In this week’s Best Money Moves roundup, we take a look at news stories and new research studies that may impact employee benefits and HR issues. We hope you find this news roundup helpful, and we’d love your feedback.

With everything we now know about employee financial wellness, financial stress and financial education, there’s no wonder that employees and employers alike are witnessing significant growth of financial wellness programs in the workplace.  A new study revealed that 91% of employers plan to develop or expand employee financial wellness programs beyond retirement planning and in the next 5 years, more than half of all employers will be offering  employee financial wellness benefits.

And these financial wellness benefits aren’t simply helping to retain your existing employees, they can also provide your company with a leg-up in the hiring market. A whopping 84 percent of employees say financial wellness programs are the workplace benefit they need the most.

While saving for retirement grows, employees’ confidence in those funds is on the decline. A survey of 5,000 employees shows that more than half of respondents are confident that they’ll be able to live comfortably 15 years into retirement – but that’s down nearly 30 percent from 3 years ago. What’s changed – and how can you fix it?

Are you on top of your employee retirement contributions? The Department of Labor is auditing employee contributions to retirement plans and has recovered $1.1 billion in missing contributions from 2017’s fiscal year alone. Companies that aren’t contributing according to the law are being heavily fined – and the amount of those fines are increasing.

Your employees are unique assets – not resources. Lea Peersman, Talent Community Manager at SYPartners considers herself a “people investor” and believes that you should, too. Through the lens of employees as assets – hiring, job descriptions and teaming can be completely reinvented. According to Peersman, these are the top five things to keep in mind when building an innovative team.

Is your ‘smart office’ just a bit too smart? Pretty soon, you won’t be able to find office equipment that doesn’t require being online. How will that affect your system’s costs – and security? From developing and updating your IoT (internet of things) strategy to training and educating your employees, all devices that are internet connected must have security in place and be monitored at all times.

What is your state’s business credit score? This score indicates ease of funding, hiring practices and available credit. This data can be incredibly relevant for small businesses when making important operational decisions – and if you have the ability to do so, when choosing where to launch from or move to.

How have organizations been investing in talent management? Artificial Intelligence and Wellness benefits top the list. Here is a roundup within the Roundup of recent Human Resources growth and evolution. HRtech, Fintech and Martech aren’t the wave of the future. They have become today’s standard.

Can employee genetics testing lower healthcare costs?  In theory, employees who learn they may be at higher risk for certain medical conditions would take extra preventative measures in care, thus, lowering long term healthcare costs. However, some medical professionals feel that these screenings may not be all that useful. Either way, it’s becoming an incredibly popular, novel benefit.

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