Evaluating Happiness

In this inaugural edition, we introduce Sri Lanka’s pioneering Corporate Happiness Index (CHI) – an innovative initiative commissioned by LMD and crafted by PepperCube Consultants, which redefines our understanding of workplace wellbeing.

The survey was conducted in the months of May and June with a total of 600 employees (excluding HR professionals) surveyed at executive level and above.

This sample comprised a cross-section of employees – 120 respondents from large-scale companies (over 250 employees); 240 respondents from medium-scale companies (50-250 employees); and 240 respondents from small-scale companies (fewer than 50 employees).

Respondents were selected by using PepperCube’s database of corporate entities, sourced from reputable authorities such as the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. A maximum of six respondents from each company were contacted and they were not allowed to nominate the entity they work for.

PepperCube Consultants executed a structured questionnaire, which was approved by LMD and administered in English by a team of trained enumerators. The interviews lasted between seven and 15 minutes with all respon­ses recorded electronically.

To avoid bias, the order of attributes was rotated among respondents. The data was subsequently cleaned, scrutinised, coded and ranked.

Respondents were asked to nominate one entity for each of the 16 attributes. The entities were then grouped under their parent companies and the overall ranking was derived by aggregating nominations across all attributes with equal weightage assigned to each. Entities with fewer than two nominations were excluded from the index calculation.

The attributes evaluated included workplace camaraderie, career progression, workplace diversity, financial stability, workplace flexibility (work from home and flexi hours), gender balance, health and wellbeing, corporate heritage, corporate leadership, open culture, rewards and perks, recreation facilities, remuneration scales, training and development, work environment and work-life balance.

The results of the survey produced 150 entities ranked across the index with a total of 55 ranks assigned. The CHI survey revealed a diverse distribution of rankings across various attributes. For camaraderie, 88 entities were given 19 ranks ranging from one to 43.

– PepperCube Consultants