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HR and Omicron: Financial Wellness Is Key to Employee Wellbeing

HR and Omicron: Financial Wellness Is Key to Employee Wellbeing

by | Jan 26, 2022 | Blog

HR and Omicron: Financial wellness is key to employee wellbeing. The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is causing major stress for your employees. Offering financial wellness benefits could provide needed relief. 

The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is leading to more shutdowns, changes to return-to-office plans and greater all around stress for your employees.

Research from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) indicates nearly a quarter of organizations are  fairly or very concerned about Omicron. The same percentage of workers expressed concern about the variant causing a reduction in their hours.

How can you help employees deal with mounting financial stress as Omicron extends the pandemic? One way is to lean on financial wellness tools and programs, like Best Money Moves.

Employee financial stress is on the rise as the pandemic drags on.

The potential for a loss of work and an overall slowing of the economic recovery from the pandemic may be putting a financial strain on your workers, especially because the number of people struggling to pay their bills was already increasing before Omicron began spreading in the U.S. 

The U.S. Census’ Household Pulse Survey found that about 18% of people indicated more than one financial difficulty in September and October 2021, a month prior to the first detected case of Omicron.

Many people have been struggling to catch up on unpaid bills and mortgage payments as government interventions, like stimulus checks and enhanced unemployment insurance, went away. Some also began going back to the doctor’s and have had to deal with increased medical bills in recent months, while others faced difficulties with childcare costs as their offices returned to work. 

Providing budgeting tools, credit check-ins and resources on debt management can reduce stress and, in turn, improve productivity at work.

Another area financial wellness programs can help with is emergency savings preparedness. In a 2021 survey from SSRS Omnibus, 25% of respondents indicated having no emergency savings at all, an increase from 21% the year prior. An additional 26% said they have some emergency savings, but not enough to cover their expenses for three months. Resources that show employees how to create robust savings can make it easier to survive crises — like the new variant — with less financial strain

Employee financial wellness is more important now than ever before.

Offering financial wellness benefits to employees has also become more common during the pandemic. Another recent SHRM survey found that 26% of HR professionals said their organization added benefits or expanded existing benefits to help employees manage their financial stress since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizations that already offered the benefits said they had been used more since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly financial planning and coaching.

Financial wellness programs are desired by most employees — 87% want help when it comes to personal finance, PwC found — and they are proven to work. Less stress improves overall health, lowers healthcare costs and reduces the risk of employee burnout and resignation. 

Plus, they can improve the productivity of your workforce: 68% of workers in a Prudential survey said their financial wellness benefits allowed them to be more focused at work. Further, 8 in 10 said they were more likely to stay with an employer that demonstrated a commitment to helping them strengthen their financial resiliency.

Best Money Moves can help.

Best Money Moves uses artificial intelligence to power a mobile-first platform that measures employee financial stress, then dials it down with a unique content-mapping system that helps solve your employees’ pain points. The triggers and alerts system, as well as budgeting tools, personal finance resources and more, help guide employees to make smarter financial decisions and reduce their overall stress. 

To learn more about Best Money Moves Financial Wellness Platform, let’s schedule a call. Contact us and we’ll reach out to you soon.

Improve Employee Retention in 2022: Utilize Financial Wellness Benefits

Improve Employee Retention in 2022: Utilize Financial Wellness Benefits

by | Jan 11, 2022 | Blog

Improve employee retention in 2022: Utilize financial wellness benefits. Financial stress is an increasing contributor to high employee turnover and now, more than ever, your team needs relief.

Last year, a record 38 million Americans left their jobs to look for new opportunities. As a result, employers in 2022 are dealing with low retention and high turnover, leading to a loss of top talent, increased operating costs and an overall unstable work environment. 

Research shows that stress is a main reason people leave their current jobs. So, helping your employees tackle their stress can keep your retention up — and battling financial stress specifically is key. 

Improve Employee Retention by Reducing Employee Financial Stress

In the American Psychological Association’s 2020 Stress in America report, 63% of adults said their finances were a significant source of stress, nearly a 20% increase from the previous year. 

The pandemic has not helped matters, as many are still grappling with the economic effects of the health crisis, and Americans remain deeply in debt, with household debt reaching a record $15.24 trillion in the third quarter of 2021. 

The 2021 Employee Financial Wellness survey conducted by PwC, found that 63% of surveyed employees felt that their financial stress had increased due to the pandemic. And 72% of those employees indicated that they would be attracted to a new employer who cared more about financial well-being than their current place of work. 

Incorporating financial wellness programs like Best Money Moves in your benefits package can give your employees the tools they need to lower their financial stress and become happier at work. Data from prudential found that users for financial wellness programs report better mental health, lower stress and better physical health than non-users.

Plus, financial wellness programs have the added benefit of increasing productivity. A 2020 Prudential report found that 6 in 10 U.S. employees said they were more committed and more productive when employers demonstrated a commitment to their financial wellness.

Keep Your Team Where they Belong with Best Money Moves

The strain of the pandemic makes financial wellness benefits more essential, and companies that already offer them have seen an increase in usage over the past year and a half. In a September report from SHRM, 22% of the surveyed HR professionals said their financial coaching benefits had been used more since the start of the pandemic. 

Best Money Moves can help your employees address their financial stress and improve your retention in the new year. The program uses artificial intelligence to power a mobile-first platform that measures employee financial stress, then dials it down with a unique content-mapping system that helps solve your employees’ pain points. Our triggers and alerts system, as well as budgeting tools, personal finance resources and more, help guide employees to make smarter financial decisions and reduce their overall stress.

To learn more about Best Money Moves Financial Wellness Platform, let’s schedule a call. Contact us and we’ll reach out to you soon.

Employee Holiday Hangover? Offer These Financial Wellness Solutions

Employee Holiday Hangover? Offer These Financial Wellness Solutions

by | Jan 5, 2022 | Blog

Employee holiday hangover? Offer these financial wellness solutions. Holiday spending can cause headaches for your workforce, even after the season has ended. Financial wellness programs could be the solution your team needs.

Americans had a record year of holiday spending. The National Retail Federation estimated  shoppers spent between $834.4 billion to $859 billion. 

The bad news is that your employees may be feeling the effects of overspending. Research shows that financial stress tends to make its way into the workplace, reducing productivity, causing burnout and negatively impacting employee health.

If you’re finding that your workforce is struggling after the holiday season, you may try incorporating financial wellness in your benefits packages.

Financial Wellness: The Cure for Your Employee Holiday Spending Hangover

A report from PwC found that 87% of employees want help when it comes to personal finance, and programs like Best Money Moves have proven to be the solution. Financial wellness programs can improve overall health and well-being, leading to lower stress, lower healthcare costs and a lower risk of employee burnout and resignation. 

Best Money Moves uses artificial intelligence to power a mobile-first platform that measures employee financial stress, then dials it down with a unique content-mapping system. The program addresses your employees’ pain points with a variety of tools, from budgeting help to financial calculators and wide-ranging resources on topics like debt reduction and savings plans. 

These are only a few of the many features Best Money Moves has to offer: 

An intuitive budgeting tool to get employee spending back on track.

When money is tight following a busy holiday season, budgeting is often the perfect antidote. Best Money Moves’ budget tool is easy to understand and takes into account each user’s unique spending and saving needs, helping people learn how to manage every dollar more effectively. This simple step can reduce financial stress and improve the health and happiness of your workforce.

Financial calculators for your employees’ unique needs.

Best Money Moves’ financial calculators can also help employees with their financial goals. For example, the emergency savings calculator will determine how a user can best build, or re-build, a robust safety net for themselves or their family. This may be particularly useful after an expensive holiday season, as many people find themselves spending beyond their budget or needing to dip into savings accounts. A holiday survey from American Express found that 86% of millennials — the largest generation in the workforce — spent more money during the holidays than they planned to in 2020. Over one fifth of those who overspent went over budget by about $500 or more.

A library of 800+ resources on topics across the financial spectrum.

The resources on Best Money Moves are extensive and broken down by topic, including general money management, paying bills, healthcare costs, overall debt and more. The various articles can help employees learn more and take control of their finances, in turn helping your workplace become a more productive and happier environment. For example, according to LendingTree, consumers racked up more debt than during the 2020 holiday season, with the average borrower taking on $1,249. Resources on debt, especially credit card debt, are applicable to the post-holiday season, when many Americans have residual debt from increased spending.

To learn more about Best Money Moves Financial Wellness Platform, let’s schedule a call. Contact us and we’ll reach out to you soon.

5 Must Have Employee Benefits and Perks for 2022

5 Must Have Employee Benefits and Perks for 2022

by | Nov 30, 2021 | Blog

5 must have employee benefits and perks for 2022. A new year means new opportunities to improve your benefits packages and offer more support to your team. Here are our top 5 picks for 2022.

2022 is right around the corner, and with it comes a new opportunity to update your benefits offerings to better serve your employees. 

Here are five benefits trends we’ve identified as must-haves for 2022:

1. Financial wellness programs.

Finances consistently rank as a top stressor for employees, but many employers remain unaware of the impacts of long-term financial stress. The reality is, prolonged financial stress can result in anxiety, depression and burnout for employees and can even contribute to higher turnover and decreased productivity. In a recent MetLife survey, 27 percent of employees said they are less productive at work because of financial worries, an increase from 23 percent just six months prior. 

Financial wellness programs, like Best Money Moves, can help employees regain control of their finances. Best Money Moves has tools and features that help employees measure their financial stress, budget for monthly expenses, pay down debt and plan for emergencies. Employees can talk to trained professional financial counselors and educate themselves about everything from investing to co-signing loans to buying their first homes with access to a library of over 700 articles, videos and calculators.

2. Accessible paid leave.

In 2021, the White House introduced the American Families Plan, which includes a comprehensive parental, medical and family leave program. Regardless of whether the plan is passed, however, it indicates a real shift in how Americans are thinking about leave — 75 percent of voters said they would support a national paid family and medical leave policy that covers all workers.

While many employers are catching up to this trend, there’s still a real discrepancy in how many workers want the benefit and how many actually have access to it. According to the same MetLife survey, 80 percent of employees were interested in paid leave, but only 57 percent of their employers offered any kind of leave, paid or otherwise. 

3. Remote work flexibility.

The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly changed the way we work, with many offices adapting to a hybrid strategy, a balance between working in person and working from home. For some, though, the option to work from home has become essential for various reasons, with nearly half of the employees in a recent PWC report responding that they would want to work remotely three days a week or more. 

And the research shows that offering more flexibility doesn’t equate to a loss in productivity — a survey tracking more than 30,000 workers found that 6 in 10 reported being more productive working from home than they expected.

4. Mental health support.

Feelings of burnout and depression are on the rise, and employees are looking to their employers to help. According to MetLife, 37 percent of employees polled felt stressed while working more than half the time. Another 34 percent felt burned out while working more than half the time and 22 percent felt depressed while working more than half the time — all major increases from the previous year. 

Burnout can lead to higher employee turnover, low productivity and increased absenteeism at work. Consider adding accessible mental health benefits to your health insurance plan and strive for an office culture that rewards employees who ask for help. These strategies can help combat this upward trend and help your workers both feel better and work better.

5. Help with student loan repayment.

Millennials, who make up the largest chunk of the current workforce, have more student loan debt than any other generation. As such, adding student loan repayment to your benefits packages can help you attract and retain employees. 

Plus, there’s more of an incentive than ever to consider this benefit in 2022: last year, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, allowing employers to make tax-free contributions of up to $5,250 a year to their employees’ student debt, without the payments being included in the employees’ taxable income. This was originally included in the pandemic-related CARES Act but has been granted an extension through the end of 2025 with many hoping the change will become permanent. 

If you want to learn more about how Best Money Moves can bring financial wellness to your company, download our whitepapers.

Top 10 Workplace Etiquette Rules for Your Hybrid Team

Top 10 Workplace Etiquette Rules for Your Hybrid Team

by | Nov 17, 2021 | Blog

Top 10 workplace etiquette rules for your hybrid team. Adjusting to a hybrid office doesn’t happen overnight. Use these 10 tips for workplace etiquette for your hybrid team. 

Hybrid work models have become the new normal for thousands of American workers. According to XpertHR’s 2021 Flexible Work Policies and Practices Survey, out of the 439 surveyed participants, 72 percent pivoted to hybrid work following the pandemic. 

How can you keep coworkers on the same page when you’re not even in the same room? Here are 10 top dos and don’ts of workplace etiquette and communication with your hybrid team.

1. Keep your distance.

Social distancing remains a core tenet of COVID best practices. Even when vaccinated, many people are still uncomfortable being in close quarters with others. Err on the side of caution and keep your distance from your coworkers. That may mean leaving space between seating in communal areas or opting for an elbow bump in the place of a usual handshake.

2. Look for new ways to connect with your coworkers.

When coworkers are in the office, casual socializing goes a long way to building community and boosting morale. But those opportunities are harder to come by when team members aren’t spending physical time together. Plan the occasional video call for your team with the sole purpose of catching up. A virtual happy hour or other remote-accessible team building event can go a long way to reestablishing your office culture. 

3. Look the part, even from your living room.

Quarantine may have made workplace attire more casual, but it’s still important to try to look the part for work — even if that means forgoing sweatpants when working from home. Data suggests that getting dressed at your home office can make you more productive and helps create a clear separation between work and personal time.

4. Stay home when you’re sick.

In the pre-pandemic days, it wasn’t so unusual to head to work with a cold or other minor illness. Not anymore — if you’re feeling down, it’s best to stay home and take the opportunity to rest and recover. Depending on your workplace, it may also be standard to take a COVID-19 test and not return to the office until it comes back negative.

5. Don’t take advantage of working from home.

When you’re working from home, make sure you set aside the proper time to sit at your desk and actually get your work done. It can be easy to get distracted by what’s going on around you — the dirty laundry piling up, the allure of the coffee shop down the street — but it’s still important to complete daily duties with the same quality of work you would show in the office.

6. But also remember to log off at the end of your day.

That said, working from home can make it easy to become glued to your work all hours of the day. This sets unhealthy and unrealistic expectations for the rest of your team, and especially for anyone you manage. Remind yourself to log off when you’ve put in your hours, even if you think you could get more done. Prioritize rest to avoid the long-term burnout so common during the pandemic. 

7. Don’t forget the mute button.

The importance of the mute button while on video or phone conferences cannot be overstated. Muting yourself when you’re not speaking limits distractions, helps move meetings along and ensures that your coworkers don’t get caught in an echo or feedback loop.   

8. Keep conversation professional.

This one depends a bit on your office’s culture, but it’s always a good rule of thumb to avoid any potentially controversial topics while at work. If you are returning to the office after a long time away, it can also be easy to get sucked into workplace gossip as a way to connect with coworkers, but avoid the urge. Instead, try to think of more neutral conversation starters, such as weekend plans or your favorite binge-worthy TV show.

9. Pay attention to email etiquette.

Without the ability to simply walk over to a colleagues’ desk to ask a question, emails have become more frequent, meaning that email etiquette is even more important. Make sure to use professional language — all caps, abnormal fonts and frequent usage of bold/italics are usually no-nos. Also, be thoughtful about replying all, as more than 60 percent of employees consider it poor workplace etiquette to hit reply-all to emails. Sometimes it may be warranted, such as when providing a team-wide update, but if done unnecessarily it can clog coworkers’ inboxes and lead to frustration.

10. Be understanding of everyone’s unique situation and adjust as you learn.

Some of your colleagues may be going into the office five days a week, others only two and others maybe not at all. Everyone has their own reasons for the work environment they choose, and it’s important to be understanding of that, especially given the hardships many have faced since the pandemic began.  

If you want to learn more about how Best Money Moves can bring financial wellness to your company, download our whitepapers.