Fighting the Great Resignation: The One Employee Perk That Will Make Your Company the Most Competitive

If you have begun to feel the effect of the Great Resignation, you are not alone. Also known as the Big Quit, this phenomenon centers around employees who voluntarily resign from their jobs – sometimes without another offering in their pocket. 

Generally speaking, the monthly resignation rate of US companies had remained below 2.4%¹ until recently.

The latest resignation numbers reached an average of 3.2%² in the private sector, with some industries (such as accommodation and food, retail, and professional services) going even higher. 

Studies and surveys^3,4 found that a record number of employees have considered quitting their jobs and are looking for new employment. CEOs⁵ have taken note of the disruptions caused by high turnover rates and believe that attracting new talent is the biggest challenge for the coming year.

What Is Going On?

The Great Resignation has not been caused by one event but, according to economists, a combination of several factors – including wage stagnation and job dissatisfaction, COVID-19 safety concerns coupled with stimulus payments, and overall concerns about financial well-being exacerbated by rising inflation. 

Due to the confluence of these factors, your employees are struggling.

They are less likely to be saving for emergencies and retirement. They are more likely to be taking on excessive credit card debt. And nearly six out of ten employed Americans⁶ struggle to meet day-to-day expenses. 

However, the most important thing to understand is that employees want help and expect to get it from their employers.

The Betterment 401(k) survey⁷ found that:

• 83% of employees see financial wellness as a sign that an employer values them
• 75% value financial wellness benefits over in-office perks 
• 68% value financial wellness benefits over an extra week of vacation
• 70% want access to a live financial advisor

What happens if an employer doesn’t offer the financial wellness benefits they want? Employees today have no problems looking for an employer who does.

Addressing Financial Wellness

What financial wellness benefits do employees want?

The Betterment survey found if a prospective employer offered the following financial benefits, employees would consider changing jobs: 

• A high-quality 401(k) or other retirement plans – 65%
• 401(k) matching program – 56%
• Wellness stipend – 33%
• A flexible spending account (FSA) or health savings account (HSA) – 29%
• An employer-sponsored emergency fund – 27%
• Childcare support – 24%
• Budgeting and savings tools – 24%
• Access to a live financial advisor – 22%
• Student loan financial assistance or repayment program – 20%
• An employer-sponsored 529 plan (college savings plan) – 14%

Undoubtedly, employees are looking for compelling and competitive financial wellness options. Providing such benefits will allow your company to hire the best talent and retain the talent you have.

But There’s More

One of the biggest takeaways from the Betterment study is that employers must do a better job of communicating their benefits to employees.

Approximately one out of four surveyed employees took advantage of a small amount or none of the financial wellness offerings despite their need and desire to have them.

Here’s what they found:

• 36% don’t know what benefits their employer offers
• 19% haven’t gotten around to signing up for the benefits
• 11% don’t know how to sign up

Providing clear and regular communication about financial wellness is key, along with making signing up for benefits easy and stress-free.

A program like Enrich Financial Wellness can help you integrate communications and streamline the process for signing up for benefits so that every employee can take advantage of all the financial wellness benefits offered to them. 

Offering financial wellness products to your employees can help them thrive, which will increase their loyalty to your organization.

Let Enrich help you offer the financial wellness benefits your employees need and want.

1 - https://www.epi.org/indicators/jolts/

2 - https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.t04.htm

3 - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index

4 - https://www.pwc.com/us/en/library/pulse-survey/future-of-work.html

5 - https://fortune.com/2021/10/21/the-great-resignation-is-no-joke/

6 - https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2021-economic-well-being-of-us-households-in-2020-dealing-with-unexpected-expenses.htm 

7 - https://resources.betterment.com/hubfs/PDFs/b4b/reports/financial-wellness-benefits-survey.pdf