What are financial wellness programs?

Financial stress is something any employee at any company in any industry can experience. While personal financial matters may not seem like an employer’s concern at first glance, financial stress amongst your workforce can harm your bottom line. According to PwC's 2023 Employee Financial Wellness Survey, a third of employees report that money concerns hurt their productivity at work. (PWC).

So — how can employers step in to provide support? Creating a financial wellness program can help give your employees the tools and resources they need to lower their financial stress levels. Developing a financial wellness program at work involves developing plans that support employees in managing their financial health and achieving their financial goals. 

Let’s examine employee financial wellness programs in more detail and how employers or benefits administrators can implement them. 

What are financial wellness programs?

If you aren’t familiar with financial wellness, let’s start there. Financial wellness refers to a state of being where an individual effectively manages their finances, ensuring stability, long-term security, and low levels of financial stress. For example, if someone has an effective monthly budget that they can stick to, has a solid emergency fund, contributes regularly to retirement savings, and has a manageable amount of debt (such as a reasonable mortgage payment), they are likely experiencing financial wellness. If someone struggles to sleep due to worries about looming loan payments or can’t afford things like health insurance premiums, they may experience a lot of financial stress on a day-to-day basis. 

When it comes to financial wellness in the workplace, employer-sponsored initiatives designed to improve employees' financial health and reduce money-related stress can make a big impact. These employee financial wellness programs can offer resources such as financial education workshops, one-on-one counseling, budgeting tools, debt management strategies, and retirement planning advice. By addressing topics like saving, managing debt, and investing, these programs aim to empower employees to make better financial decisions. 

How to encourage financial wellness at work

Financial stress doesn’t just harm your employees — it harms your business. This type of stress significantly impacts employers by reducing employee productivity and increasing turnover. More than half of financially stressed employees spend at least three hours a week at work dealing with personal financial issues. These employees are also less likely to see a future with their current employer, with only 54% feeling optimistic compared to 69% of those not stressed. They're also twice as likely to job hunt, and the majority of employees (73%) would prefer to work for an employer that prioritizes their financial well-being. (PWC).

If you think your workforce could benefit from a financial wellness program, let’s look at the steps you can take to start one. 

Assess employee needs

Before you decide exactly what your employee financial wellness program will entail, it’s a good idea to pause for a moment. Assess your employees’ financial needs to better understand which resources will make the biggest impact.

You can conduct anonymous surveys or hold focus groups to get a clear picture of the key financial challenges your workforce faces — such as struggling to pay off student loan debt, not understanding how to create an effective budget, or saving for retirement. Understanding their concerns and knowledge gaps will help you tailor the program to address your unique workforce’s most relevant financial issues.

Create educational resources

For many consumers, a lack of understanding of managing their finances successfully leads to financial stress. To help your employees achieve financial well-being, you can create educational resources that help them understand key financial topics. You can educate them on how to make the most of the financial resources that your company offers, such as a retirement savings plan. 

You can offer workshops, webinars, and online content (like through an employee email newsletter) that covers topics like budgeting, saving strategies, debt management, and retirement planning. These resources should be accessible and easy to understand so you can help your employees develop better money management skills and make more informed decisions about their financial future.

Offer one-on-one coaching

In addition to general educational resources, offering one-on-one financial coaching can provide personalized guidance for employees facing more complex financial challenges. Partner with certified financial advisors or counselors who can work directly with employees to create tailored financial plans, address specific concerns, and help them set realistic financial goals. This individualized support is especially valuable for those who may feel overwhelmed by their financial situation.

Integrate financial wellness into existing benefits

Make financial wellness an integral part of your existing employee benefits by incorporating it into programs like retirement savings plans, student loan assistance, or flexible spending accounts. You can enhance the impact of these benefits by providing educational resources and tools that help employees make the most of them. 

For example, host workshops on maximizing 401(k) contributions or using a health savings account (HSA) effectively. This integration ensures that financial wellness becomes a seamless part of your broader benefits package.

Provide ongoing support

Helping your employees achieve financial wellness isn’t a one-time effort. To keep employees engaged and informed, provide ongoing support through regular updates, new content, and continuous access to educational resources. Host refresher workshops or webinars, send regular newsletters with tips, and make sure your employees have easy access to financial tools. Maintaining momentum and demonstrating a long-term commitment to their financial health can help employees build lasting habits that improve their financial well-being.

If you need help ensuring your employees have the resources they need to work towards their health and wellness goals, sign up for a free demo of Thatch to find out how we can help you and your employees save on health insurance spending. As an employer, you can save an average of $1,620 per year per employee while offering great benefits with the help of Thatch. Then, you can pass those savings onto your employees so they can put their hard-earned money towards other financial goals like saving for a home or paying off debt.