Financial wellness programs will differ from one organization to another but there are more similarities than differences when you look at the underlying structure. Having a successful financial wellness program takes time and effort. It’s something that needs constant improvement in order to reflect current needs. Here are some tips that will come in handy if you’re looking to design or improve the financial wellness programs in your organization.
Broaden The Definition
Oftentimes, financial wellness has been limited when it comes to definition. A good financial wellness program should cover a couple of things:
- The capacity to live life within your financial means
- Proactive control over financial responsibilities
- Definitive plan on meeting your long-term financial goals
- Controlled exposure to risk
Focus on the Human Resource Strategy
Financial uncertainty has been cited as one of the main reasons for stress in the workplace. The Financial Wellness Programs will be crucial in achieving the strategic goals that are set by your organization. You should think about the financial wellness program when the human resource strategy is being developed. When you’re clear about what you intend to achieve, there will be fewer distractions and your employees will align themselves to your vision.
Another important area where the financial wellness program can help is with the recruitment of new staff. Make it known that your company offers financial wellness coaching. This could be an incentive that attracts top talent to your company.
Isolate Internal Challenges
Cost is obviously going to be the biggest factor for an employer that is trying to provide financial wellness programs for employees. There are a couple of resources that can easily be accessed online and the majority of them are free. It’s easy to make the resources available on social platforms for accessibility. There should be detailed guides on how to access and use such resources by your staff. Another challenge you’re likely to experience is quantifying the success of the financial wellness program. You can use the CFPB Financial Well-Being Scale when starting the program and then re-evaluate the progress after six months. There are inherent liabilities with education materials that you haven’t developed yourself. That’s why you should be partnering with organizations that understand your industry better as they’re likely to develop tailored programs.
Assessing The Needs of Your Workforce
In order to provide the support needed for your employees to meet their financial goals, it’s imperative to have a holistic understanding of the problems that they’re facing. Getting such information will help in determining the baseline of the success of the financial wellness program. You don’t need to complicate things as a company-wide survey can provide insights into the current situation. With anonymity answering included, you can expect to get honest feedback which is crucial.
The data that the company has on the employees could also provide information on their financial situation.
Selecting The Approach
There is no one size fits all when it comes to financial wellness plans. That is why one program might be successful for an employee and fail for another. Before determining your offerings, you’d want to look at the demographics, resources, and in-house capabilities. Such programs will range in complexities but you’ll want to keep it simple when you’re just starting out.
Actively Engage The Employees
For the program to be successful, there is a need for active and ongoing communication. You don’t want employees looking at the program materials as another marketing gimmick by vendors. The program should encourage feedback so that it’s easy to monitor progress and also look at the areas that can be improved. You want the HR and the vendors that you’re working with to provide the right solutions to your employees.
Establishing Metrics and Measuring Success
Just as you’re able to determine the needs of the employees, the same tactics can be used to determine the success of the program. You can be on the lookout for better participation in retirement programs or enrolling in financial training classes.
A successful program will not only change your employees’ attitude to money but also to life. It can be hard to quantify the success of the program given the fact that financial wellness is a psychological state. Research has shown that those employees that lack financial confidence will always try to avoid making financial decisions. Such employees are likely to be stressed and will always be in a state of financial incapacity. The most important metric will be employee satisfaction.
Krishna Murthy is the senior publisher at Trickyfinance. Krishna Murthy was one of the brilliant students during his college days. He completed his education in MBA (Master of Business Administration), and he is currently managing the all workload for sharing the best banking information over the internet. The main purpose of starting Tricky Finance is to provide all the precious information related to businesses and the banks to his readers.
