Benefits

Improving employees’ financial well-being

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Last Updated: January 3, 2022

3 minute engagement

Benefits pros are probably tired of hearing about the Great Resignation. After all, you’re doing everything in your power to provide the best benefits package you can to help HR retain and attract employees. But is financial well-being part of these packages?

If not, it needs to be. And the reason is simple: Financial issues cause people major stress.

Employees who are stressed and worrying about financial issues aren’t focused on their work. If they aren’t focused, they aren’t going to be productive, and their quality of work will suffer.

Plus, many people aren’t good at managing their finances. They don’t have the knowledge or financial literacy tools they need to help them manage money properly.

But if a company offers tools that’ll help them, it’s a major boon to their retention program.

How can you help?

Here are three good places to start:

Pay people what they’re worth

That’s the advice of Vicki Salemi, Monster career expert. People who are paid fairly have an easier time getting “financially fit!” Paying people fairly shows you value your employees and what they bring to the table.

Offer financial lunch and learns

The more information a company gives its people, the more knowledgeable their employees will be. You train workers how to do their job. Why not train them during work hours how to handle their money. It’ll benefit the company in the long run. If people aren’t stressed about financial issues, they’ll be able to focus completely on their jobs. And lunch and learns featuring financial advisors talking about 401(k) plans or effective budgeting are a great way to do it, advised Salemi. Most people won’t make the time after they leave work to improve their financial savviness.

The only problem with this is people may feel they are too busy to participate. And, if you make them mandatory, employees often resent having to go and the company. But, if you offer a positive incentive to a financial class, they’ll look at it in a more beneficial light, Robert Johnson, professor at Heider College of Business, Creighton University, told Yahoo Finance. Examples he gave are cash bonuses or local business gift cards. Employers could also allow employees to leave early on a Friday or get a day off to volunteer for their favorite local charity. Johnson also said that offering financial education via a series of classes also makes them more attractive to employees.

Emphasize retirement savings

Companies that emphasize the importance of saving for retirement and have a set plan in place to get employees enrolled, have the largest success rate. Meaning, their employees have sufficient retirement funds. They have a tracking process that notifies them when an employee’s waiting period is over and they can enroll, explained Clayton Wood, CFP, managing partner of C.B. Wood Financial. Then they initiate contact the day the employee is eligible. Benefit pros don’t have to be investment experts, noted Wood. They can refer people to their plan advisor for investment advice. But they do have to be experts on their company’s plan and how it works.