How to create a financial wellness scheme to help your employees

The pandemic has made it clear that financial wellness is not enough of a priority for so many people, businesses included.

The easiest way to gather information about employees’ financial wellness and goals is simply to ask – create a survey that your employees can fill in anonymously. (Photo: Shutterstock)

A recent study revealed that nearly 80% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, which indicates that people aren’t saving enough for their retirement. In fact, around 90% of the country say that COVID-19 has caused at least some level of financial stress.

The pandemic has made it clear that financial wellness is not enough of a priority for so many people, businesses included. Companies can do so much more to educate and encourage greater financial wellness by creating an effective financial wellness program. Here are some tips on how to set up a program that truly helps your employees.

Related: Duty calls: Companies need to ramp up employee financial wellness

Assess the needs of your workforce

If you’re going to support your employees in achieving their financial goals, you first need to understand the issues they are facing. These details will not only help you develop a financial wellness program that works but it will also provide a baseline from which you can measure the success of the program going forward.

The easiest way to gather this information is simply to ask – create a survey that your employees can fill in anonymously in order to help you gain a broader picture of the needs of your staff.

Alternatively, you can take a look at the data you already have access to, such as whether your staff have 401(k) loans and what the balances may be on those loans. Are employees matching contributions and how many employees have raised their contribution rates over time?

Survey staff

Financial wellness programs are for the staff, so it’s important to understand what they need and what features would benefit them the most. It can be all too easy to assume what employees need without really taking the time to find out if those assumptions are correct. A survey can be a great way of assessing the true issues staff are facing and their needs – make it about them, rather than the company, and be prepared to be open about this.

Staff will be much more receptive to a program that has been designed around their input compared to one that has been created without any consultation.

Provide education

A strong credit score is essential and having a poor one can interfere with everything from applying for a mortgage to making financial products more expensive. Education is key to ensure that employees have the information they need to make the right decisions and there are various ways to achieve this.

You can start by distributing financial awareness materials and supplying worksheets to help them prepare budgets, additionally it is a great idea to make sure that staff are made aware of the benefits they are owed by the company.

Offer educational sessions

Another way of educating staff is to offer education sessions, either on a one-to-one basis or as group sessions. Within these sessions, you can provide useful information and suggestions, as well as giving people the chance to ask questions about concerns or issues they may have. Seminars or talks can be a great way of opening up the discussion around improving financial health and these can also be an opportunity to provide printed materials too for those who need them. Businesses can also subsidise personal sessions with financial advisors which may make the option more appealing to employees.

Track and measure the success of the program

It’s important to track the successes of the program – businesses need to understand what is and isn’t working in order to develop the program further. In addition to seeing what is successful, reporting on the program will also indicate any weaknesses that need addressing. One way to do this is to send out questionnaires to staff about their financial wellbeing on a regular basis so that you can clearly see whether issues are changing and if the information you’re providing is effective.

Final thoughts

Many companies have seen the success of implementing wellness programs centered around nutrition, exercise and lifestyle habits. The next step in improving the productivity and wellbeing of your employees is to implement a financial wellness program.

This will help them reduce the stress of their financial situation and reduces expenses for the business, offering long-term benefits for both the company and employees alike.

Gemma Hart is an independent HR professional working remotely from as many coffee shops as she can find. Since graduating in 2013, Gemma has gained experience in a number of HR roles but now looks to grown her personal brand and connect with leading professionals in the field.

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