QWL questionnaire: what are the issues and how to do it?

Taking into account the well-being at work and the quality of life at work of employees is not new. The first ambition of a QWL approach is therefore to improve the working conditions of employees, but according to a study by the QWL barometer in 2019, we have found that many actions implemented in companies in favor of QWL are ineffective.

The QWL questionnaire then takes on its full meaning, placing the employee at the center of the project by clarifying his or her expectations and expressing his or her feelings more explicitly while proposing avenues for improvement. 

This survey should allow for a diagnosis and a real-time snapshot of the company and its employees' working conditions at a given moment. This assessment will help to limit the gap that may exist between employees' expectations and the actions implemented.

The first and most important step is to ask yourself the right questions about the reasons for the approach. The "good reasons" for a QWL questionnaire are numerous, but in a non-exhaustive way, we could mention in particular the prospect of having an internal steering tool in order to create a true representativeness of all opinions in the company. 

Also, the questionnaire can be used to collect the real needs of employees in all departments or positions by directly questioning management by department in addition to the general management of the company.

Finally, if the questionnaire follows a so-called crisis situation, as was the case for the COVID-19 and the generalization of telework, a QWL questionnaire appears to be indispensable or almost indispensable.

Les outils permettant de réaliser une enquête QVT sont légions mais ils doivent être adaptables aux besoins de l’entreprise. C’est pourquoi lorsque vous voulez mettre en place une enquête QVT vous devez d’abord vous assurer que l’outil sera compatible avec votre organisation, avec les soucis que vous avez commencé à identifier ainsi qu’à la population interrogée. 

La forme diffère également, il y a bien sûr les outils digitaux qui vont être plus régulier, ludique, moins centré sur l’entreprise en elle même mais plus sur le management par service. Il existe néanmoins toujours des questionnaires QVT sous forme d’entretiens individuels ou collectifs réalisés par des consultants externes.

Enfin, certains outils sont très coûteux alors que d’autres sont totalement gratuits, et beaucoup de ressources sont trouvables en ligne comme le questionnaire QVT de chorum cides ou le questionnaire SATIN.

There are many tools available for conducting a QWL survey, but they must be adaptable to the needs of the company. This is why, when you want to set up a QWL survey, you must first make sure that the tool is compatible with your organization, with the concerns you have begun to identify and with the population being surveyed. 

The form also differs, there are of course digital tools that are more regular, fun, less focused on the company itself but more on the management by department. However, there are still QWL questionnaires in the form of individual or group interviews conducted by external consultants.

Finally, some tools are very expensive while others are completely free, and many resources can be found online, such as the QWL questionnaire from chorum cides or the SATIN questionnaire.

The questionnaire must be as qualitative and clear as possible since it will be the most important tool in the evaluation of future changes to be made. Each feedback, opinion or opinion must be taken into account, they must be quantified correctly in order to have an idea of the first levers to activate and the priorities in terms of improvement of the QWL. 

In a more quantitative way, ANACT advises to create measurable and relevant indicators concerning several essential variables (demography, health, safety, working conditions, etc.).

When conducting this type of survey, it is important to anticipate "bias".

Biases are distortions in the data collection of a questionnaire that distort the results of a survey. In this case, you have to anticipate the fact that employees will probably feel better in summer than in winter, or on Friday than on Monday. It is important to ask the most accurate, concrete and relevant questions possible in order to get the best possible idea of the respondents' feelings.

In order to ensure that the QWL survey is not limited to tables or questions to be answered mechanically, managers must take into account the true feelings of employees and thus always include them as much as possible in the process. This is why it is important to integrate the respondents upstream by explaining the objectives of such an approach, then to think together concretely to discuss the themes of the questionnaire, and finally to give real feedback on the survey and its benefits. 

The diagnosis must not seem vague or useless to the people concerned, which is why there is a feedback process to be carried out after the survey. 

It is important to show the employees that their words count and that it will bring results, so as said before, the employees and the well-being at work are at the center of such an approach, so it is necessary to place them at the heart of the project and the actions. The motivation of the employees will only be increased tenfold if they feel concerned from the beginning to the end by the approach and that they are actors of change in their company.