Turning data into action for healthcare workplace wellbeing

When we mea­sure what mat­ters, we move beyond sim­ply observ­ing; we start col­lect­ing mean­ing­ful data that leads to real action. This helps us improve the health, well­be­ing and safe­ty of our workforce. 

Strong mea­sure­ment frame­works help us spot trends, iden­ti­fy risks, and make informed deci­sions that strength­en work­place culture. 

Using con­sis­tent and reli­able mea­sures ensures trans­paren­cy and account­abil­i­ty for work­force well­be­ing out­comes, sim­i­lar to patient safe­ty and clin­i­cal out­comes. It also helps us iden­ti­fy work-relat­ed fac­tors that can be strength­ened to improve work­place well­be­ing and safe­ty out­comes across SA Health. 

Over the past two years we have been work­ing close­ly with the SA pub­lic health sec­tor to find the right met­rics to track organ­i­sa­tion­al and indi­vid­ual well­be­ing across the sys­tem. This ensures work­force well­be­ing is pri­ori­tised and sup­port­ed by report­ing and accountability.

Progress and next steps

• Stake­hold­er con­sul­ta­tion: In 2024 we held work­shops to help shape con­sis­tent ways to mea­sure and mon­i­tor work­place wellbeing.
• Frame­work devel­oped: We cre­at­ed a frame­work based on nation­al and inter­na­tion­al evi­dence. It out­lines key work­place well­be­ing indi­ca­tors and how we will mea­sure and mon­i­tor these.
• Key Per­for­mance Indi­ca­tors estab­lished: New organ­i­sa­tion­al KPIs now cov­er lead­er­ship and cul­ture, safe­ty report­ing, resourc­ing for well­be­ing and psy­cho­log­i­cal safe­ty. These will be includ­ed in annu­al reporting.
• Sur­vey imple­men­ta­tion: Local staff sur­veys are under­way; sys­tem-lev­el data shar­ing will begin in 2026.
• Organ­i­sa­tion­al assess­ment: Devel­oped a tool using exist­ing met­rics to guide evi­dence-based action.
• Mon­i­tor­ing and vis­i­bil­i­ty of met­rics: Pilot dash­boards are in progress, with a cen­tralised dash­board under devel­op­ment to ensure work­place well­be­ing met­rics are vis­i­ble across the sys­tem to sup­port action and accountability.

Want to mea­sure work­place well­be­ing in your organisation?

Check out our resources (PDF 1.4MB) to learn how you can mea­sure and mon­i­tor indi­ca­tors of work­place well­be­ing in your organisation.