More employers are recognizing the value of offering to employees access to an organization’s financial wellness program to employees. There is now data available from employers who offer such wellness plans and we are learning which incentives do work in stimulating employees into participating in Financial Wellness programs. Employers have identified the largest stimulant for employees remains Cash. Closely behind Cash are premium discounts on health insurance, followed closely by gift-cards.
Benefits managers need the full suite of competitive benefits to make certain their company and their total benefits package remains competitive in their own industry and in the region. Financial wellness is one of the newer benefits that organizations have been considering, analyzing and adding to the total benefit package. Benefit managers need to understand the interest in and usage of any potential new benefit. Financial wellness, being a newer benefit, has less data available to measure and study. Having access to good data and the expertise to study the data is important to anyone responsible for the communication benefit programs.
“Until recently, employee well-being has been viewed as a ‘nice to have,’ but with more and more research directly connecting employee well-being to business productivity and performance, business leaders are recognizing it as a ‘must have’ from a business perspective,” says Chris Boyce, CEO of Virgin Pulse, a wellness technology provider. “The proof is in the data that emerging-companies that invest in employee well-being see lower turnover, less absenteeism, stronger stock performance and higher business productivity. That’s a compelling business case.”
Financial wellness programs are not front-and-center in most firms. Many organizations do not offer the benefit or they may have the benefit in their stable – but they may do a poor job of communicating or promoting the benefit. As with any poorly communicated benefit, poor communication means low participation.
