Coaching plays an especially vital role in maintaining health and wellness during the holidays. According to the Harvard Medical School Blavatnik Institute of Neurobiology, a 2015 Healthline survey revealed that 62% of people describe their stress level as “very or somewhat” elevated during the holidays, with only 10% of people reporting no change in stress.

Primary factors identified include financial concerns, family and social dynamics and maintaining healthy eating and exercise routines. These findings also align with trends in anecdotal feedback from our participants and experience from our VP Live Coaching team.

To help offset the stress effects of the holidays, the months of December and January are prime time for promoting your employee coaching offering. We outlined three best practices to help prime employees to start thinking about their personal vision for wellbeing for the year ahead.

1. Reward for Ongoing Participation with a Coach​

Emphasize personal choice and autonomy while also motivating members to stay engaged in your wellbeing program by incentivizing with participation-based rewards! Ultimately this will help drive sustained engagement in wellbeing and long-term health outcomes. We recommend the following best practice tactics:

• Reward 500 Points Per Coaching Session (sessions typically occur monthly).
• Include an additional reward for completing multiple sessions. As members who complete more coaching sessions are more likely to be satisfied with their experience and the overall program (Analysis of 2018 member satisfaction data. Virgin Pulse data on file, 2020).

2. Create a Prominent Presence for Coaching on the Platform​

For some members that may not know where to find coaching to schedule an appointment, it is helpful to make the offering front and center. With Virgin Pulse's Personalization Engine Technology, programs and offerings like coaching can be promoted on the homepage, or recommended on your benefits and program page which can increase viewership and awareness.

The promotion technology uses call-to-action behavior to initially raise awareness and direct members to the Coaching homepage where they can book an appointment or learn more. To customize your program to its fullest potential, work with your Client Success team to formalize a plan and roll out a personalized program! The benefits workbook can be found in your Client Admin Resources on the Client Resource Center (Password: VirginPulseCRC!).

3. Have a Strong Member Communications Strategy

Member Marketing and promotions require a thoughtful strategy for the whole year. Virgin Pulse Coaching includes standard system-generated in-app and push notifications following several events including member enrollment, health assessment completion, and biometric screening completion. These member-driven notifications create a personalized, meaningful experience by highlighting coaching at the right time -- once they’ve enrolled or completed awareness activities and are seeking additional resources to make a change.

For additional member marketing outside of the system-generated promotions, Virgin Pulse has you covered with pre-set marketing campaigns that you can opt in to and use for your program throughout the year, which include:

• Regular themed emails to raise awareness about coaching and the support it can provide. Themes include stress, sleep, getting active and more!
• Monthly on-platform and mobile messages – in the form of site pop-ups, in-app messages and push notifications – enhance the user experience by ensuring that eligible members are aware of the full breadth of benefits available to them, and make it simple and easy for them to schedule a call.

And, be sure to build in other supplemental, custom messaging throughout the calendar year using a variety of modes of communications including in-app, push notifications, emails, and platform challenges! Custom daily card content or custom habits are an easy way to weave coaching-related content and can be added right in your Client Admin Portal. To find out how to add custom content visit the online Client Resource Center for our admin portal guides (password: VirginPulseCRC!).

Learn more about Virgin Pulse Live Services

VP Live Coaching includes specialization in an industry-leading 22 conditions, providing total population lifestyle optimization to improve clinical outcomes, reduce costs associated with chronic conditions, slow, and at times reverse, the progression of chronic conditions, and provide localized support to drive lifestyle behavior change. Members access coaching resources directly through their app and once paired with a coach, they identify their goals for a thriving life and work together to progress toward their vision and achieve their targeted outcomes. To learn more about Live Services, reach out to your Client Success team.

💻 Visit the Client Resource Center for guides, marketing assets, training and more! (Password: VirginPulseCRC!)