With the help of a great flu shot vendor, hosting an onsite flu shot clinic is easy. But when it comes toemployee participation, things get a bit more challenging. Employee participation is crucial to the success of an onsite flu shot clinic. Without enough employees getting vaccinated, a flu outbreak can occur.

As a wellness leader at your workplace, you have the opportunity to promote onsite flu shots and encourage employees to get vaccinated. If this is your first year hosting a flu shot clinic, or if you haven’t achieved desired participation rates in the past, download our free flu shot promo materials and try out some of these ideas for promoting this year’s flu shot clinic at your office: 

Smart Ways to Promote Flu Shots

Offer incentives.

It’s no secret – everyone loves a good incentive! Offer employees some type of incentive to get their flu shot. Whether it’s a financial incentive or healthcare incentive, participation rates are guaranteed to increase significantly. Some incentive ideas for employees who receive their flu shot include: 

• Gift cards
• Free day of PTO
• Half-day Friday
• Employer contribution to employee’s FSA
• Jeans day or week
• Pizza party
• Onsite massages
• Cash bonus
• Free catered lunch or breakfast
• Company swag
• Wellness points (add to your current wellness program)

Make it fun.

A flu shot clinic doesn’t necessarily scream “fun,” but with some effort, you can add some excitement. Employees will be more likely to participate in the flu shot clinic if it also feels like a social event. Some ideas to spice things up:

• Offer food. Employees can have a post-shot snack or treat with their co-workers.
• Prizes. Have participating employees enter their name in a drawing for a grand prize.
• Provide goodie bags. Fill them with some healthy treats and discount coupons.
• Encourage some friendly competition. Amp up participation rates by challenging departments. The department with the highest participation rate gets a prize!

Utilize marketing tools.

Utilizing marketing tools is a simple, yet effective way to boost participation rates – even on the day of the clinic. TotalWellness offers free marketing resources so that you don’t have to make your own (download them here!). Be sure to take advantage of any free communication resources you can get. Some marketing ideas include:

• Create posters, fliers, and handouts to be displayed in kitchens, break rooms, and conference rooms.
• Supply “I got my flu shot” stickers or pins for participants to wear after receiving their vaccine.
• Send out friendly reminder emails including funny flu shot memes or GIFs. 

Educate employees. 

Help your employees get the facts – not the flu! Many common myths about the flu shot cause employees to shy away from getting vaccinated. Participation will increase when employee education increases. It’s important to address these myths, and educate employees on both the vaccine and the severity of the flu. Some employee education ideas include:

• Create FAQ sheets and display them in popular areas of the office.
• Have middle managers hold meetings explaining the importance of getting vaccinated.
• Share educational blog posts about the flu shot in company newsletters, email blasts, and the company website.
• Host a lunch and learn about the severity of influenza and how to prepare for flu season.
• Share current flu activity for your state. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issues weekly reports on their website that you can send out to employees.

Involve senior management. 

Senior managers and top executives can be powerful advocates for your flu shot clinic. Ask senior managers to help promote the clinic and encourage employees to participate. When employees see that even the top executives of the company are taking time out of their busy schedules to get vaccinated, they’ll realize that they can make the time too. You can even get your CEO to be first in line to receive their flu shot! 

With about 200,000 Americans hospitalized each year due to complications from the flu, an onsite flu shot clinic is a necessity for maintaining a healthy workforce. However, without enough employee participation, your flu shot event won’t be worthwhile. Low participation rates mean that there’s a good chance a flu outbreak could still occur – costing your company significant dollars from absenteeism and lost productivity.

Secure higher participation rates this year by taking the time to properly promote and market your clinic. Try out some of the above ideas and download our free promotional materials to boost your flu shot participation rates this flu season. 

How does your company promote onsite flu shots? Let us know below!

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Editor's note: This blog was originally published in October 2017 and has been updated for freshness, accuracy, and relevance.