okTolerable Workplace™
Sign inGet certified

Methodology

The Meh Index™, explained in full, because it is short.

Most certification methodologies are proprietary. Ours fits on this page. If you can count, you can audit it.

The score

One number, computed one way.

Tolerability Score = answers of “Agree” or “Strongly agree” ÷ all answers

Across the 19 standard statements, on a five-point scale (strongly disagree, disagree, it’s fine, agree, strongly agree). “It’s fine” counts as neutral, not favourable, which we concede is ironic. No weighting. No benchmarks against companies we made up. No adjustment for industry, size, or how nice your office is.

90–100%Suspiciously Tolerable™ ✓ certifiedCertified. We will look at you slightly sideways.
65–89%Certified Tolerable™ ✓ certifiedMost people are, on balance, fine with it.
45–64%Tolerable-Adjacent Not certified. Close enough to be worth the effort.
0–44%Character-Building Not certified. Read the comments, then sit down.

Certification is decided by your most recently closed survey with at least 5 responses, and lasts 365 days from the day it closed. Then you ask again. People change their minds.

The statements

Six dimensions, three statements each, and one that asks the question outright. Every statement is worded so agreeing is good news.

Management

Leadership, or something adjacent to it.
  1. 01My manager knows, roughly, what I do.
  2. 02Feedback from my manager is something I can actually use.
  3. 03When leadership says “we’re a family,” I do not feel uneasy.

Meetings

Calendar hygiene and the dignity of the agenda.
  1. 04Most of my meetings needed to be meetings.
  2. 05I usually leave a meeting knowing what was decided.
  3. 06I get enough uninterrupted time to do the job I was hired for.

Pay

Compensation that arrives, and suffices.
  1. 07I am paid enough that I did not update my LinkedIn this week.
  2. 08I understand how pay decisions are made here.
  3. 09Recognition here has, at least once, taken a form other than pizza.

Boundaries

Evenings, weekends, and other rumours.
  1. 10I can take time off without composing an apology.
  2. 11A “quick question” after hours is rare.
  3. 12My workload is survivable in the hours I am paid for.

Coworkers

The people. They're fine.
  1. 13I would describe my coworkers as “fine, actually.”
  2. 14I can disagree with a colleague without it becoming a calendar invite.
  3. 15People here take responsibility for their own mistakes.

Purpose

Knowing what the company does, broadly.
  1. 16I understand what this company does, broadly.
  2. 17I have learned something here I could use at another job.
  3. 18My work is used by someone, for something.

Overall

The one that matters most.
  1. 19Taking everything into account, I would say this is a tolerable place to work.

Followed by two optional written questions: what would make it more tolerable, and what must never change.

The rules

The parts that aren’t a joke at all.

Nothing is shown until five people answer.
Below 5 responses the dashboard reports a count and nothing else.
Small groups are never broken out.
A department or tenure band with fewer than 5 responses is rolled up, not displayed.
Responses carry no identity.
No name, email, or IP address is stored with an answer. A cookie remembers that a browser has responded, and holds nothing else.
Comments are shuffled.
Written answers are shown in alphabetical order, so nobody can line them up against who was at their desk at 4:52pm.
The standard statements can’t be removed.
Employers may add their own. Those are reported separately and never count toward certification.

That’s the methodology.

There is no appendix.

Run it on your company