Financial Wellness Program for Employees

WHAT IS FINANCIAL WELLNESS PROGRAM FOR EMPLOYEES?

A financial wellness program is a set of lessons that are designed to educate employees on how to be financially free. The program is in high demand these days because it is directly linked to high employee performance and productivity. The math is simple, the more financially stable your employees are, the highly productive they will become, and business booms. This program not only improves the physical and psychological health of your employee but also improves productivity.
 

THE NEED FOR FINANCIAL WELLNESS PROGRAM FOR EMPLOYEES

According to research conducted by Morgan Stanley, 78% of employees that were surveyed had high levels of financial stress which negatively impacted their work. The research further revealed that 50% of employees were in debt caused by overspending, 37% of the employees were in crippling debts, and 41% had not saved enough to cover three months of living expenses should any misfortune befall them. So without wellbeing programs for employees in place, such employees are likely to be less productive due to financial stress. GuardianWealth financial wellness program has the requisite tools to equip your employees to be financially well.
 

MOST COMPANIES ARE IMPLEMENTING FINANCIAL WELLNESS PROGRAMS FOR EMPLOYEES

This indicates that if the cause of the high levels of stress among employees is eliminated. Then there is a higher probability of the company flourishing. This is why a lot of companies are subscribing to wellness programs for employees. A great financial wellness program can do a lot of good both for the employee, the organization, and the employer. With the Coronavirus pandemic giving most people a reality check, employees have now realized how fragile their financial situations are and this has become a cause for concern. However, 62% of employers, in 2020, have taken the responsibility to alleviate the plight of their employees by implementing financial wellness programs for employees at their workplaces. This represents an increase of over 300% from 2013 (which was only 13%) according to a survey of 808 employers conducted by the Bank of America.
 

SOME LESSONS UNDER FINANCIAL WELLNESS PROGRAM FOR EMPLOYEES

Some of the topics under the financial wellness program for employees include:

• Budgeting

One of the most important lessons to be learn when it comes to wellbeing programs for employees, is how to draw a budget. This is because debt is the major cause of both psychological and physical stress in employees which leads to all sorts of health problems. The surest way to ensure your employees pay off their debts or avoid debts is by teaching them how to budget. Budgeting helps employees to streamline their finances by cutting off unnecessary expenditures and teaching them to save. Our GuardianWealth financial wellness program for employees has a budget planner that helps employees to streamline their finances.

• Saving

As already mentioned, when employees cut off unnecessary expenses, they can be able to save. They can save for their retirement or save to purchase a commodity that will be very useful to them. A good employee wellbeing program teaches the art of saving. Saving doesn’t come easy, it requires a lot of discipline and a little bit of art. For example, to save money on grocery shopping. You could compare the prices of groceries from different shops and decide to go for the one whose prices would allow you to save. You could also do your laundry and dishes at night to save electricity. Thus you pay less for utilities and save more money.

• Emergency funds

No one can predict when disaster will strike, that is why employee health and wellness program teaches them to save for a rainy day. Now, this is different from the normal savings, in that, it is only for emergencies. Having emergencies is stressful enough and having little or no money to combat the emergency worsens the situation. So, having some money that you can easily gain access to when you need it is very refreshing. This program will guide your employees on how to set up an emergency fund. It also indicates how much you can set aside for emergencies, depending on a lot of factors such as income, family size, etc.

• Building Wealth

The main aim of the financial wellness program for employees is to help them to become financially free. In the absence of wealth, this aim cannot be achieve that’s why every good financial wellness program in the workplace has a lesson on wealth building. Wealth building ensures that employees have enough money to take care of both their present and future needs. Thus, they won’t have to worry about money or the lack of it. Building wealth also helps employees to keep their concentration on the job without getting easily distract by financial woes. Building wealth leads to the financial freedom that employees desire.

• Debt Management

By building wealth, employees can manage their debts or avoid them. That’s why it is important to take employees through a wellness program. As already stated, debts can lead to both physical and psychological stress which can cause low productivity at work. Research indicates that consumer credit card debt of the US reached $829 billion over an eight-year growth. Studies show that most Americans have at least one credit card and also the average credit card debt is a little over $6000. Financial wellness programs for employees equip them with the requisite tools to manage or do away with debt. GuardianWealth, wellness program is a tool that helps employees drowning under the weight of debts to manage their debts until they can eliminate them.

HOW TO IMPLEMENT FINANCIAL WELLNESS PROGRAMS FOR EMPLOYEES

Having gone through the benefits and some lessons that are covered under financial programs for employees. Let’s look at how to implement these programs in ways that will be beneficial to your employees.

• Use the help of financial tools

In this fast-paced world, employees may not want to go through the drudgery of drawing and planning a budget at the same time planning how to save. That is where our GuardianWealth financial wellness program in the workplace comes in handy. We have a tool called the GuardianWealth budget planner that guides you to plan your budget and savings. The tool does the heavy lifting for your employees by outlining the budget. All they have to do is fill in the spaces with the right figures and their budget is drawn. Try our budget planner today and you’ll be glad you did.

• Use workshops

You can also organize workshops to sensitize your employees on financial wellness in the workplace. These workshops would tackle all of the topics mentioned above and other important topics such as planning for retirement, developing financial and self-discipline, etc. You can invite experienced facilitators who can guide your employees on how to attain financial freedom. One advantage of workshops is that the employees can ask questions that relate to their particular situations and get tailor-made solutions. Ideally, these workshops should be organize periodically to enable the employees to fully grasp, at least, the fundamentals of financial wellness.

• Provide financial assistance

This goes in line with the popular saying that “practice what you preach”. By setting aside some funds to assist your employees when they need it the most you are practicing a very valuable lesson in the financial wellness program for employees. This fund can be used to help employees that have an emergency on their hands. By leading the way in financial wellness, your employees would easily follow your example.

• Print and Distribute Financial Wellness Programs

If you’re cash strapped and are looking for a less costly but mildly efficient way of inculcating financial wellness into your employees Then try printing out leaflets or booklets on wellness programs for employees. These educational materials shouldn’t be wordy or lengthy. Short, concise, straight-to-the-point, and also easy-to-read pamphlets should do the trick. The main idea is to teach them the basics of financial wellness. You can then leave a number at the bottom of the leaflet that they can contact for more information.

HOW FINANCIAL WELLNESS PROGRAMS FOR EMPLOYEES HAVE HELPED ORGANIZATIONS

Organizations that have implemented these wellbeing programs for employees have seen a dramatic rise in employee retention and productivity. Employees are happier working for such organizations because they are convinced that not only are their employers concerned about profits but they have their employees’ welfare at heart also.

Financial wellness programs for employees are not difficult to impact or implement. You just have to take the time, effort, and dedicate a part of your income to help your employees become financially well, especially in these trying times. It will save your employees some stress and your business from possible collapse.

If you are on the lookout for a great financial wellness program for your employees. Then consider the GuardianWealth financial wellness program today.