatigue insights with your m8tes.
Ask about what causes these problems? Is there a common cause - it could be anything from poorly designed equipment, low lighting, ill-fitting PPE, or a lack of task rotation. Work together to remedy any friction points.
Create lasting solutions
The best and longest lasting solutions are those that have been co-designed with your m8tes. We have developed a how-to on co-designing solutions to help guide your conversation.
It’s also important not to let all this hard work go to waste - regularly check in your with your team or workm8tes on the progress against these actions and report every 3 months during your regular team meetings. Set a calendar reminder so you don’t forget.
Find our more about work-related risk factors, how they can cause worker stress, and what are the best actions to take to tackle them to create a stress-free, safe and productive workplace.