Smart Money: Why companies should embrace financial wellness

All employees struggle with personal financial stress. This stress prevents most employees from achieving maximum work productivity. Lost work productivity results in a waste of over half a million dollars for an average company with 100 employees paid at $20 hour.

Smart companies are paying attention to this loss and doing something about it. The American Psychological Association cites financial stress as the number one stress for American employees. Your employees are not exempt from this stress, which means your slice of the $250 billion “financial stress loss,” as cited by a 2017 Mercer study is being taken from your revenue.

This is why smart companies are joining the 84% of companies Forbes has identified as adding financial wellness services into their employee benefits packages. Employees respond well to financial wellness services when wrapped into their existing benefits.

Eighty-six percent of employees embrace financial wellness services when provided by their employers. That number shoots even higher to 92% for millennial employees, according to the Workplace Benefits Report, 2017.

Companies that address this glaring need for their employees receive huge dividends in return. Expected ROI can be up to a 78 percent increase in employee satisfaction, 70 percent increase in loyalty, 68 percent increase in engagement, and 57 percent increase in productivity, as cited in the Workplace Benefits Report, 2015.

High quality financial wellness services don't need to be expensive, nor do they need to take employees' time away from work. Quality financial wellness services should be evidence-based and self-paced for each employee. One size does not fit all. Employees' financial concerns are unique, and the path to increased financial wellness must be individualized to address each issue.

Quality financial services should be available during employees' free time. This allows employees to address their needs off the clock, so they can be more fully engaged with work productivity while on the clock.

Employees' search for financial satisfaction is the reason they come to work. Interestingly, financial satisfaction is motivated more by a sense of financial wellness than by a higher income.

Smart companies are recognizing this and putting financial wellness services into place for their employees, yielding ROI many times over the miniscule investment into the services.

Go to financiallyfitemployees.com to learn more.