Understanding the Stress Satisfaction Scan

Statements

Statements 1 and 2 measure satisfaction related to control and reward.

Statements 3 and 4 measure stressors related to demand and effort.

Statements 5 and 6 are related to perceived fairness and supervisor support. They are considered stress mediators because they can have an impact on the other 4 statements.

These are the statements answered by employees in the Stress satisfaction scan:

1. I am satisfied with the amount of involvement I have in decisions that affect my work. (control as a satisfier)
2. I feel I am well rewarded (in terms of praise and recognition) for the level of effort I put out for my job. (reward as a satisfier)
3. In the last six months, too much time pressure at work has caused me worry, “nerves” or stress. (demand as a stressor)
4. In the last six months, I have experienced worry, “nerves”, or stress from mental fatigue at work. (effort as a stressor)
5. I am satisfied with the fairness and respect I receive on the job. (fairness and respect as stress mediators)
6. My supervisor supports me in getting my work done. (supervisory support as a stress mediator)

For example, stressful work due to prolonged high demand and high mental effort over time can have a negative impact on psychological health. A perceived lack of supervisory support, fairness and respectfulness can worsen the impact.

Alternatively, these same stressful conditions can have less negative impact on employees when supervisory support, fairness and respectfulness are also experienced. Even when there is little that can be done to relieve demands and effort, it may still be possible to work on improving supervisory support and fairness.

If your Stress satisfaction scan results show employees are more stressed than satisfied, this can be used to advocate for more focus on stress management. It can also be used to make the case to assign resources to implement a more robust approach to psychological health and safety, including the Guarding Minds employee survey.

If your results show employees are more satisfied than stressed, it may be a good time to focus on other priorities or identify what is supporting the satisfaction, so it is not lost.

When would we use the Stress satisfaction scan?

The Stress satisfaction scan is not required if you conduct the more comprehensive Guarding Minds employee survey because it includes all 6 statements in some form. Sometimes, however, you may be unable to administer the survey due to time or resource constraints. You can also use the Stress satisfaction scan in between larger surveys.

The Stress satisfaction scan is suitable for your organization if:

• You want a quick snapshot of stress versus satisfaction among your employees.
• There are insufficient resources to conduct and respond to the more comprehensive Guarding Minds employee survey at this time.

What does the Stress satisfaction scan look like?

Employees who are asked to complete the Stress satisfaction scan online will see the following introduction along with the six questions:

Guarding Minds at Work is a resource designed to help assess, protect and promote psychological health and safety in the workplace. You are being invited to complete this survey because employee input is a critical part of the assessment.

This survey contains statements about common work experiences. Please indicate whether you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with each statement.

When responding, please keep the following in mind:

• Answer based on your own personal experiences in your current job.
• Choose the answer that is true most of the time.
• This survey is concerned with your thoughts, opinions and feelings. If you are unsure of an answer, please select the option that you believe is most likely to be true.
• This survey uses the term ‘supervisor’, however, your workplace may use a different term to describe this role. Please respond keeping in mind the term appropriate for your workplace. 

Your answers are anonymous and individual responses will be kept confidential.

How do I interpret Stress satisfaction scan results?

The results are expressed as a single number ranging from -2 to +2. It represents job stress versus job satisfaction. Positive scores point toward a psychologically safer environment while negative scores suggest a greater risk of harm.

This information helps identify psychosocial conditions as high, elevated, average or low-risk zones in your workplace. 

• Red zone (-2.5 to -0.5) - Higher chance of psychological injury
• Amber zone (-0.49 to 0.0) - Elevated risk of psychological injury
• Yellow zone (+0.01 to +0.49) - Average risk of psychological injury
• Green zone (+0.50 to +2.5) - Low risk of psychological injury

Remember the scores are a starting point, not a destination!

Remember that these scores and ranges provide only a starting point for further investigation, such as conducting the full Guarding Minds employee survey as well as other methods such as interviews, employee focus groups, etc. It is only through direct collaboration with employees that any survey results can be adequately interpreted.

For more information about dealing with employee stress, see Employee stress prevention process.

Explore more information or begin using the survey tools.