2019 - Page 6 of 11 - Best Money Moves

How Does Financial Wellness Affect Health?

by LizStevens | Jul 10, 2019 | Blog

How does financial wellness affect health? Recent research looks at the link between financial stress, health and how financial wellness programs can help.

Several recent studies ask how finances affect the health of employees and some researchers took it a step further to examine how financial wellness programs correlate with better health outcomes.

According to a new survey by Bankrate, money worries are the biggest cause of sleep loss and it’s getting worse. Seventy-eight percent of U.S. adults are losing sleep worrying about everyday expenses, saving for retirement and healthcare costs.

“Sleep greatly impacts mental health and physical health, and mental health also impacts sleep,” Dr. Gail Saltz, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the New York Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medical College, “Not getting enough sleep can impact mood, increase depression and increase anxiety.”

Financial Stress Affects the Health of Employees

Money causes the most stress in the lives of almost 60 percent of employees, according to a report by PwC. It was the top choice for life stressor across all generations, well ahead of issues with jobs, relationships, and health. More than 30 percent of employees say their health has been impacted by their financial worries.

Merrill Edge looked at how Americans with significant investable assets feel about their finances for their recent report. The majority of these relatively financially secure Americans say managing their finances impacts their mental and physical health (59 percent and 56 percent, respectively). Roughly 40 percent of mass affluent Americans would give up all social media platforms forever or cut carbs, sugar and/or alcohol if they never have to manage their personal finances again.

Financial Wellness Programs for Better Health

When PwC asked respondents what employer benefit they don’t currently have but would like, one in four employees said they want a financial wellness program with an unbiased counselor. Financial wellness programs are in high demand but the one thing employers want to know is if they work and recent research suggests they do.

Close to 30 percent of employees without access to financial wellness benefits say they worry a lot about current and future finances, according to research by Prudential. Among those with access to financial wellness, worries about current and future finances drop to less than 20 percent. Nearly 60 percent of workers who use financial wellness programs consider their overall mental health “good,” and those numbers fall to 55 percent for those who don’t use financial wellness programs.

According to the Prudential report, “These findings add to the body of literature that suggests that financial and physical health are often intertwined, and that employers who help their employees on both fronts stand the best chance of achieving the benefits that wellness programs can offer: healthier, happier, more productive employees whose physical and emotional health may lead to lower rates of absenteeism, fewer delayed retirements, and reduced levels of employee turnover, healthcare costs and employee disability.”

More on Financial Wellness and Employee Health

5 Fast Financial Stress Statistics

How Can Financial Wellness Be Improved?

What Tops Financial Stress for Employees?

How to Support Mental Health at Work

Financial Wellbeing & Its Role in a Complete Employee Wellbeing Program

Building Office Culture with Diversity and Inclusion

by LizStevens | Jun 25, 2019 | Blog

Building office culture with diversity and inclusion. Employers are working to improve office culture and research by Deloitte can help them close the gap between values and practices.

A better office culture starts with diversity and inclusion but more than 60 percent of marginalized groups working for companies that focus on those values still feel pressured to “cover” their identities to fit in at work, according to research by Deloitte. Organizational expectations to “cover” lead these employees to perceive a lack of opportunities within the company, which results in their decreased commitment, negatively impacting job satisfaction and retention.

There are four common ways marginalized groups make efforts to conceal their identities in the workplace. Understanding how employees “cover” and how it impacts their relationship with the organizations they work for is essential for employers focused on improving office culture and bolstering diversity and inclusion efforts.

How Employees Cover at Work to Fit into Office Culture

Deloitte explores “covering” at work across the four axes defined by Kenji Yoshino in 2006:

Appearance-based covering involves altering one’s self-representation to blend into mainstream office culture. This can include changing one’s grooming, attire and mannerisms. A black respondent shared, “I went through a period two years ago where I had a bad reaction to the chemical straightener I used in my hair and had to stop. It was so uncomfortable wearing my natural hair to work that I resorted to wearing weaves, which were very costly and did more damage to my hair. However, I felt that the weave was more acceptable than wearing my natural hair. I also hated that when I wore my natural hair it always seems to be the subject of conversation as if that single feature defined who I am as a person.”
Affiliation-based covering happens when employees avoid behaviors commonly associated with their identity to negate stereotypes. A woman respondent shared, “I was coached to not mention family commitments (including daycare pickup, for which I leave half an hour early, but check in remotely at night) in conversations with executive management, because the individual frowns on flexible work arrangements.”
Advocacy-based covering concerns how much employees defend the group they identify with at work. An LGBTQIA+ respondent shared, “I didn’t feel I could protest when the person put in charge of diversity for our group was in fact an extremely vocal homophobe.”
Association-based covering occurs when employees avoid contact with other group members at work. A respondent with cancer shared, “I don’t associate with cancer groups, because I don’t want to draw attention to my medical status, disability, or flexible arrangements. People tend to look at me like I’m dying when they find out I have cancer, they avoid giving me longer term or higher-profile projects. Mostly I think they do this to be nice, because they assume I can’t handle it.”

How to Improve Office Culture with Diversity and Inclusion Efforts

Deloitte acknowledges in their report, “Some forms of covering are absolutely justifiable. To join a group is to surrender some degree of individual expression in the name of common expression,” and quotes a respondent who said their appearance-based covering actually increased their commitment to their workplace.

The issue is then identifying which covering demands are proper or improper, and Deloitte developed the “Uncovering Talent” model to help companies close the gap between values and practices, which involves:

Reflecting on current instances of covering.
Diagnosing the incidence, impact and drivers of covering by gathering qualitative and quantitative data.
Analyzing covering behaviors relative to stated corporate values.
Identifying leadership and cultural solutions.

It is possible for efforts to improve office culture, diversity and inclusion to succeed. Nearly 20 percent of respondents stated that they have “uncovered in a way that has led to success” both for them and for their organization.

More on Office Culture

2 Simple Strategies to Improve Office Culture

Top 10 Workplace Etiquette Rules for Communication

5 Must-Have Benefits for Millennial Employees

2 Top Tips for Increasing Employee Productivity

10 Easy Ways to Improve Your Office Culture

Hiring Trends to Watch in 2020

by LizStevens | Jun 17, 2019 | Blog

Hiring Trends to Watch in 2020. Recruitment strategies to stay competitive throughout the hiring process as unemployment hovers at a nearly 50 year low.

Finding the right balance between traditional and digital channels will be the key to successful recruitment in 2020.

“As organizations continuously look for ways to attract the best talent, knowing which techniques work best can give hiring pros an extra edge,” said Kevin Lyons-Tarr, CEO, 4imprint. “That’s why we went right to the source, asking HR professionals what recruitment techniques, interview questions and employee recruitment giveaways are helping them appeal to prospective employees.”

Popular Hiring Trends That Work

Online job boards, like Indeed and CareerBuilder, are the most popular recruitment method used by HR professionals, according to research by 4imprint. Other popular online recruitment methods include recruiting platforms like LinkedIn and Recruiter and organic social media posts on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Employee referral programs are the most popular offline recruitment method for employers, and nearly 40 percent of HR professionals agreed that it was the most successful recruitment method. Job fairs, in-person networking events, recruiting agencies and print publications were other popular offline recruitment methods.

Hiring Trends: How Are Interviews Conducted?

Most organizations still conduct interviews one-on-one. Almost 80 percent conduct one-on-one interviews in person and more than 60 percent complete them over the phone. In-person group interviews are common practice for more than half of employers and only 20 percent conduct group interviews by phone. With remote work on the rise, phone and video interviews will occur more frequently.

Who is Involved in the Hiring Process?

Human resources representatives are most likely to be involved in the interview process. More than half of HR professionals include the manager for the role or the department leader in the interview process. Nearly 40 percent include co-workers and just 15 percent involve direct reports in the interview process.

Companies use personality assessments, cultural assessments and homework assignments to evaluate how potential hires will fit within the organization. Cultural fit is considered the most important attribute, followed by qualifications, work experience, willingness to work and lastly, education.

More than 60 percent of employers evaluate a candidate’s education, but less than 10 percent value it. Employers are more flexible with educational requirements in light of the financial challenges associated with earning a college degree.

More on Hiring Trends

Top 10 Employee Benefits for 2020

Choosing the Most Important Benefits to Employees in 2020

5 Must-Have Benefits for Millennial Employees

How Does Financial Wellness Affect Health?

5 Fast Financial Stress Statistics

What Is Financial Literacy and Why Is It Important?

4 Big Employee Benefit Trends for Family Planning

How Can Financial Wellness Be Improved?

Financial Wellbeing & Its Role in a Complete Employee Wellbeing Program

by DHS Group | Jun 6, 2019 | Blog

Financial wellbeing and its role in a complete employee wellbeing program. In this guest post, DHS Group‘s VP of Employer Solutions, Rich Siegenthaler, recommends four ways your employee wellness program can keep up with changes in the benefits industry. The opinions expressed in this blog belong to the author and DHS Group.

It’s getting more and more common to see employers focusing on strategies to assist their employee population in managing their complete wellbeing rather than one single area. They’re accomplishing this by adding programs that benefit the financial wellbeing and mental health of employees. This is a step in the right direction that’s quickly leading to healthier employees in every sense of the word.

Maybe you’re already putting some of these strategies to work or maybe you’re hoping to in the near future. Wherever you are in the journey, DHS Group’s VP of Employer Solutions and experienced employee wellbeing professional, Rich Siegenthaler, has a few recommendations to get you started and make sure you’re on the right path to complete employee wellbeing.

Expand Beyond Traditional Wellness Programs

Traditional wellness programs put surface programs at the forefront – think: step challenges – while these are important, the industry is changing and what employees are looking for is changing.

Integrate Mental Health Programs

For years, mental health has been something that both employees and employers have strayed away from discussing with each other. However, as mental health conditions are spreading rapidly – with issues like anxiety, depression and worry being dealt with by people everywhere – employers can’t afford to not offer these types of programs as part of their wellbeing plans.

Provide Financial Wellness Programming

The number one stressors in American households today are financial. While employees do need to understand how to invest their resources in traditional ways (like 401Ks), the new trend is to provide tools for employees to manage their day-to-day and month-to-month budgets.

Many times, employees say they understand they need to put more into their 401K, but know that if they do, they will not be able to pay their bills. Financial wellness programming helps people look at their earnings, bills and expenses, and learn how to manage them more effectively. It is a day-to-day management strategy that helps employees lead a more comfortable and accountable lifestyle when it comes to their financial health.

Improve Communication

However you decide to start expanding your wellbeing program to a more complete package – communication is key. There will be growing pains, but in order to help lessen those, remember that your employees are people too. Open up the lines of communication to hear from your employees about what they’re looking for overall and what they are looking for in their wellbeing programs.

Before you do anything, the ultimate first step is to look at your workforce, your employee demographics and how your very own organization operates. Then, with these details in mind, alongside Rich’s recommendations above, you’ll be well on your way to a complete wellbeing program that benefits the employee AND the employer.

Learn more about bringing complete wellbeing to your employees with DHS Group’s HealthSpective Engage program here.

More on Employee Wellbeing and Wellness Programs:

From Employee Wellness to Wellbeing: Transforming Your Workforce

4 Big Employee Benefits Trends for Family Planning

How to Support Mental Health at Work

Employee Benefits Success is All About Communication

What’s Wrong With Wellness Program Incentives?

What Benefits Do Employees Want in 2019?

5 Fast Financial Stress Statistics

by LizStevens | Jun 3, 2019 | Blog

5 fast financial stress statistics. Americans opened up about debt, housing and spending habits in a survey from Freedom Debt Relief and the results underscore a desperate need for financial wellness.

More than 20 percent of Americans would rather go to the dentist or the DMV than talk about their finances, according to research by Freedom Debt Relief, which got people to open up about debt, housing and financial habits in their latest survey.

Nearly 80 percent of Americans said they have debt. More than 45 percent of them have debt over $10,000 and 5 percent of them are more than $250,000 in debt.

When asked about their financial habits, these are the five statistics that best highlight mounting financial stress for Americans:

5 Fast Financial Stress Statistics

41% don’t set aside any money for their household retirement plan.
25% have charged their credit card for groceries/food and not been able to pay it off right away.
33% said it would take more than 3 years to pay their credit card debt.
29% said if they needed $2,000 for an emergency, they would use a credit card.
20% of those with children in childcare said the cost is as expensive as, or more expensive than, their monthly rent or mortgage payment.

How Debt Impacts Personal and Professional Life

Most Americans carrying debt are suffering in silence. More than 40 percent of Americans said they find it difficult to talk about debt with friends and families, and as we mentioned earlier more than 20 percent would prefer a date with the dentist or the DMV over a discussion about debts and finances.

Americans bring their financial stress with them to work. Nearly 20 percent say the amount of their debt impacts their productivity. Research by PwC found more than 40 percent of employees who are distracted by financial stress spend 3 hours or more at work thinking about or dealing with issues related to their personal finances each week.

Financial wellness programs, like Best Money Moves, give employees an opportunity to privately learn how to better manage their debt, spending and saving. It empowers employees to resolve their financial stress, without having to talk about it.