As a leader of your organization, one of your most important jobs is ensuring the mental and physical well-being of your employees. You can do this in many ways, like providing counseling services, gym benefits, flexible hours, training courses, and more. But there’s one approach to employee wellness that doesn’t necessarily get the attention it deserves: financial wellness programs. 

There are many reasons your employees might be experiencing financial stress — some of them are modern, and some have been around as long as money. Providing employees with the knowledge, tools, and resources they need to reduce that stress and start building toward a brighter financial future can be incredibly beneficial to them and your organization as a whole.

If you don’t currently offer your employees a financial wellness program, take a look at this guide to see why you may want to reconsider.

What Is a Financial Wellness Program?

Financial wellness programs are a benefit offered to employees that can help educate them and provide them with the tools they need to become more financially secure. They offer information and resources to help employees budget better, manage debt, save more, and invest wisely.

How Financial Wellness Programs Can Benefit Your Organization

The primary purpose of a financial wellness program is to benefit your employees, but there are many ways that they can benefit your entire company as well. The following stats help to highlight those benefits. 

Financially stressed employees are two times more likely to seek out a new job as a means of alleviating their financial burden. Alleviating that burden through a wellness program can help lessen your employee’s financial stress and improve employee retention. 

Financially stressed employees are also estimated to miss an average of 16 more days of work every year than those who are not financially stressed. With the help of a wellness program, that loss in productivity can be regained at the same time while your employees regain their financial freedom. 

On top of that, it’s estimated that financial stress adds an extra 30% to U.S. healthcare costs. This means that offering a financial wellness program as a benefit can relieve some of that burden, which benefits not only your organization but the country.

Tips for Providing an Effective Financial Wellness Program

There are many ways to approach your company’s financial wellness program. If you want to ensure that yours is truly effective, you’ll want to include the following.

Financial Management Seminars

An incredible number of American adults from all walks of life can benefit from the financial education offered by a financial management seminar. With just a few small tips about budgeting, saving, and debt management, there’s no doubt that your employees can begin to relieve some of their financial stress.

Provide Regular Financial Education

There’s a lot more to learn about finance than can be absorbed in a seminar, so you should also consider partnering with a local credit union or community bank to provide continuing education to help your employees develop good money habits. 

This aspect of your financial wellness program can be more intimate than large seminars, as well, which means your employees will be able to ask more questions and gain more insight.

Offer On-Demand Pay

For some of your employees, waiting until payday to handle bills, debts, and every other expense can be the source of an immense amount of stress. One way you can alleviate some of that stress as their employer is to offer on-demand pay, like our AssetHR Perks program, which allows your employees access to the money they’ve earned when they need it.  

Provide Mental Health Services

While financial education can go a long way toward helping your employees relieve their financial stress, there may still be a long way to go before they’ve regained their financial freedom. During this time, their mental health may be at risk, as issues with money are common sources of stress, anxiety, and depression. Providing your employees with resources to address these issues can be a tremendous help.

Financial Wellness Programs With AssetHR

If you’re interested in developing an effective financial wellness program for your employees, contact AssetHR today, and we’ll help you get started.