More companies are adding financial wellbeing programs to boost employee retention and satisfaction, found new research from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI).
According to the Financial Wellbeing Employer survey, companies are gauging financial wellness initiatives’ success by measuring their workers’ happiness. The top factor in evaluating the success of a program was “improved overall worker satisfaction,” followed by “worker satisfaction with financial wellness initiatives” and “improved employee retention.”
“It is not surprising that in the current tight labor market employers are focusing on expanding and improving financial wellbeing programs. However, employers do want to see that these programs are paying off in terms of increased worker satisfaction and retention considering the cost of these programs. This is why measuring the success of these programs is of increasing importance to employers as well,” said Craig Copeland, director, Wealth Benefits Research, EBRI.
The survey also found that while financial wellness programs are expanding, costs associated with them are driving challenges in offering the programs. As a result, employers are navigating ways to measure their impact through employee satisfaction, retention, and productivity. Eighty-five percent of companies surveyed have developed a cost/benefit analysis based on employee satisfaction, employee attraction/retention, employee productivity, or medical/mental health claims to evaluate their financial wellness offerings.
Productivity was tied with employee attraction and retention as a leading cost benefit approach, showing that employers are also looking at the benefits of these programs relative to their costs outside of just employee satisfaction metrics.
When it came to the leading issues on financial wellness, employers reported retirement preparedness, healthcare costs, financial-related stress, and high cost of living as the highest areas of concern. Investments and retirement planning were the top-cited primary focus areas, with basic financing, education, and consulting programs following as other main concerns. Costs to both the employer and the employee was cited as the top challenge for implementing these programs.
Several benefits that were most offered also ranked highest among those that companies plan to add, such as tuition reimbursement and/or assistance and basic money management tools. Other offerings that employers plan to add include education on the impact of inflation with retirement planning, seminars or webinars, child/elder caregiving benefits, and personalized credit and debt counseling, coaching, or planning. Most companies also offered benefits for mental health/wellbeing, caregiving, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I).
The survey was collected through a 15-minute online survey of 250 fulltime benefits decision makers conducted in June and July 2022.
SEE ALSO:
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• 5 Reasons for a Frustrating Financial Wellness ‘Gap’: Wealth@wor(k) 2022
• Financial Stress a Reliable Predictor of Financial Wellness
Amanda Umpierrez is the Managing Editor of 401(k) Specialist magazine. She is a financial services reporter with over six years of experience and a passion for telling stories and reporting news. Amanda received her degree in journalism and government and politics at St. John’s University. She is originally from Queens, New York, but now resides in Denver, Colorado with her partner. In her free time, Amanda enjoys running, cooking, and watching the latest drama show.
