We believe the best work is born from happy, inspired, and empowered people.
We developed the Happiness Index – a unique approach to measuring the overall well-being and connectedness of our employees to understand how well we are delivering on our cultural ambitions. Our Index evaluates the company as a whole ecosystem. We first examine the individual well-being of our employees by using the PERMA framework developed in conjunction with the Center for Positive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.
We then look at our employees’ connections to one another, their sense of belonging, their sense of community, and their level of connectedness to co-workers, managers, and senior leadership.
Finally, we evaluate the relationships our employees have to the institution. Do they feel they have agency to make changes and the freedom to do their jobs to the best of their ability? Do they feel supported by the company? Through this process we hope to gather a holistic view of the health of our organization and an actionable understanding of where we can improve.
Since launching the Index in 2012 we have found our employees are inspired, challenged, and enjoy their work. It’s been exciting to see continuous improvement year after year, despite starting from a very high baseline.
2014 Happiness Survey results
2014 marked our third annual Happiness Index survey. On the whole our employees are inspired, challenged, and they enjoy their work.
-
Our overall engagement
score is85%
positive, which is exceptionally high compared to other companies.
-
Our values alignment
score is92%
of employees feel aligned with our mission and values.
-
Our connectedness
score is86%
feel connected to the company and one another.
-
Our personal well-being
score is84%
positive again in 2014, meaning our employees generally feel good about their lives and have a positive outlook on the world.
Response rate
-
92%
of employees worldwide responded, which is outstanding compared with most of companies which hover between 30%–40% on average.*
Personal well-being.**
Questions in these categories are not related to work, rather they are used to understand how well our employees are doing on a personal level.
90%
Positive emotion
88%
Engagement
88%
Relationships
84%
Meaning
69%
Achievement
Company connections
The institutional categories of our Index measure our co-workers’ sense of belonging, community, connectedness to co-workers and leaders, and their opinions on company operations. Are our decisions in line with our values, and shared transparently? Do employees feel they have agency to make changes, and the freedom to do their job to the best of their ability? Do they feel supported by the company?
86%
Connectedness
70%
Development
68%
Feedback and recognition
82%
Institutional integrity
75%
Job clarity
77%
Leadership and management
76%
Open communication
85%
Overall engagement
79%
Teamwork and collaboration
92%
Values alignment
44%
Workload
Year over year
Our year-over-year scores were higher or the same in every category except one, despite having high scores in 2013 and undergoing a huge amount of growth and change between the two years.
86%
86%
Connectedness
70%
69%
Development
68%
65%
Feedback and recognition
82%
79%
Institutional integrity
75%
74%
Job clarity
77%
77%
Leadership and management
76%
74%
Open communication
85%
84%
Overall engagement
79%
79%
Teamwork and collaboration
92%
91%
Values alignment
44%
46%
Workload
Industry comparison
We scored higher than, or comparable to, other tech companies of a similar size in almost every category. We cannot make a direct comparison with other organizations because our survey is unique to Etsy.*
86%
86%
Connectedness
70%
65%
Development
68%
52%
Feedback and recognition
82%
70%
Institutional integrity
75%
75%
Job clarity
77%
79%
Leadership and management
76%
69%
Open communication
85%
77%
Overall engagement
79%
78%
Teamwork and collaboration
92%
80%
Values alignment
44%
73%
Workload
More on those workload numbers
Workload is an outlier and is largely dependent on the way we have chosen to phrase the two questions that comprise the Workload category. While most organizations ask about employee expectations of a fair amount of work, we ask about employees’ ability to complete their work in normal working hours and the degree to which their workload creates stress.
44%
73%
Workload
-
My job is not particularly stressful.
-
In a typical day, I can accomplish all I need to during my normal working hours.
Putting these findings to work
It’s important to remember the survey is just a means of measuring how well we are delivering on our cultural and operational aspirations. We share the detailed results of our survey with our employees because we recognize that company culture is built by every employee, in every department, at every level of the organization.
Methodology
Responses were collected by the third party CultureAmp to ensure employee identities were kept confidential. To protect responders’ anonymity, sample sizes of under four are not presented. Responses were scored on a five-point scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree.
Terminology
Personal well-being
It is important that we understand how our employees are doing on a personal level, in addition to how they feel about the company. Personal Well-Being looks at employees’ Positive Emotion, Engagement in Day-to-Day tasks, Relationships, Meaning (belonging to something bigger than one’s self), and Achievement (determination) (PERMA). The concept of PERMA was developed by the University of Pennsylvania to understand well-being across multiple dimensions. The PERMA-related questions in our survey were designed by Etsy.
Institutional categories
The institutional categories of our Index measure our employees’ sense of belonging, community, and their level of connectedness to co-workers, and leaders. The categories also examine what employees think of company operations. Are our decisions in line with our values, and shared transparently? Do employees feel they have agency to make changes, and the freedom to do their job to the best of their ability? Do they feel supported by the company?
Connectedness
Connectedness evaluates employees’ sense of connection to, and trust in, one another and the company. Etsy is growing rapidly, and a good deal of flexibility is required from our employees. Trust and a strong community create an important sense of stability in our ever-changing workplace. While the nimbleness of our company offers many opportunities, we understand that security and stability are essential for employees to do their best work.
Development
Development measures one’s perception of career mobility and the ability to gain new, professional skills.
Employee engagement
Employee Engagement looks at how challenged and inspired employees are by their work, the level of enjoyment they get from their jobs, and if they see a future for themselves at Etsy.
Feedback and recognition
Feedback and recognition examines the degree to which employees feel they receive useful feedback on their work. It also looks at the degree to which employees feel the company acknowledges good work and addresses poor performance. The survey breaks this down to team level, which will inform work with specific departments.
Institutional integrity
Institutional integrity measures our operational transparency and how well we fulfill the company’s ideals.
Job clarity
We offer our employees a lot of freedom to determine their own projects and work habits. In doing so, we recognize that clarity in one’s role is an important containment within which such freedoms can flourish. Job Clarity measures how well employees understand their responsibilities and the way in which their work contributes to the greater goals of the company.
Leadership and management
Leadership & Management looks at how confident employees are in their managers and our senior executives.
Open communication
Open Communication explores the extent to which employees feel they can suggest improvements and express criticism at all levels of the company. It also looks at how we take suggestions into account and learn from our mistakes.
Teamwork and collaboration
Teamwork & Collaboration looks at how well employees feel their teammates work together, and the degree to which different departments collaborate.
Values alignment
Values Alignment is a measure of employees’ personal investment in Etsy’s mission and values, and the degree to which they believe they are contributing to a greater purpose.
Workload
The workload questions asked how achievable employees feel their volume of work is, as well as the level of job-related stress they feel.
* Source: CultureAmp
**Based on the PERMA framework from the Center for Positive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania