If you were to poll your employees and ask them what their biggest source of stress currently is finances would surely top the list. Young adults are graduating with mountains of student loan debt and a surprising number of adults are living paycheck-to-paycheck, with little in the way of emergency savings. Many of your employees are probably working hard all day only to go home and have to worry about paying the bills on time.
This kind of stress can quickly catch up to you. Poor sleep quality, lower immune function, and mental issues can all result from long periods of stress. Needless to say this doesn't help their performance at work. That's why you need to take a proactive role in the financial health of your employees. Here are a few ideas for doing just that.
Provide Support For Debt And Student Loans
The statistics surrounding student loan debt are striking and if you're a young employee just out of school the amount of debt you find yourself in can be paralyzing. To combat this many forward-thinking businesses have started offering student loan repayment programs. These programs can be as simple or as complex as you want them to be. You could simply match your employees payments up to a certain point or you could help them develop a budget to assist with repayment.
Financial stress is a productivity killer and student loans are certainly one of the biggest sources of financial stress for younger employees, so by helping them pay down their student loan debt you're helping your business by boosting productivity. Everybody wins.
Offer Options For Retirement
Retirement planning is something that many employees grapple with daily. Planning for the future and putting away money on your own every month can be quite difficult, especially if you are already financially unstable, so employees really appreciate robust employer-sponsored retirement plans.
There are also benefits for you as the employer. By offering appealing retirement options you will increase your chances of attracting and retaining valuable employees. Employer contributions to retirement plans are generally tax-deductible as well so this one is really a no-brainer.
Educate Your Employees About Day-To-Day Finances
Helping your employees pay down their debt and save for the future are two huge contributions to their financial wellness but there are more pieces to this puzzle as well. In order to sustain their financial wellness employees need to understand how to deal with the financial challenges they face every day.
Budgeting for household expenses and saving for emergency situations are two things in particular that many households have difficulty with, and they can be a source of great distress.
As an employer you can offer your employees educational programs that will help them understand and internalize good financial habits. Lunch-and-learn programs are one way to do this without interfering with work. A lunch-and-learn is exactly what it sounds like: your employees come into the conference room during their lunch hour for a meal and a lesson in dealing with finances.
Simple educational programs like this are easy to implement and practically free so they provide a great return on investment.
At Summerlin-Roberts we can help you come up with creative solutions that will reduce the burden of financial stress on your employees. Please contact us today to learn more about implementing financial wellness programs in your workplace.
