SeeAbility's journey to happier, more engaged employees
- Improved retention: Turnover rate down from 34.5% in 2022 to 28% in 2023
- Happiness scores: Increased from 7.6 in 2023 to 8 in 2024
- Engagement scores: Rose from 7.7 in 2023 to 8.1 in 2024
- EDB (equality, diversity & belonging) score moved from 7.8 to 8
- Seeability successfully fostered a culture of continuous improvement and inclusivity
About SeeAbility
SeeAbility is a UK-based charity supporting people with learning disabilities, autism and sight loss. Committed to helping people with disabilities achieve their goals and live fulfilling lives, SeeAbility, originally the Royal School of the Blind, have over 225 years of experience of providing innovative support.
With over 900 employees at the time, spread across multiple locations, a lack of connectedness among managers began to surface, impacting employee engagement and happiness levels across the board.
SeeAbility needed a survey solution that was simple, effective and aligned with their mission to value every employee. That’s when they turned to The Happiness Index.
More about SeeAbility.
The platform has helped with retention (a 6.47% increase in one year!), identifying issues beforehand and creating better onboarding and new starter experiences
- Lesley Brown, Head of People Experience
The challenges: Low scores, disconnected managers, stagnant surveying
Before using The Happiness Index, SeeAbility’s engagement and happiness scores were much lower than they wanted them to be. Lesley, Head of People Experience shared “Between the 1st and 2nd survey, we uncovered that managers weren’t feeling connected or particularly listened to. At that point we weren’t actively engaging with feedback…” Managers in particular, felt unheard, which was reflected in the charity’s overall morale.
The previous survey tools they used were cumbersome, with too many questions and little actionable insight. As a result, the charity struggled to monitor employee satisfaction effectively and failed to capitalise on valuable feedback. This created a belief that feedback was not listened to and affected overall trust.
The solution: Data-based insights, effective reporting and communication
Pre-built surveys like the Cultural Assessment and Exit surveys provided insights into their workforce. With easy access to real-time feedback, SeeAbility were able to identify issues and take action before they became a bigger problem, leading to improved retention.
SeeAbility opted for the bespoke reporting features to effectively present their key findings to senior leadership and trustees. The Happiness Index’s pre-communication package, which includes posters to remind and encourage staff to participate in feedback, also helped managers stay focused on driving engagement. Lesley shares “the pre-comms posters became an aide-memoire for managers!”
The results
In just one year, SeeAbility improved both engagement and happiness scores significantly and successfully fostered a culture of continuous improvement and inclusivity.
Improved retention: Turnover rate decreased from 34.43% in 2022 to 27.96% in 2023.
Happiness scores: Increased from 7.6 in 2023 to 8 in 2024
Engagement scores: Rose from 7.7 in 2023 to 8.1 in 2024
EDB (equality, diversity & belonging) scores moved from 7.8 to 8, with a target of further improvement... Watch this space!
These improvements were a direct result of better communication strategies, and insights gained through the Cultural Assessment, which revealed that employee recognition - a key happiness driver in The Happiness Index’s neuroscience model - needed attention.
SeeAbility are launching a revised reward and recognition scheme driven by these critical findings to boost engagement and satisfaction.
Lesley explains “We’ve been able to become more professional with the surveys. We’re listening to (anonymous) conversations that people have had about communication, and we’re not just thinking we need to get it better, but actually taking action.”
SeeAbility moved from lengthy, ad-hoc feedback processes to a more structured, data-driven approach with The Happiness Index. Beyond the numbers, SeeAbility used the data creatively to address specific issues within their employee workforce. For example, they identified trends with women experiencing perimenopause, home managers, and diversity & inclusion, leading to the creation of targeted focus groups that provided support for the particular needs of each group. This not only improved the wellbeing of these groups but also helped foster a more inclusive and effective work environment throughout SeeAbility's workforce.
These successes reflect how well the charity was responding to employee feedback.
The broader impact: Empowered managers, better recruitment and retention, a case for funding!
The success didn’t stop at improving scores. It translated into broader organisational impacts that enhanced SeeAbility’s culture and organisational efficiency. Managers now embrace bi-monthly focus groups to share insights and challenges, ensuring that the leadership team remains connected to the ground-level realities.
Initiatives like Thrive, a leadership training academy and empowerment programme was inspired by the insights gained from The Happiness Index platform. This programme has been crucial in helping managers understand the business side of operations, including strategic decision-making, thereby creating a more knowledgeable and empowered leadership team.
SeeAbility’s use of data from the platform extended to their recruitment efforts. "When talking to new recruits or screening interviews, we can talk to them about particular results”. Armed with concrete statistics and a clear narrative of their improvements, they are able to attract and retain talent more effectively.
Externally, SeeAbility leveraged insights gathered via The Happiness Index as a means to advocate for additional resources and a better deal for Social Care. “Using stats and figures externally helps us build a case”, said Lesley. “We invited the MP (Member of Parliament) to SeeAbility’s 225th birthday celebration to showcase our achievements.” This highlights how SeeAbility used the data in a powerful way to campaign with MPs and commissioners for further business growth to fulfil their mission.
Why SeeAbility chose THI
SeeAbility chose The Happiness Index platform for its simplicity, neuroscience and alignment with their ethos. The user-friendly interface and approach to employee happiness and engagement matched their values of inclusivity - striving to ensure no voice goes unheard - and continuous improvement.
Once I had the demo, I got the fundamental belief that what The Happiness Index was doing was aligned with what we were doing. It wasn’t just about figures; there was something more meaningful.
- Lesley Brown, Head of People Experience
The personalised support from The Happiness Index was also a key factor in SeeAbility’s continued satisfaction.
Sophie’s been amazing. She’s always there for ‘silly’ questions, never had to chase her, and she comes up with solutions and ideas that really work for us.
- Lesley Brown, Head of People Experience
What’s next? Co-creating a bespoke volunteer survey tailored to SeeAbility’s needs, watch this space!
*Seeability uses the term “colleagues” instead of “employees” for their teams.
