How one employer used the HERO Scorecard to improve employee well-being 

While a recent Mercer survey found that more employees are planning to stay with their employer than in 2022, work satisfaction is still down from its peak. As employers continue to address employee workplace satisfaction, there is one key strategy they should keep in mind: investing in employee well-being.

A focus on employee well-being can lead to a happier, healthier and more productive workforce. But employers often have a hard time deciding where to begin as they look to invest in building an effective program – or to take an existing program to the next level.

A tool that can help address this challenge is the HERO Employee Health and Well-being Best Practices Scorecard in Collaboration with Mercer, which we jointed created with the Health Enhancement Research Organization in 2009. This free online tool that helps organizations learn about evidence-based best practices for promoting workplace health and well-being – with special focus on mental health, health equity, and the social determinants of health. By completing the scorecard, which asks about more than 60 aspects of support for employee health and well-being, employers can see how their current initiatives compare to industry best practices and determine areas of improvement.

One employer’s story, presented at the annual HERO Forum last fall, helps illustrate the benefits of using the HERO scorecard. In 2017, Oregon’s Governor Tina Kotek signed an executive order focused on improving state agency employee health and well-being. The State of Oregon worked with Mercer to complete the HERO Scorecard, and develop a multi-year strategy to improve state employees’ well-being.

As part of this ongoing process, the State of Oregon formed a well-being strategy group, drafted a three-year roadmap based on the HERO Scorecard’s domains, and developed tactic that would help them to prioritize and implement new well-being initiatives in 2023.

Because employers receive a best practice score immediately upon completing and submitting the scorecard, the HERO Scorecard also offers a clear method of measuring and evaluating program progress. By taking the Scorecard every two years (beginning in 2025), the State of Oregon can evaluate their plan’s progress and adjust accordingly.

As this case study demonstrates, the HERO Scorecard provides both a valuable inventory of well-being best practices and a way to evaluate your organization’s current efforts. If you’re looking to better support employee well-being, the HERO Scorecard is a free, easy-to-use tool that can help you chart a path. To learn more about the HERO Scorecard, click here.