People rarely ignore their health on purpose. They ignore it because it takes time, it feels awkward, or it sits somewhere between ‘I should’ and ‘I’ll do it later’. A know your numbers workplace campaign works because it removes most of that friction: it brings a small set of meaningful health checks into the working day, gives people immediate feedback, and makes the next step obvious.
For employers, the appeal is equally practical. You can run something visible, measurable and preventative without turning HR into an appointment-booking service. Done well, it supports duty of care, boosts engagement in wellbeing activity, and creates a repeatable rhythm you can return to every quarter or every year.
What a know your numbers workplace campaign actually is
A workplace campaign is a short, focused period – often a week, sometimes a month – where employees are encouraged to check a handful of core biometrics. The goal is not diagnosis, and it is not a one-off ‘health fair’ that fades by lunchtime. It is a structured prompt to help people understand their baseline and take sensible action if something looks off.
The ‘numbers’ are simple because they need to be quick to collect and easy to explain. In most workplace screening formats these include height and weight (used to calculate BMI), blood pressure, pulse, and body fat percentage. The value isn’t that every metric is perfect – it’s that the combination can highlight risk, start conversations, and motivate incremental change.
Why these metrics matter (without over-medicalising it)
Employees do not need a lecture on public health to benefit from screening. They need a plain-English sense of what the reading means and what to do next.
Blood pressure is the headline metric for many campaigns because high blood pressure often has no symptoms. A quick reading can flag when someone should monitor more closely or speak to a clinician.
Pulse gives context. It is not a judgement on fitness on its own, but it can help people notice changes over time, particularly if they are starting activity, changing sleep patterns, or managing stress.
Height, weight and BMI are blunt tools, but they are useful for population-level awareness. In workplace settings, the emphasis should stay on trends and healthy behaviours rather than appearance.
Body fat percentage can add a layer of insight where BMI can mislead – for example with very muscular individuals – but it also needs careful framing. The campaign should avoid any language that could be interpreted as shaming. The point is understanding, not comparison.
If you offer printed results, make sure the output is supportive and readable. A dense printout with no explanation tends to go straight into a drawer. A clear reading plus a short ‘what next’ prompt is far more likely to change behaviour.
Set your campaign goals before you pick the format
Campaigns fail when the objective is vague. Decide what you are trying to achieve and you will make better operational choices.
If your priority is participation, you will choose a format that removes appointments and keeps each check to a few minutes. If your priority is higher-touch conversations, you may accept lower throughput in exchange for more time with a professional. If your priority is reporting, you will need a way to measure uptake by site and time window without compromising confidentiality.
Most employers benefit from choosing two or three simple success measures. Participation rate is the obvious one. You can also track repeat participation (how many return for a second check later in the year) and engagement follow-through (for example, webinar attendance after the campaign or sign-ups to movement sessions). What you measure should match what you can influence.
Design the employee experience to minimise friction
A know your numbers workplace campaign wins or loses on convenience. If it feels like an admin task, uptake drops. If it feels like something you can do between meetings, uptake climbs.
Start with access. Employees should be able to take a check without booking, without explaining themselves, and without feeling watched. A semi-private corner, meeting room, or screened area near a communal space often works well. Avoid placing screening in a highly exposed reception area where people worry about being seen.
Then look at flow. If you are operating across multiple sites or shifts, replicate the same set-up everywhere so the experience is consistent. Consistency makes comms easier and reduces questions on the day.
Finally, respect time. The campaign should be designed around the reality of working patterns – short breaks, shift handovers, and peaks in workload. Extending screening availability across a couple of days per site often performs better than trying to force everyone through in a single day.
Communications that feel supportive, not intrusive
The quickest way to undermine a campaign is to make it sound like surveillance. The second quickest is to overpromise what screening can do.
Keep messaging simple: what it is, what it measures, how long it takes, and what employees get immediately. Reinforce that participation is voluntary and that results are personal.
It also helps to name the practical reasons people might want to take part. Some will do it out of curiosity. Some will do it because they have not had a check in years. Some will do it because a family member has had a health scare. Your comms can acknowledge all of that without becoming emotive.
If you are collecting anonymised usage data to report on uptake, say so clearly. People are more comfortable when they understand the boundary between participation numbers and individual results.
Privacy, data and trust: the non-negotiables
Workplace screening depends on trust. That means clear handling of space, consent and data.
From a practical perspective, give employees the option to step away with their results. Do not ask them to share readings with managers. If you provide follow-up resources, make them available to everyone rather than targeted at individuals based on results.
From a governance perspective, align with your internal wellbeing and data policies. If a supplier provides reporting, it should be aggregated and anonymised where appropriate. Your campaign should also be clear that screening is not a replacement for a GP or occupational health assessment, and it should signpost what to do if an employee is concerned.
Choosing a delivery model that matches your workplace
There are a few workable models for a know your numbers workplace campaign, and the right answer depends on scale, layout, and how much time you can give it.
For larger organisations or multi-site employers, a self-serve screening approach can be the difference between a campaign that reaches a small group and one that reaches most of the workforce. A rentable on-site Health Screening Kiosk is designed for this – employees can complete checks without appointments and receive immediate printed results, while employers can run the campaign with minimal scheduling.
If you are operating in smaller offices, or you want more guided support, facilitated screening can work well. It tends to create richer conversations, but it can also create queues and requires more coordination.
Hybrid approaches are often sensible: self-serve checks for throughput, complemented by booked sessions such as stress webinars, sleep sessions or movement classes to help employees act on what they learn.
(If you want a turnkey kiosk-based campaign with UK-wide delivery, installation and maintenance support, Relaxa’s Health Screening Kiosk is built for exactly this type of workplace deployment: https://www.relaxa.co.uk/health-screening-kiosk/.)
Operational planning: what you need on-site
A campaign runs smoothly when you treat it like an operational project, not an awareness week.
You will need a defined space, access to power, and a clear plan for where people queue and where they read results. If you are using equipment that prints results, check paper and consumables arrangements in advance so you do not run out mid-campaign.
You will also need ownership. A named coordinator at each site – not necessarily HR, often a wellbeing champion or office manager – can handle basic on-the-day questions and keep the area tidy and welcoming.
If you operate nationally, build a schedule that accounts for delivery windows, building access, and any security requirements. The less last-minute building logistics you have, the more attention you can put into engagement.
Build follow-through into the campaign, not after it
The campaign is the prompt. The behaviour change happens next.
A simple way to increase impact is to pair screening with two to three follow-up options that fit different needs. Some employees will want education (nutrition basics, sleep, stress). Some will want movement that feels accessible (desk mobility, yoga, posture). Some will want a reminder system (repeat checks in 8-12 weeks).
Avoid giving a long menu of resources on the results slip and calling it a day. People act when the next step is easy. If you can, schedule a short webinar during the campaign week and signpost it on posters and internal comms. If you run on-site sessions, place them near the campaign window so momentum carries.
Measuring results without turning it into a scoreboard
A know your numbers workplace campaign should create insight, not anxiety.
For employers, focus reporting on participation and reach: how many used the service, which sites engaged, and what times were busiest. That helps you plan the next campaign and proves that wellbeing activity is being used.
Be cautious about interpreting health readings at an organisational level unless you have the right expertise and context. Aggregated trends can be informative, but only if you are confident about sample size, representativeness and employee consent.
The most useful measurement is often practical: did the campaign reduce barriers, did people talk about it, and did it feed into other wellbeing activity you already offer? When screening becomes part of a wider programme, it stops being a one-week event and starts being a habit.
Common pitfalls (and how to avoid them)
The biggest pitfall is making participation feel compulsory or monitored. Keep it voluntary, private and supportive.
The second is underestimating logistics. If the set-up is awkward, if there is no power where you planned, or if the space is too exposed, you will lose people quickly. Do a site walk-through and treat the screening area like a mini pop-up service.
The third is running a campaign with no follow-up. If employees get numbers but no next step, you have created awareness without support. Even one well-timed session on sleep or stress can turn ‘interesting’ into ‘useful’.
A know your numbers workplace campaign is at its best when it respects employees’ time and autonomy while giving them something concrete to act on. Make it easy, make it clear, and keep the door open for people to check again when they are ready – that is where the real value builds over time.