Vitality in the workplace – survey

Workplace vitality: the key to sustainable performance and satisfied employees

Workplace vitality largely determines the success and resilience of an organization. Vital employees are brimming with energy, motivated, engaged and able to deal with challenges without passing out. They experience their work as meaningful and have the mental and physical resilience to perform well.

When vitality is lacking, the opposite occurs: fatigue, stress and lower engagement. This often translates into more absenteeism, lower job satisfaction and higher turnover. Especially in times when many organizations are struggling with personnel shortages, investing in vitality is not a luxury but a necessity.

Why vitality in the workplace is so important

Vitality goes beyond physical health. It also includes mental energy, motivation, commitment and resilience. Employees who feel vital work more enjoyably, deliver higher quality work and are more innovative.

The benefits of a vital organization are widely visible:

• Higher productivity: vital employees have more energy and concentration, increasing output without sacrificing quality.
• Less absenteeism: Healthy, energetic employees call in sick less often and recover faster.
• Increased engagement: Vitality strengthens emotional attachment to work and the organization.
• Better collaboration: Teams with vital members function more smoothly and have fewer mutual tensions.
• Greater talent attraction: Companies that take vitality and wellness seriously have a stronger employer brand.

An organization that actively promotes vitality in the workplace creates a culture in which people thrive. This not only ensures satisfied employees, but also sustainable business results.

The flip side: what lack of vitality costs

Low vitality in the workplace has direct and indirect consequences. The most visible are higher absenteeism and higher turnover. TNO research shows that absenteeism in the Netherlands costs billions annually, of which stress-related complaints account for a large share.

There are also less visible effects: decreased concentration, mistakes, demotivation and a worse work climate. Teams become unbalanced, the workload increases for those left behind and absenteeism continues to feed itself. This creates a downward spiral that is difficult to break through without investing structurally in vitality.

Vitality begins with insight: knowing where the gains can be made

Many organizations want to work on vitality, but don’t know exactly where to start. What are the real causes of low energy or high absenteeism? Is it due to work pressure, leadership, cooperation or just work-life balance?

The answer begins with measurement – not superficially, but deeply and scientifically based.

Scientifically based measurement of vitality in the workplace

The Better Company developed an integrated employee survey: the Vitality Scan. This combines two scientific perspectives:

1. The outcome measures of vitality – the actual energy, commitment and resilience of employees.
2. The drivers of vitality – the concrete factors in the work environment that influence that vitality.

Measuring both levels simultaneously provides a clear picture of where the strongest and weakest links in the organization are.

The 8 proven drivers of vitality

Research shows that workplace vitality is primarily influenced by eight key variables:

1. Workload: is it appropriate or structurally too high?
2. Emotional strain: how hard is the work mentally?
3. Work-life balance: can employees really recover outside working hours?
4. Autonomy: to what extent can people organize their own work?
5. Social support from colleagues: do employees experience support and connection?
6. Leadership support: do they feel supported and heard by their supervisor?
7. Psychological safety: do employees dare to make mistakes and share ideas?
8. Meaning and shared values: do people feel that their work matters and fits with what the organization values?

The Do Better Scan uses validated measurement scales for each of these factors. With this, The Better Company collects reliable and comparable data within and between teams.

From measuring to improving: targeting sustainable vitality

Measuring vitality is not an end in itself. Its power lies in the translation of insight into action. Using statistical effect analyses, The Better Company maps out which 2 to 3 drives in your organization have the greatest impact on vitality.

By focusing on just that, you can make the biggest difference with relatively limited effort. Think of targeted improvement actions such as:

• Reviewing division of labor and workload.
• Changing behaviors through the Tiny Habits method focusing on said drives.
• Team interventions that strengthen connection and shared values.

This creates an evidence-based approach that strengthens vitality structurally rather than improving it temporarily.

Vitality as a foundation for sustainable success

Workplace vitality is more than an HR trend: it is a strategic foundation for sustainable employability and organizational growth. When employees are vital, they perform better, stay longer and actively contribute to a positive organizational culture.

By investing in insight – through reliable measurements of outcomes and drivers – and focusing on key areas for improvement, you build step by step an organization in which people want to stay and excel.