Appreciative. Apprehensive. Scared. Eager. There are a lot of emotions surrounding the way employees experience company flu shots. A quick keyword scan on Twitter brought up these tweets about onsite flu clinics. Some are grateful, some are terrified and others seem slightly misinformed.
Here are just a few of the tweets:
- Just got my first flu shot! It's kind of nice working at a "big" company that takes care of amenities like on-site flu shots :)
- Free flu shots at work sounded like a great idea but now I'm cursing myself because my arm is so sore :(
- Flu shots at work. They are free and here, so I should do it buuuut I'm terrified of needles.
- Received my flu shot this morning. Free flu shots at work is a nice perk.
- I'm scared to get this flu shot for work. I've seen too many ppl get sick after having one.
- Taking advantage of my free flu shot! What a great perk for Target team members!#giveitashot #fighttheflu
- Circle circle dot dot.. now I got my flu shot :) One perk to working in the medical field is free immunizations.
- My boss is trying to make me have the flu vaccine. I don't want it... The last time I had a needle I passed out. It wasn't pleasant.
- The fact that I have to get a flu shot for work and I haven't got a flu shot since I was 5...#scared
- Today's company's outing, we're getting flu shots! Yay!!! #influenzafriday #teambonding #flu
- My boss just offered me a flu shot like it was a stick of gum #freeflushots #doctorishere
- The flu shot I got today is making my arm sore. I only got it cus we have had a couple kiddos already in our office positive with the flu
- Coworker tattled to the director that I haven't gotten my flu shot yet. Excuse me, are you 6 years old?
- Give it a shot! Got my flu shot at my job for free :) #winner #healthy #flufree #gogetit
So what does all this mean for HR and wellness pros? For many companies, flu shot clinics aren't properly communicated to employees and don't include the proper educational tools to support the event. As you can see from these tweets, many employees turn to one of these excuses for skipping their company flu shots; in most cases, they're misinformed about the facts (i.e. "I'll get the flu if I get the shot") or simply scared about the process. Take the time to approach employees that seem apprehensive about the shot and take the opportunity to talk them through the process and suggest alternatives. (For example, if they are afraid of needles, perhaps you should order a small quantity of the nasal spray.) If they still refuse, it's important to treat their concerns with respect and not "force" the employee into getting a flu vaccination -- unless you work in the healthcare industry, which appears to be a different story.
It's clear from these comments that many employees sincerely appreciate free flu shot clinics and that any issues that do arise could be avoided by setting expectations and providing educational materials beforehand.
What kind of feedback do you get for company flu shots? Comment below!
