As a responsible employer, you have made the right decision to book a workplace flu vaccination program next season to fight the flu. That’s a fantastic first step.
With working age adults accounting for as much as 60% of all laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza, you have also recognised that there are clear health, productivity and financial benefits to your employees and your business in offering such a service.
But where to from here?
Choosing the right partner to carry out this program for your company is not an easy decision and should involve a lot of thought. A workplace vaccination campaign is a lot more than “just a flu shot”. It could be one of the easiest programs to incorporate into your business, but if not executed properly, it can quickly become a headache for even the most experienced manager.
There are many providers available in the market with a wide spectrum of experience, value add and quality, and when it comes to the health and safety of your employees, it’s important to choose a partner that is best suited to your business needs.
So here are our top 10 criteria to consider carefully before signing your flu provider:
1. Company Experience
How long a company has been in business and specifically providing onsite flu programs will be a good indicator of how reputable and experienced a provider will be. Look for a company that not only has a proven track record delivering onsite vaccinations but also one that offers a professional service customised to your unique needs and circumstances (business size, industry, locations, multi sites).
2. Staff Quality
Let’s be clear, a good onsite specialist can make a program safe, efficient and engaging whereas a poor one can make it sterile, impersonal and clunky. You want to ensure your provider has well trained and experienced Immunisation Nurses capable in, vaccinating every staff (including pregnant women), managing any unforeseen circumstances, and also putting your staff at ease prior to receiving a flu shot.
Tip: Ask the provider what their staff retention rate is? A good staff retention rate of 80% and above is a good indicator of a quality business.
3. Customer Support
So, we know that your provider’s onsite personnel is critical to the success of your vaccination program. But what about their support staff? Well, guess what, they are equally as important. Make sure that the company you select has a good dedicated client coordinator or program manager to communicate with during the planning and execution stages of the event. Additionally, if your provider really cares about the quality of their service, you may also receive a post vaccination survey to complete.
4. Ease of Process
You don’t organise your workplace vaccination program to add pain and stress to your day to day. You want a hassle-free, efficient and seamless process where your partner does most of the heavy lifting, planning and carrying out the event. Having a bespoke and efficient online booking service is one of the things you should be looking for so that individual employees can easily book their preferred time slot. In addition, you should also look for companies that can give you access to a client portal to allow you to have full control and visibility of your program.
5. Data Protection & Information Security
Protecting the personal information of your employees isn’t always top of mind, but it should be at the top of your priority list, as such information can be easily stolen or misused nowadays. Not every provider will be equipped and experienced with collecting, handling and storing personal and potentially sensitive information about your employees. You need to ensure they are, as you could be exposing your organisation to potentially serious consequences.
Tip: Ask your provider the right questions about data storage and security, and level of investment into their IT systems.
6. Data Analysis & Reporting
In order to better understand the performance and quality of your flu vaccination program you need to have meaningful data. Select a provider that has the systems and infrastructure built with comprehensive reporting systems that will enable you to assess and analyse program outcomes, including delivery schedules, staff participation, activity reports and feedback and can be broken down by department, division and location where appropriate. The best systems are the ones that let you view live updates on your program progress at any time.
7. Employee Engagement & Participation
Let’s face it, there is really no point having a great vaccination program if no one takes part in it. You and your leaders have a clear role to play to endorse the program and encourage participation, but so does your flu vaccination partner. From promotional and educational tools to reach employees on-site and off-site (engaging, behavioural change crafted communications; posters, emails, desk drop) to lollies for all vaccinated employees, selecting a partner that has experience in change behaviour and proven participation rates is a must.
8. Vaccination Coverage
You may be operating a small business in a remote area of the country or a multi-site corporation with thousands of employees. Regardless of your business situation, you need a partner that will have nationwide capability and reach and who can provide catch-up vouchers across a wide location network.
9. Quality & Safety
When it comes to vaccination, the most “basic” criteria but also the most vital one is the quality of the vaccination and the safety of the whole process. Always ensure that your provider has the most up to date and current four strain (quadrivalent) flu vaccination. Also, check that they adhere to the National Vaccine Storage Guidelines in the Cold Chain management of vaccines.
10. Competitive Cost
As we have seen, there is a lot more to a workplace influenza vaccination program than just the flu vaccination itself. In general terms, the quality and value of a program will be reflected in its price. When you are reviewing pricing make sure to take a “full value approach”, evaluating the real benefits and outcomes your business will get and comparing apples to apples. From a pricing perspective, the most important is to have clear and transparent pricing to avoid any surprises down the track.
Using these 10 criteria as a guide should help ensure you execute a safe, engaging, hassle-free and successful flu vaccination campaign.
We would be happy to discuss your specific flu needs in more details and share our experience delivering high participation flu vaccination programs to over 140,000 employees across thousands of workplaces with a 95% customer return rate year on year.
For more information about our Flu Vaccination Programs call us on
Australia : 1300 662 328
New Zealand : 0800 222 949
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