Access to health coaching is an incredibly unique and valuable offering as part of an employee benefits package. Often offered through a broader wellness program, health coaching has proven to enhance employee well-being, increase productivity, and establish a well-received culture that employees truly want to be part of. Health coaching provides personalized support, direction, and ultimately, a carefully constructed plan to position employees to reach their optimal health.
So, what should employers look for when offering health coaching? A thorough evaluation reveals an extensive checklist for HR professionals to guide employers to select the best health coach programs that secures a successful collaboration.
A Quick Review: What Is Health Coaching and How Does it Impact Employee Wellness?
At its core, health coaching is essentially a partnership addressing the limitations of conventional wellness programs that typically make employees responsible for their own success. Instead, it offers a more personalized and effective solution by welcoming an invested employee to work directly alongside a coach.
Health and wellness coaches work to create an encouraging environment based on positive change that aligns with employees’ current needs and values. The focus is on empowering individuals to take charge of their well-being through customized support from board-certified individuals. More specifically, “National Board-Certified Health & Wellness Coaches (NBC-HWC) support clients in activating internal strengths and external resources to make sustainable and healthy lifestyle behavior changes. NBC-HWCs use a client-centered approach wherein clients decide their goals, engage in self-discovery or active learning processes, and self-monitor behaviors to increase accountability, all within the context of an interpersonal relationship with a health coach.”
What to Look for in a Health Coach
When looking for the right health coach, it’s important to ensure they have the experience necessary to help employees progress toward their health and wellness goals. While proper training and credibility are crucial to consider, employers should also make sure the health coach they choose is the right culture fit for their organization.
Here are other items to consider when choosing the right health coach:
✓ Credentials and Certifications
Proper training and working with a qualified professional shifts the focus and provides confidence that expectations and values are aligned. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that “employment of health education specialists is projected to grow 7 percent from 2022 to 2032, faster than the average for all occupations.” With rising interest in the field, comes a rising need for reputable training and certifications such as from the NBC-HWC. Recognized certifications mean guidance can be trusted.
Certifications ensures coaches have training in relevant topics such as nutrition, fitness, tobacco cessation, or stress management.
✓ Experience and Specialization
Health coaches, especially those working with clients in the corporate wellness arena, should have extensive experience, skills, and knowledge on a variety of topics. A well-rounded portfolio can assist coaches in working with clients on nutrition, weight management, chronic disease management, heart health, exercise, sleep, smoking cessation, and more. For example, stress is a common condition affecting employees that comes with a host of secondary conditions and risk of developing chronic diseases. Certified health coaches are uniquely trained and well-suited to work alongside their clients via a personalized approach.
✓ Approach and Communication
Now more than ever, employees thrive when they feel supported. Health coaches are equipped with the right tools via a holistic philosophy that aligns with both an organization’s and a client’s personal wellness objectives.
Harvard Medical School notes positive outcomes are a result of focusing on what can be done, rather than what cannot be done. Coaches lean into the strengths of their clients to create successful behavior change addressing physical, mental, and emotional health and well-being.
Part of this success comes from communication and honest dialogue. A client will only be as successful as they personally want to be. Coaches will assess their clients desire to make lasting change, just as a client will confirm the coach understands their respective concerns. This communication is the cornerstone of trust and motivation.
✓ Reputation and References
As with many services an employee may seek, researching and reviewing testimonials may go a long way. Employers can request testimonials from previous corporate clients or case studies of tangible impact demonstrating successful outcomes from health coaches. Endorsements and reviews from reputable sources or similar organizations in the health and wellness community can also reveal successes.
✓ Flexibility and Availability
The number one priority for health coaches should be their clients. In style and knowledge as well as accommodating coaching formats. Some important questions to ask – are coaches available in different time zones, can they work with clients via various modes of delivery such as phone, email, or video? Sessions should cater to employer offerings and employee preferences.
Especially post-pandemic, look for coaches who leverage modern technology for engagement, tracking, and data protection.
✓ Personal Fit
It should be noted that representation matters. Depending on an employer’s workforce, client’s may feel even more supported when there is an aspect of relatability to their health coach. For example, “79.1% of all health coaches are women, while 20.9% are men.” A manufacturing company with a primarily male workforce might feel more apt and comfortable to working with a health coach who is more like them. Ensuring this will provide better connections, success rates, and allow the coach to address the whole person.
How Health Coaches Should Work with You
Once an organization has selected the right health coaching program, the next step is to set working standards and establish a productive working relationship based on the current state of health, future goals, collaboration, and a genuine investment.
✓ Proper Assessment
Conducting an exhaustive and thorough health assessment will gather evidence and information to better understand the specific needs and challenges of individual employees and the workforce as a whole. Through this, customized wellness plans and parameters around a collaborative relationship can be defined.
Work with HR leaders to set realistic, measurable wellness goals that support organizational objectives and employee needs. The process of the assessment also helps to foster self-awareness. Regularly collect feedback from employers and employees to understand experiences and identify areas for improvement. The information can be used to adapt wellness programs and coaching efforts, ensuring it remains effective.
✓ Be A Motivational Member of Your Team
Working alongside clients, there are several markers of a reliable health coach. These include someone who is open to dialogue, does not work siloed but rather with a client’s healthcare team, genuinely cares for employees and wants to extend lasting help. There is no one size fits all approach to health coaching – multiple strategies are used to keep employees engaged, invested, and focused on setting, meeting, and exceeding goals. Techniques are utilized to boost motivation and provide positive reinforcement.
✓ Data-Driven Approach
Studies reveal it would take “828 hours per year to provide the required care for the top 10 chronic diseases.” With this knowledge, it’s no wonder employees are taking an active and self-forward approach to being their own health advocates. This can be accomplished by using data to track their health outcomes and make consistent, informed decisions. Additionally, the data at large of an entire organization can be used to track the effectiveness of employer-offered wellness programs. Regular reports and insights can inform decision-making and determine effectiveness of health coaching on changes in clinical health outcomes, health behaviors, and other key outcomes of interest to stakeholders
✓ Collaboration with HR and Management
Maintaining open and honest communication with HR management safeguards alignment, creates successful patterns, and a develops a structure to increase awareness of health coaching. Regular communication significantly impacts improved health outcomes by reviewing progress while also addressing any concerns of what is not working or requires improvement.
It is no secret that the better collaboration is, the better patient outcomes are. That collaboration based on mutual trust, teamwork, and problem solving accommodates all levels of the client/coach relationship.
For HR leaders, having this checklist in their back pocket serves as an easy reference for health coaching offerings. Prioritizing these criteria and best practices ensures wellness programs are well-supported and positioned for success. Proper assessments, desire to make change, and expertise should not be overlooked. The checklist will provide an organized opportunity to identify ideal characteristics that fit both employer and employee needs.