Everyone makes mistakes, and that’s just fine. But, when it comes to biometric screenings, why not learn from other people’s mistakes? That way, you can save your precious mistakes for something smaller…like opting for the cheapest (and worst-tasting) coffee for the break room.
Mistake 1: Not Screening Regularly
Regular screenings are what help you to catch health trends among your employees. If you don’t offer health screenings regularly, you won’t be able to measure improvements or stop declines in their tracks. Even though we’d love to see you every single month, we aren’t saying you need screenings quite that often. Aim for one health screening each year so your employees have time to make some adjustments and really see the outcomes of their efforts.
Mistake 2: Not Using Employee Feedback
We’ve said it once, and we’ll say it again: work WITH your employees throughout your wellness program. Seek their feedback to find out what common goals they have. Then plan your screening accordingly. Do your employees want to lose weight? Then you should probably include measurements like BMI and body fat in your screenings. Do your employees want to reduce stress? Definitely measure blood pressure, too. You can pick and choose which measurements you’d like to use, so your biometric screening event will be tailored to your workforce.
Mistake 3: Ignoring the Aggregate Results
The whole point of a biometric screening is to see where your workforce is at so you can offer solutions. A huge mistake that many companies make is completely forgetting to follow up. After your screening, you need to give your employees opportunities to engage with your wellness program. Whether it’s a challenge, a coaching session or some type of community partnership, use the momentum from your onsite health screening to encourage people to make healthy decisions daily.
Mistake 4: Not Counseling on Results
If you do your screenings with us, this mistake is very hard to make. Our health professionals are trained to give counseling to and answer questions from every biometric screening participant they see. This is incredibly important because health data can be overwhelming. You want your employees to know where they’re at health-wise, but also to feel empowered to grow and change as they need to. This all starts with understanding their own personal health results.
Mistake 5: Being Negative
This goes hand-in-hand with Mistake 4 when it comes to empowering your workforce. It’s very easy to fall into the trap of focusing health conversations on risk factors. These types of “scare tactics” don’t work very well when it comes to long-term health changes. Try to use positive messaging, and focus on what’s going right, not what’s going wrong. This level of positivity helps you and your employees focus on the benefits of living of healthy lifestyle. Those benefits are much more motivating than a list of risk factors!
Mistake 6: Forcing Employees to Participate
It might seem a little counterintuitive, but you should avoid forcing or coercing your employees to participate. There is a fine line between a motivating incentive and a stressful disincentive. Walk it carefully. Just like negative messaging, forceful behaviors only lead to short-term motivation. If you do choose to use incentives in your wellness program, try to focus on things that can promote continued healthy behaviors. For example, offering wearable fitness trackers, gym partnerships, or discounted CSA programs to wellness participants are all excellent incentives.
Mistake 7: Poor Communication
A lot of employees don’t take part in company-sponsored wellness activities because they don’t know about them. When you’re “pitching” wellness to your employees, treat it almost like you’re pitching an idea to your clients. You need to clearly communicate exactly when health screenings are happening, why your employees should go and how they can get involved with other wellness initiatives. When it comes to your screening event, try to communicate well, communicate often and communicate in ways your employees value.
Mistake 8: Stressing about Your Event
Don’t stress about your biometric screening event. We’ve got this! Our account management and scheduling team will work with you every step of the way to get ready. Our skilled health professionals will take care of all “day-of” event details. And, our support staff will always be on hand to answer your questions and ease your mind. Stress isn’t healthy! Don’t let your health screening lead you down that road. Trust us to get the job done!
Like we said, mistakes happen. That’s okay as long as you learn from them. When it comes to biometric screening events, these common mistakes have already been made for you. So, learn from others and help us to help you put on the best health screening you’ve ever had!
What mistakes have you learned from to perfect your biometric screening program ??
