Start With Listening: The Staff Wellness Needs Assessment Toolkit

Leadership & Growth
Written By Cynthia Skyers-Gordon

Sometimes we launch wellness efforts with the best intentions, but without really pausing to ask what staff want, need, or already feel.

This toolkit was created to help you start with listening.

The Staff Wellness Needs Assessment Starter Toolkit is a calm, intentional way to gather input from your team, not just for the sake of collecting data, but to build trust, offer a voice, and guide your next steps with clarity.

Inside the toolkit, you’ll find practical, printable tools to help you ask better questions and respond with care:

  • A Staff Wellness Interest Survey (ready to print and distribute)

  • A list of Sample Survey Questions you can adapt to your team’s style

  • A Digital Editable Survey Template for online use

  • A Tips Page to help you analyze results and share them meaningfully

  • A Survey Analysis & Reflection Guide to process what you’re learning

  • A Staff Voice Summary Template to capture what people are actually saying

  • A “You Said, We Learned” One-Pager to close the communication loop

  • And a Next Step Planning Sheet to move forward with clarity, not confusion

This toolkit is for anyone ready to move beyond guesswork, whether you’re a wellness lead, a site supervisor, or just someone trying to care better.

Because staff wellness doesn’t start with programs, it starts with people.
And the best way to support people… is to listen.

📥 Download the Staff Wellness Needs Assessment Starter Toolkit

🔗 Click here to access the toolkit

🪞 Reflection Prompt:

If staff had a quiet, safe way to share what they needed… would we be ready to hear it?

 

Cynthia Skyers-Gordon

Dr. Cynthia Skyers-Gordon, Ed.D. is the founder of SILWELL-C (Staff-Inspired Leadership for Wellness and Calm), a wellness initiative created to empower educators, leaders, and teams to thrive from within. With more than 33 years of experience in early childhood education, from assistant teacher to director to Education Coordinator, Dr. Skyers-Gordon understands the challenges and opportunities staff face each day.

SILWELL-C was born from her belief that true wellness in schools starts with the staff themselves. By providing calm leadership strategies, practical tools, affirmations, and inspiration, SILWELL-C equips educators and leaders to create supportive, balanced environments where both staff and children can flourish.

Through workshops, consultations, and creative resources, Dr. Skyers-Gordon combines her in-depth expertise with a passion for cultivating resilience, connection, and calm in every space. Whether it’s through her upcoming Wellness Toolkit, the JamBel Storybook, or the Free Wellness Hub, she continues to design practical ways for educators and leaders to sustain their own wellness while inspiring others.

At its core, SILWELL-C is more than a program; it’s a movement: a reminder that when staff lead with wellness, schools grow with strength, calm, and confidence.

https://www.silwellc.com
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