This One Benefit Could Be the Key to Reducing Employee Turnover

Employees are voluntarily leaving their employment in high numbers. The reasons are many, from wanting less stress to needing more compensation, to wanting to find a better work/life balance. One benefit that has the potential to reduce this employee turnover – financial wellness.

The Unlocking the Full Potential of Financial Wellness Benefits¹ report found that offering financial wellness can:

• Improve employee wellbeing
• Increase retention
• Attract new talent

This report found that nearly three-fourths of organizations did not add or expand benefits during the pandemic. This is unfortunate since workers who believe their employers have concern for their wellbeing are less likely to look for other employment opportunities. 

Keep Reading: How to Increase Employee Retention and Recruiting With Financial Wellness 

What Are Financial Wellness Benefits?

Generally speaking, a financial wellness benefit is any benefit that helps an employee achieve a financial goal or alleviate a financial concern. Some of the most popular types of financial wellness benefits offered by employers include:

• Retirement savings: 401(k), pension, IRA, stock options
• Insurance: Health, mental health, eye, dental, life, disability

However, with the current environment, employees want to work for organizations that go beyond the norm by offering advanced financial wellness benefits, such as:

• Financial wellness program: Classes, tools, tips, videos, workshops
• Financial coaching: Group, one-on-one, in-person, phone, video
• Emergency savings: How-to, sidecar accounts, automatic plans
• Student loan help: Refinancing help, repayment assistance
• Medical savings: HSA, FSA, HRA
• Education benefits: Tuition reimbursement, 529 Savings, professional development stipends
• Additional insurance: Pet, accident, adoption, infertility, long-term care
• Employee assistance programs (EAP): Identity theft, will preparation, tax preparation, credit score monitoring, child care, elder care
• Debt assistance: Short-term employee loans, paycheck advances, medical bill zero-interest financing, debt negotiation, debt settlement
• Discount programs: Products and services, gym membership, cell phone service

Keep Reading: 55 Best Employee Financial Wellness Benefits

Do Employees Use These Benefits?

The short answer is yes, employees use financial wellness benefits. The longer answer is that they use them as the need arises.

Each year, PwC conducts an employee financial wellness survey. In 2019, they found that employees used financial benefits when they²:

• Needed to make an important financial decision – 35%
• Had a financial crisis – 26%
• Experienced a life event – 10%
• On an ongoing basis – 3%
• Never – 8%
• Other – 18%

The same survey found that employees used financial benefits to prepare for retirement, get their spending under control, pay off debt, save money, improve investments, and better manage healthcare expenses.

How Can You Offer the Right Programs?

A recent National Debt Relief survey found that three out of four respondents wish they had the tools and resources to help them get out of debt³.

But what tools and resources should you offer? The answer depends on your employees and their current needs.

The Full Potential of Financial Wellness Benefits survey found that different subgroups of employees have different financial concerns.

For example, working Americans are the most concerned with retirement benefits. Those looking for employment are most concerned with safety net insurance and are three times more concerned about emergency savings and loan support. 

The Generational Differences in the Workplace report found that financial wellness needs varied among generations⁴. 

• Baby Boomers: Retirement planning, 401(k) matching, long-term care insurance, healthcare, paid sick days, and dental
• Gen X: Supplemental insurance, healthcare, flex schedules, EAPs, wellness programs
• Millennials: Healthcare, paid sick days, flex schedules
• Gen Z: Financial counseling, loan repayment, tuition reimbursement, healthcare, supplemental insurance, wellness programs, EAPs

With so many variables, one of the best ways to cover all employees is by offering voluntary benefits. These are benefits that employees can choose to opt in and pay for via payroll deductions.

Once you have the benefits in place, be sure to communicate their availability to your workforce.

Enrich is a financial wellness platform that offers financial wellness education and fully integrates with all your financial wellness offerings. To learn how Enrich can help you reduce employee turnover, schedule a demo today.

1 - https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/trends-and-forecasting/research-and-surveys/Pages/Unlocking-the-Full-Potential-of-Financial-Wellness-Benefits.aspx

2 - https://www.pwc.com/us/en/industries/private-company-services/images/pwc-8th-annual-employee-financial-wellness-survey-2019-results.pdf

3 - https://www.nationaldebtrelief.com/how-debt-affects-your-mental-and-physical-health/

4 - https://www.purdueglobal.edu/education-partnerships/generational-workforce-differences-infographic/