What is the Thrive Index?
The Thrive Index by thrive at work is the combined result of two separate measurements — the Capacity Index and the Engagement Index — taken together on one 55-statement survey. It is how capacity and engagement get measured together, rather than as two disconnected tools that never talk to each other.
The definition.
Most workforce tools measure one thing: how people feel about work. The Thrive Index measures two — how people feel (Engagement) and what they have left to give it (Capacity) — on the same 55-statement instrument, in the same survey window, for the same employees. Each index is scored independently, then read together.
How the two combine.
The relationship is worth stating plainly, because it is the whole model in three lines.
Can people sustain performance?
Energy, recovery, focus and resilience — whether people have the physiological and cognitive resources to keep delivering. See the Capacity Index.
Does the organisation motivate and enable contribution?
Enablement, leadership, growth and connection — whether the conditions for contribution exist. See the Engagement Index.
The Thrive Index
One score for the organisation, and — because the halves stay visible — a diagnosis of which one is constraining the other.
The two are not averaged into a blended number. Each is scored 0–100 on its own four domains, then cross-referenced, placing every team result on the Thrive Matrix — which shows not just how high the scores are, but which combination they represent.
The Thrive Matrix.
Crossing Capacity and Engagement produces four outcomes.
The full matrix and worked examples are on the science page.
Why they must be measured together.
In every market Thrive has measured, engagement runs ahead of capacity by up to 10 points — and capacity explains up to 37% of the variance in outcomes like eNPS that engagement alone misses. An engagement-only score can look healthy for months while capacity quietly erodes underneath it.
Full findings: the evidence base.
Method & sources.
This page defines the Thrive Index as the combination of two independently scored indices — Capacity and Engagement — each built from four domains and 55 total statements.
Figures are drawn from thrive at work’s validation study (n=10,000+, 2025–26).
- The Thrive Index methodology. Two indices, eight domains, 55 statements, one survey instrument.
- thrive at work — validation study, n=10,000+, 2025–26. The capacity gap and capacity’s independent predictive variance.
Common questions
What is the Thrive Index?
How is the Thrive Index different from an engagement score?
How can capacity and engagement be measured together?
See your organisation’s Thrive Index.
Capacity and Engagement, measured together, on every team, every cycle.