What Are The Benefits of Providing Financial Wellness Counseling to Employees?

Stress kills. It’s a pervasive problem in the United States. It can cause health problems like anxiety, high blood pressure, and heart and breathing issues.¹ High stress also leads to a 50% higher mortality rate, according to one study.²
 

Stress also kills productivity.

Workers with high stress have reduced creativity, poor peer relationships, tardiness, and absenteeism.³

Employers recognize this, which is why employee wellness has become increasingly important to companies. 

The Impact of Stress on Your Employees

Stressed employees have a 60% higher rate of absenteeism. Obviously, workers are not productive if they are not there. Stress can be a distraction while at work, too. So much so that experts created a word for it – presenteeism. This can lead to a 77% reduction in productivity.⁴ 

How can companies fight this pervasive drain on productivity and worker wellbeing?

A combination of an on-demand financial education platform and available one-on-one financial counseling is the answer.

Related article: How to Improve Employee Productivity with a Financial Wellness Program

People Have a Financial-Stress Problem

Finances are the leading cause of stress among workers. The stress of relationships, jobs, and health combined still do not add to the level of stress finances cause.⁵ The American Psychological Association says that financial concerns are the biggest cause of stress for people.⁶

Reducing financial stress can help with overall stress levels as well as health. Financial stress can cause depression and sleep deprivation. All these things have a negative effect on work performance.⁶
 

Financial counseling, as part of a holistic financial wellness program, can help reduce employee stress.

The Impact of Financial Wellness Programs

Money Management International conducted a survey that found that 86 percent of employees who had financial wellness counseling had lower stress thanks to the counseling.⁷

This one-on-one counseling helps workers feel more empowered, while the financial education platform helps to reinforce financial skills.

The survey also found that 60% of counseled employees had reduced their debt. Large amounts of debt can often affect mental health.

Debt can also interfere directly with work. Creditors may call during work hours, or employees may take on additional outside work. These can be major distractions to workers.⁸
 

Counseling can also help employees understand the need to save for retirement.

38% of those who received financial wellness counseling increased their retirement savings. Retirement savings can be greatly affected by small increases in saving rates. Experts say even a 1% increase can significantly affect wealth building.⁹

Related article: The Impact of Financial Wellness on 401k Loans and Retirement Borrowing

Each of these benefits has its own impact on employee wellbeing. But, overall, they all boil down to decreasing financial stress.

A comprehensive financial wellness program can help employees feel empowered and prepared. This is especially important in today’s world, where financial stress has doubled for many people thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.¹⁰ 

Many things have moved online thanks to the pandemic, but few employees want to get their financial knowledge solely by googling things. Online financial advice is not properly vetted, and people are skeptical. An on-demand financial wellness education platform helps to enhance the effect of financial counseling. 
 

And financial wellness programs, including available financial wellness counseling, are in high demand.

Your Employers Want Financial Wellness Benefits

4 out of 10 workers say they want help in achieving financial security.⁹ And 8 in 10 say they want access to workplace financial counseling.¹¹
 

It benefits employers to offer these services, too. Workers who gain financial stability tend to be more supportive of their company.¹²
 

The benefits of offering financial wellness counseling as an element of an overall financial wellness program are abundant. For the employee, counseling can reduce stress. It can increase retirement savings. Counseling can help workers improve their credit scores and buy a house. It can also help reduce debt.

All these worker benefits translate into benefits for the employer as well.

Stress, debt, and other money issues can interfere with a worker’s performance.

Financial wellness counseling, when paired with an online on-demand financial education platform, can combat those issues.

It is the perfect recipe for a financially fit worker. It also helps workers feel like their company cares about them. That helps retain employees and improve working conditions.

Show your employees you care by offering a new employee benefit this year.

1 - https://fairviewadc.com/adult-day-care/stress-kills-you/

2 - https://www.hcplive.com/view/high-stress-levels-result-in-higher-mortality-rates-

3- https://www.business.com/articles/stress-and-productivity-what-the-numbers-say/

4 - https://blog.dropbox.com/topics/work-culture/stress-making-productivity-worse

5 - https://www.pwc.com/us/en/services/consulting/workforce-of-the-future/library/employee-financial-wellness-survey.html

6 - https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2014/stress-report.pdf

7 - https://www.benefitspro.com/2017/03/08/the-benefits-of-financial-wellness-counseling/

8 - https://www.creditfix.co.uk/blog/debt-impacts-performance-workforce/

9 - https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/23/why-you-should-increase-your-401k-or-ira-contributions-by-1percent.html

10 - https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201408_cfpb_report_financial-wellness-at-work.pdf

11 - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/j.2161-1920.2000.tb01022.x

12 - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1745-6606.2005.00008.x