Health Indices

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The Wayward Leaders Health Indices are grounded in original peer-reviewed research and adapted from established psychometric scales used in workplace and organizational psychology. The methodology is documented, the benchmarks are anchored to published norms across cumulative samples exceeding 50,000 employees, and the findings are defensible to skeptical executives, internal HR partners, and external auditors. 

• 2024 U.S. Industrial Maintenance Worker Study. 431 valid responses examining the implications of Interest and Effort on Leadership, Maturity, Retention, and Job Satisfaction. Compared against a 4,270-sample inclusive dataset for cross-validation.
• Adapted psychometric instruments. Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-9), Turnover Intention Scale (TIS-6), Edmondson's psychological safety model, and the Duckworth Grit Scale, integrated into the Wayward Leaders Health Index framework.
• Industrial benchmark architecture. Three reference benchmarks (Normal Industry at 75, Technical Specialists at 70, Maintenance Teams at 67) anchor team-level scores against population norms specific to industrial contexts.

Built for: Distribution executives, branch managers, OEM channel leaders, and corporate L&D leaders who need workforce health data on their technical specialist teams, including industrial distribution specialists, application engineers, and field technical sales personnel.

What it measures: Engagement, retention stability, leadership trust, and psychological safety, scored on a 0 to 100 composite with sub-scores in each dimension. Benchmarked against technical specialist norms.

Instrument design: SHI-25+3, the proprietary Wayward Leaders 28-question instrument integrating UWES-9, TIS-6, and Edmondson psychological safety items. Approximately 10 minutes to complete per participant.

Deliverables: Team-level SHI Scorecard with Green/Yellow/Red zone interpretation. Five-page report covering overall score, sub-scores, benchmark comparison, and prioritized interpretation. One leadership calibration call to walk through findings.

Investment: $7,500 for a standard single-team assessment (up to 25 participants). Multi-team and multi-site pricing on request.

For clients who need a comprehensive workforce diagnostic, the Discovery Engagement combines the validated Health Index scoring with structured qualitative interviews, leadership alignment mapping, personality and grit assessment, and field observation. The deliverable is a Discovery Brief that captures the full picture of what is happening with your team and what to do about it.

• Qualitative interviews (n=10). Reflexive thematic analysis of specialist or maintenance team member perspectives, challenges, and aspirations in their own words.
• Leadership interviews (n=3 to 5). Readiness and alignment mapping to ensure executive support and strategic coherence.
• Health Index administration. MHI or SHI deployed to all team members. Sub-scores and benchmark comparison.
• Big Five Personality plus Grit Overlay. Validated personality and grit assessment revealing retention predictors and selection-relevant patterns.
• Field observations and TWOS Workshop. Direct observation and collaborative workshop surfacing tacit knowledge and cultural patterns.

Deliverable: Comprehensive Discovery Brief including Cultural Baseline Assessment, Health Index Scorecard, and prioritized findings with recommended next steps.

Investment: $32,500 to $55,000 depending on team size and scope.