New playbook helps employers roll out a successful financial wellness program

American workers increasingly are looking for their employers to offer financial programs to help them save, invest and navigate retirement planning. A new resource is set to transform the way companies approach employee financial wellbeing. Nudge, a financial wellbeing provider, introduces the Global Financial Wellbeing Playbook, a guide aimed at helping employers implement effective financial wellness programs.

“Retirement planning is essential, but it’s just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to financial wellbeing, with many areas of personal finance impacting our lives,” said Jeremy Beament, nudge co-founder and Director. “With improved literacy employees can plan for the unexpected, which in turn reduces anxiety. They can manage debt, grow savings and strengthen their financial security, ultimately they can plan for big life events, work toward goals that bring them more happiness and fulfilment – in and out of work.”

Recent research highlights a gap in the effectiveness of current financial wellbeing programs. While 57% of employers offer these programs, only 28% feel confident in their ability to measure their impact. The nudge playbook offers practical tools and insights based on the company’s experience in designing and delivering over 300 successful programs globally. Here are two examples:

• Delta Airlines introduced a financial education program with nudge, tailored to increase financial literacy. The program includes a localized monetary incentive of $1,000, once employees have engaged with nudge’s financial education – 88% earned the reward and 95% took action on their finances, according to nudge.
• Expedia launched a financial education platform in three months. The solution was rolled out to employees in all offices to provide a high-quality, consistent experience wherever their people are based. As a result, 62% of employees are engaged in financial education.

The playbook includes:

• Guidance and insights from leading financial wellness experts to help organizations develop programs tailored to their workforce.
• Strategies for success, focusing on creating personalized programs that meet the diverse needs of employees.
• Case studies and success stories from organizations that have implemented impactful and measurable financial wellbeing initiatives.

“We understand the challenges employers face when it comes to building effective financial wellbeing programs … ,” said Beament.  The playbook “is designed to bridge the gap, providing organizations with the knowledge and resources that we have honed from over two decades of experience, to create programs that not only support employees but also drive meaningful results.”

Here are some best practices, according to nudge:

1. Connect the program to wider business initiatives (end of the year, or company enrolment period)
2. Include messages of support from your CEO to demonstrate the program’s importance
3. Create a project plan and a series of campaign briefings to share with your benefits team, managers, wellbeing champions, and employee resource groups ahead of the launch to prepare them for employee question
4. Map the available internal communication channels per region to ensure they’re acknowledged and aligned
5. Plan a series of financial wellbeing champion training sessions, upskilling key employee groups to promote the program to their networks in the business

“Employers can expect a number of benefits from implementing a successful financial wellbeing program, including stronger loyalty, a better understanding, uptake and contributions to their employee benefits, and of course improved overall financial health – meaning less anxiety and distraction at work,” said Beament.

Related: Rethinking benefits can drastically improve employees’ financial wellness

“When you align your organization’s values with both your strategy and the values of your employees – creating values alignment – you reap all sorts of benefits: higher job satisfaction, lower turnover, better teamwork, more effective communication, bigger contributions to the organization, more productive negotiations, and, perhaps surprisingly, more diversity, equity, and inclusion,” according to nudge.

The key to a successful financial wellbeing program is” to first set clear, measurable and meaningful (to the business and people) objectives,” said Beament. “Following that, employers need to take time to research what employees want and need right now, then assign benefit providers that meet those needs – and can prove it. The program needs to launch with a big impact and without technical limitations, and with regular program promotion … Employers need data and insights to find out what’s working and what needs refinement.”