Getting financial wellness right for your employees

Recent events have changed the way in which many people look at their careers. For starters, 63% of employees¹ in a recent survey said their financial stress has increased. At the same time, 41% of employees² plan to leave their job within the next year—be it for work-life balance, more money or better workplace benefits.

Employers are expected to offer increasingly robust employee benefits to stay competitive in the race for talent.

As jobseekers pay more attention to employee benefits, having a robust set of offerings—including financial wellness tools—provides an advantage. Here’s why financial wellness tools are in demand and can help you land top talent in a tight market.

Why financial wellness benefits are essential

Employees want more help managing their daily lives and sources of stress. Employers that are part of the solution play an essential role in their staff’s well-being. 

With money concerns being front and center for many Americans, implementing a financial wellness education program could be a great way to help employees. Employees may feel financial stress from medical bills, student loan payments or general life expenses. Financial wellness programs can help them feel confident, and employers who offer these educational programs can build trust with their workforce.

Considerations for a financial wellness program

Financial wellness benefits, just like other workplace benefits, aren’t one-size-fits-all. The right program is one tailored to your employees’ varied needs. This looks different for each generation within your workforce, as well as other distinct life experiences such as growing their family or gearing up for retirement. 

• Data availability: Employers could look at key predictive indicators of top employee financial concerns. This could include reviewing data about retirement plan contributions and withdrawals, or even distributing surveys to gain a sense of your employees’ financial wellness needs before selecting an appropriate program.
• Personalization: Since every employee has different financial circumstances, their needs vary too. A program that provides customization can help you get the most out of an investment in employee benefits. This can be as simple as an email with targeted messages to more complex, such as taking an interactive self-assessment to receive a tailored action plan.
• Employee engagement: A program is only effective if employees know it exists and use it. Providers should offer you plenty of support to boost employee engagement, so you and your staff get as much out of your program as possible.
• Analytics: One of the best ways to know if your employees are benefitting from the program is through data. Similarly to how data helped you assess the right program, data can help you understand the impact it is having on your employees’ financial wellness. You should be able to learn how your employees are interacting with the program and if their behaviors have changed. Your provider should be able to help you with this through proactive reporting and reviews.
• Inclusivity: Employers should review their programs to assess whether it’s inclusive for all demographics and life stages to provide fair access to resources. Each segment within your employee population needs something different, and your program should have a wide variety of education and resources to meet every financial concern.

Combine financial wellness and retirement services 

Employees may be far more likely to participate in financial planning and wellness plans if they’re incorporated into an existing company platform. For example, a team member who logs into their retirement savings account will be more likely to participate in its accompanying financial wellness program. The more you can keep benefits streamlined, the fewer roadblocks people may experience.

Your retirement plan provider should also include financial wellness options that you can incorporate into your company’s plan. This makes it easier for employees to participate, which helps you maximize value as well. AIG Retirement Services packages its plans to include financial wellness tools, focusing on how users can improve their financial wellness and reduce money-related anxieties.

Financial wellness benefits help everyone

Financial wellness programs benefit both your organization as well as the people who keep it running.

With organizations in an ever-increasingly competitive space for talent, benefits often play a bigger role in helping candidates decide where to work. AIG Retirement Services is uniquely positioned to help today’s employers make the most of their benefits package, including our comprehensive financial wellness offering, FutureFIT®. We can help employees find financial support, map out retirement goals and make money decisions for current and future needs. 

To learn more about how AIG Retirement Services’ financial wellness approach can help, check out our homepage or reach out to our team to get started.