Who’s Not Talking? Nonresponse Bias in Healthcare Employee Well-Being Surveys

Results demonstrate that individuals at higher risk within an organization, as indicated by higher turnover risk and lower productivity, are less likely to fill out employee surveys. This suggests that employee survey results are skewed by nonresponse bias with respect to outcomes of interest, and that relying solely on survey data may lead to incorrect conclusions about workforce functioning, and subsequently, interventions that do not meet the needs of those most at risk within the organization. In addition to the valuable qualitative insights that surveys provide, healthcare leaders should leverage alternative data-collection methods, such as EHRs and HRIS data, to augment survey data and find out how nonrespondents differ from respondents. In this way, they can gain a comprehensive understanding of employee functioning to inform procedural and policy changes to enhance employee well-being and decrease negative outcomes, such as turnover and low productivity.