Happy Sheets For The Modern Age

But how do you know that employees feel this way? One solution that’s universally present is the happy sheet.

So, what are happy sheets?

Happy sheets were originally designed as a way to simplify and standardise feedback. They’re characterised by using a scale running from sad up to smiley faces which people use to indicate how they feel. You’ll probably be most familiar with them as feedback sheets after a training session or a workshop. The happy sheets themselves have been incredibly powerful tools for employers, helping them understand how employees feel about the workplace. Being universal, they can cover many aspects of the working day, be it the facilities available or the working environment they find themselves in. The concept of tracking how happy people are over a continuous period was a good one, but there are problems that hinder this process.

So, what’s the issue?

We think there are three main issues; disruption, data entry, and secrecy.

1. Disruption

Happy sheets are disruptive. Despite their power, they get in the way of the ‘day job’ which means that employers are limited to using them infrequently. Ideally, employers should measure happiness levels continuously. Employees are people with ever-changing feelings, after all! In reality many employers will only use the concept within a single survey or a series of disconnected questionnaires, so as to avoid disruption.

2. Data Entry

Let’s say, for sake of argument, employers figured out how to distribute happy sheets to all employees daily. The problem then becomes understanding the data. All the feedback would have to be stored in one central location where it can be aggregated and analysed. Employers that use happy sheets normally store the data in a spreadsheet already, but these are time-consuming and difficult to keep on top of even with infrequent data collection. Imagine what they would be like if they needed daily input!

3. Secrecy

The third main problem with happy sheets is that, where employers do use them, the resulting data is normally hidden away in a spreadsheet that belongs to one person somewhere in HR. A small group will know where it is, and an even smaller group will know what it says. Most employers aren’t trying to be secretive with the data, it’s just that it’s hard to publish it in any effective way. And keeping the data a secret means that it isn’t reaching its full potential. These three problems explain why employers often limit happy sheets to infrequent use, and thus will not understand employee happiness as a constant pulse.

Is there a solution?

There is! Here at Ombea we’ve got the modern day happy sheet. It works with the latest technology to capture and aggregate employee feelings constantly and without the problems described earlier. The system consists of ExpressPods which are simple feedback terminals. Employers place them at key touchpoints where they know employees will walk past (think about the building entrance, the canteen, near the coffee machines, etc.) As employees pass by they express their thoughts simply by pressing a button. They haven’t broken their stride and yet the votes are automatically stored and organised by location and over time. In this way, employers will be able to view the opinions of the employees at large, and they can then make adjustments in the same way as they could with the original happy sheets, but without the problems of disruption, data entry, and secrecy. Learn more at https://www.ombea.com/.

About Ombea

Ombea provides leading solutions for capturing and analyzing real-time feedback. Governments, Fortune 100 corporations and top-rated universities across the globe use our solutions to visualize feedback, generate insight, and make evidence-based decisions. This helps them make their students smarter, their customers happier and their employees more engaged. Please visit www.ombea.com for more information.