Leah Rosen, Author at Best Money Moves

How to Make Employee Data Your Company’s Most Powerful Tool

by Leah Rosen | Feb 26, 2018 | Blog

Employee data is one of the most powerful tools at your company’s disposal – it reveals underutilized office talent, evaluates the efficacy of your hiring and training programs and highlights trends in overall employee productivity – all of which translates into the same thing: time, manpower and money saved for your business.

But if your HR department is merely collecting data without putting it to good use, you could be missing a great opportunity. In today’s data-driven economy, it’s vital that your company understands how to capitalize on its existing (and incoming) employee data. This will allow you to make smarter, more cost effective decisions about everything from hiring to building benefits programs targeting employee pain points.

Here’s how to make your employees’ data your company’s most powerful tool:

1. Properly utilizing employee data paints a comprehensive picture of your workforce and saves money
Employee data refers to all information collected by your company about its employees. It includes but is not limited to: basic identifying information (your employees’ age, race or gender) as well as in-depth information about workplace performance. If you provide employees with benefits from third-party providers, you might also have access to additional employee information regarding retirement planning and healthcare expenses or financial wellness. Your company most likely tracks:

Employees’ work status (part time, full time, contract, freelance, etc.)
Employee attendance records
Commuting distance and method
Amount and history of compensation
Length of employment
Overall performance

If you provide employees with benefits from third-party providers, you might also have access to additional employee information regarding retirement planning and healthcare expenses or financial wellness.

2. Employee data is most beneficial when used holistically
Looking at data from one employee may not provide significant insight. But when employee data is viewed holistically, it can identify patterns of growth and loss. Similarly, you can often determine which new hires are destined for leadership positions by tracking performance, raises and overall involvement in company culture. For a company with 500 or fewer employees, a bad hire who quits prematurely or doesn’t fit with company culture can cost around $11,000, and this cost only grows as the size of your workforce increases. By simply analyzing the employee data resources you already possess, you can predict patterns of attrition while minimizing costs.

3. If you’re using employee data well, your employees will be much happier
Keeping employees happy while at work keeps productivity high and turnover low. Happiness might be difficult to measure, but your level of employee engagement isn’t. Regular data collection in the form of employee surveys, exit interviews and performance reviews help HR assess what employees need to succeed at work. Offering a tailored benefits program, more experienced and engaged management, increased collaboration and out-of-work support systems can make priceless improvements in your employees’ happiness. Understand what your employees need and provide just that to create a more enjoyable and more productive office environment.

4. A lack of confidentiality is not an option
If you collect employee data, you need to have a plan in place to protect it. Ensure that personal employee information such as medical records or sensitive identifiers (health and financial wellness, social security numbers, addresses) are well guarded. Look for third-party benefits providers who can anonymize sensitive information. HR platforms that are able to harness anonymized data in the form of employee opinions and benefits usage (how many people are using medical, retirement, or financial services), are often the best at identifying patterns in employee behavior. Keeping sensitive information anonymous allows your employees to feel confident that their personal information won’t be known to their management teams and coworkers.

5. Have a plan in place to protect employee data before you need one.
Sixty-four percent of Americans have experienced a breach in their personal data, according to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center. Of those affected, 55 percent reported missing time from work to deal with the breach and the stress of losing sensitive information. With so much potential for data leaks, security hacks and cyberattacks, your HR and IT departments need to work together to protect valuable employee information. Encryption and firewalls are crucial first-steps, but it’s actually your own employees who are your first line of defense, yet often the weakest security link. Hosting workshops with IT professionals will bring your workforce up to speed. Losing data puts both the company and individual employee at risk.

In order to attract and retain the right talent, your company needs to take an active role in collecting and utilizing employee data – for the purpose of improving the overall work experience. In many cases, the needed data is already at HR’s fingertips – it’s just a question of using it in the right way.

Best Money Moves believes that an employees personal information should be respected, private and not shared with employers, marketers, or creditors. As a result, Best Money Moves keeps no sensitive employee data in its system. All information that is kept is encrypted, and unable to be accessed by HR or any other employee.

Your Employees Are Stressed About Healthcare Costs. What Can You Do?

by Leah Rosen | Feb 19, 2018 | Blog

Healthcare costs are the leading cause of financial stress for 17 percent of Americans, according to a 2017 Gallup poll gauging household stress. As uncertainty around the fate of Affordable Care Act mounts, this stress is only getting worse for your employees – and more expensive for your business.

Fifty two percent of male employees and 58 percent of female employees worry about becoming ill and not being able to work anymore, according to the 2017 Workplace Benefits Report. Financial stress leads to lower productivity and higher rates of absenteeism – this stress is even causes physical illness among some employees which only compounds the problem.

What can you do when healthcare costs leave your employees financially stressed? Try these 5 strategies:

1. Understand which healthcare-related stressors are affecting your employees
Your employees may be feeling massively stressed about their healthcare, regardless of their employee-sponsored benefits programs. The costs associated with monthly coverage, the difficulties of navigating confusing plan options and the weight of outstanding medical bills continue to stress out employees. Talk with your team as well as your HR department to determine exactly how healthcare may be contributing to your employees’ stress levels. This will allow you begin taking the appropriate steps to resolve these healthcare-related stressors.

2. Reassess the healthcare resources you already have
Once you understand the root cause of your employees’ stress, begin to review the healthcare resources you already have in place to help them. It may be time to diversify your approach. Reach out for external resources in order to analyze existing data.

Request assistance and information directly from your company’s insurance provider and its agents.
Reach out to company-linked financial advisors for relevant employee data
Access your company’s existing financial wellness programs in order to evaluate your employees’ stress levels, major financial concerns and overarching long term personal and professional goals.

If your company doesn’t currently retain all three of the above, it’s time you change that. These professional services assist you with educating yourself and your employees on how to maximize their healthcare benefits.

3. Provide your employees with the tools they need to educate themselves.
Your employees want to take control of their financial stress – many of them just don’t know where to start. Do your employees know the difference between an HMO, PPO, EPO, or POS? Between a copay and coinsurance? Do they understand how the size of their deductible will affect their monthly payment? Do you?

Improving employee literacy around healthcare is paramount to reducing employee stress and improving both their healthcare usage and your company’s savings. Look for tools through your insurance provider and if you don’t have one already, finding a financial wellness platform that will break down complex laws and regulations into readable, consumer-friendly language. By empowering your employees to take an active and supported role in researching their options, you’re helping them make educated and informed decisions. This translates into nearly $409.38 in savings for your company – per procedure, per employee.

4. Help your employees stay on top of recent changes to the healthcare system.
Healthcare stress is the highest it’s been since 2007, according to the same Gallup poll. This rising stress is tied in no small part to the uncertainty surrounding the future of the Affordable Care Act and what legislation might take its place. Whether your employees are receive insurance through you or the open market, stay aware of the changes happening in the world of healthcare – and make sure your employees do the same. Encourage employees to be proactive in gathering their own healthcare information. Task HR with maintaining effective outreach strategies including email updates, written literature in clear, readable language, face-to-face meetings and regular surveys. Host recurring employee workshops or lunch-and-learns to catch employees up on the latest changes to their plan options. Keeping employees up-to-date on the latest changes to their healthcare will cut down on employee stress, keep you connected with your workforce and keep your company’s overhead in check.

5. Make sure your employees are using the healthcare resources you already provide.
Employee benefits are useless if no one uses them. Employees who understand and utilize their benefits are more likely to be satisfied with their employer and recommend their organization as a good place to work, according to research from the Society for Human Resource Management. Yet, 80 percent of employees don’t even open the benefits materials given to them and of those who do, less than half don’t fully understand the benefits options available. In-person communication is the best way to cover confusing, and often changing, healthcare benefits. Make sure that resources about provided benefits – and about healthcare in general are easily accessible online.

Increase your employees’ access to their benefits resources. Create an environment that allows you to ensure that your employees are less stressed and more productive. That’s good for the health of your employees – and your business.

Employee Privacy in 2018: 5 Ways to Show Your Employees You Care About their Data

by Leah Rosen | Feb 12, 2018 | Blog

Protecting employee privacy is more important in 2018 than ever before. Show your employees you care about employee data with these five strategic steps.

It’s simply assumed that the confidential employee data workers share with their employers will remain exactly that: confidential. But if you’re collecting employee data in any capacity, that data is at risk of a security breach, potentially leading to identity theft.

Sixty-four percent of all Americans have experienced a breach in their personal data, according to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, and about half of Americans feel that employee privacy is less secure now than it has been in years past.

What’s worse, identity theft resulting from stolen employee data isn’t just stressful for your workforce, it’s expensive for your business. Fifty-five percent of identity theft victims reported missed time from work, 39 percent of these victims cited an inability to concentrate or focus while at work and an overwhelming 74 percent cited an increase in their overall level of stress, according to a recent survey of identity theft victims conducted by the Identity Theft Resource Center. In addition to absenteeism, stress at work leads to lost productivity among staff, a higher rate of employee turnover and even puts your employees at a greater risk for a number of significant stress-related health problems.

These days, it may seem as though a data breach is an inevitable risk for your company, but there are strategic steps you can take to protect against criminals accessing your sensitive data.

1. Be clear with your workforce about which employee data you need to access and which data your employees should keep private.
Generally, employers have the right to access and own anything their employees do, say or record on company property or while on company time. Bottom line: make your company’s privacy policy explicitly clear in comprehensive written agreements, HR workshops, employee handbooks or even pop-up warnings on any monitored devices. Ensure that any employee benefits platforms that collect sensitive information – including retirement or financial wellness – do the same. When employees have a clear understanding of what information their employers have access to and what the information is used for, they can better protect the information they divulge. It’s also important that employees understand why these privacy policies are necessary.

2. Use the best data security for the information you keep.
Data from an employee’s computer may help you monitor office productivity, while information about your employees’ average length of employment can help with turnover predictability. You can also use data about employee health or employee finances to help you choose the best benefits programs for your team. Access to this information brings the responsibility of implementing strong security protocols for the safeguarding of employee – and employer – privacy. Work with your data security team to establish best practices for handling internet usage and document storage or destruction of confidential employee data. Limit the time your employees spend on unsecured networks and opt for a private, secure network when dealing with company and employee data. Encrypting all messaging done on company time and property should be a default practice, but utilizing multi-factor authentication adds another layer of safety.

3. Know how your benefits providers handle your employee’s information.
Your company might be handling your employee’s data with care, but what about your third-party employee benefits providers who have access to sensitive employee information about retirement, healthcare and financial wellness? Work with benefits providers that meet your business’ security standards and reevaluate them regularly. Assess what your vendors have access to and limit it to what is absolutely necessary. Look for a retirement or financial wellness provider who can anonymize sensitive information about your employees’ finances. Put your company’s confidentiality requirements in writing. Be transparent with your expectations and only use vendors that comply with company security and privacy protocols and who are willing to submit to regular auditing.

4. Encourage your employees to take an interest in their own privacy.
Employee error is the number one reason for company-wide data breaches, according to research from the Association for Corporate Counsel. Ensuring that individual employees are practicing safe data management can ensure the safety of your company at large. Helping your workforce understand that employee privacy is valuable (and vulnerable) is your first line of defense. Host company-wide workshops with IT professionals to bring everyone on the same page.

5. Stop thinking of employee privacy as a one-time problem.
Criminals are constantly finding new ways to access sensitive employee data. Staying on top of employee privacy isn’t a one-time activity, it’s something that requires constant review and regular maintenance. As quickly as technology improves, criminals find new strategies for stealing employee data.

Safeguarding your workforce from identity theft is a constant battle, but it’s one your company can accomplish by staying vigilant about how you handle sensitive employee data. Stay informed on the ever-growing online privacy landscape in order to take the correct steps in securing the privacy your company’s and employees’ data.

Financial Wellness Is About More Than Just Retirement Planning Advice

by Leah Rosen | Feb 5, 2018 | Blog

Financial wellness has become table stakes for employers. But while many employers believe they’ve ticked the financial wellness box by providing employees with a 401(k) and retirement planning advice, that’s only a tiny piece of the help employees need.

That’s not to say comprehensive retirement planning isn’t vital to your employees’ overall financial wellness. It is. But if your employees are typical, they likely struggle with paying down debt, significant medical expenses or other financial hardships, which means they may not always have the option to set aside funds for retirement. Their financial stress goes beyond wondering whether they have, or they can, save enough for retirement.

What percentage of employees struggle with other causes of financial stress? Plenty. Forty-nine percent of employees say that if their workplace benefits included financial planning programs in addition to existing retirement savings assistance, their productivity in the workplace would significantly increase, according to the 2017 Retirement Confidence Survey conducted by the Employee Benefits Research Institute.

In addition to allowing auto-deductions for retirement savings, best practice financial wellness programs offer a wide range of preventative and curative options for your employees’ financial stress, with both long and short-term solutions for tackling tough financial issues such as debt, elder care, identity theft and more.

Other studies have concluded that financially secure employees are more motivated and focused at work. In order to help your team reach this level of financial wellness, consider providing a financial wellness program that offers a broad range of services, including:

An easy-to-use budgeting system
There’s nothing like seeing whether you’re cash-flow positive (or not). Seeing a clear view of your income and expenses along with an evaluation of your spending habits helps employees take a long hard look at the choices they’re making today and how they can make different choices going forward. Simple, yet effective tools that help employees identify the root causes of their financial stress can help eliminate financial insecurity and increase overall financial wellness.
Resources for managing debt
More than half of the workforce is financially stressed, according to a PwC study on financial wellness. And, among millennial employees that number rises to 64 percent. Debt is a big driver of financial insecurity and figuring how to pay down or manage debt can be incredibly tricky, especially if employees have multiple types of debt, with more than one creditor. When choosing a financial wellness platform, pick one that assists employees with calculating the total sum of what they owe while also tracking interest rates and repayment habits. Understanding what is owed helps employees recognize how much their existing debt will cost them in the long run and what their best options are for consolidation and repayment.
Help to set savings goals
You can’t reach a goal if you don’t set one. Financial wellness programs should allow employees to set individualized goals, based on personal circumstances regarding income, lifestyle, basic expenses, individual interests and family size. A qualified financial wellness program should offer assistance with assigning realistic time frames to accomplish each financial goal. The ability to visually track personalized savings timelines encourages commitment to the savings plan and ongoing smart spending habits.
Comprehensive, personalized answers to individual concerns or questions
Financial wellness isn’t just about creating a tight budget, or just about reducing debt. Financial wellness is integrated with all areas of life. Whether directly associated with financial planning or not, financial wellness deeply impacts an employee’s sense of overall well-being. All of life’s big decisions and events carry lasting effects on an employee’s bank account and overall financial wellness. Ensure that you provide a comprehensive financial wellness provider that can address – and resolve – your employee’s individual financial stressors.

Your employees are most likely experiencing financial stress. While retirement planning benefits are important, they don’t come close to capturing the full needs of your workforce. Provide your employees with access to a financial wellness platform that addresses their own financial stressors, not someone else’s.

Don’t forget: when your workforce is less financially-stressed and more financially-stable, it’s better for everyone.

Employee Student Loan Debt: 10 Things You Need To Know, Part Two

by Leah Rosen | Jan 30, 2018 | Blog

Employee student loan debt: 10 things you need to know, part two. The student loan debt crisis isn’t going away. This is what employers need to know about it.

This article is the second part of a series on 10 Things Employers Need to Know About Student Loan Debt. Catch up with Part One, here.

Americans owe a combined $1.4 trillion in student loan debt — and employers are starting to feel the burden of that enormous debt. The vast majority of employees are financially stressed, and they are less focused, less engaged and less productive than those without debt and are more likely to take one a second job or skip work due to a stress-related illness.

The student loan debt crisis isn’t going away, but there are ways you help your employees cope with their financial stress and get back to work. Here are 10 important things you need to know about student loan debt and the struggle your employees are facing in paying it back:

6. Student loan debt is not a millennials-only problem.

Younger employees aren’t the only ones dealing with the stress of student loan debt. In fact, 2.8 million Americans aged 60 and older carry outstanding student loans from their own college education. This number is up significantly from 2005, where only 700,000 Americans in this age group carried outstanding loans. Your older employees may be struggling to repay debt from continuing education or are possibly paying off debt from sending a child or grandchild to school.

7. Stress over student loan debt is keeping your employees from major life milestones.

Millennials graduating with student loans are more interested in paying off their loan debt than they are in homeownership, getting married or having children. A study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has found that having student loan debt decreases homeownership at every level of higher education. Indebted millennials also less likely to set aside money for retirement or build an emergency fund, creating further vulnerability, possible additional financial debt and significant stress into the future.

8. Stress over student loan debt is making your employees sick.

Over half of young workers with student loan debt worry about it constantly, according to American Student Assistance, a nonprofit specializing in helping consumers finance their higher education. Stressing about massive debt isn’t just an emotional strain, it can also cause significant physical ailments from occasional headaches or gastrointestinal problems, to more chronic conditions such as high blood pressure or depression and anxiety.

9. Most employees wish they had more information about repaying student loan debt, they just don’t know where to look.

Repayment options for student loan debt are often complicated and difficult for consumers to navigate on their own. With private loans, interest rates and monthly payments can change with little to no warning. Certain options, like consolidation or forgiveness, often requires knowledge of how to make negotiations with whoever holds the loan. Don’t let your employees feel overwhelmed by their debt – employers hold a unique ability to help their employees manage their student loan debt and help build their financial literacy.

10. Most employees want their employers to provide them with resources on student loan debt.

Employees already rely on their Human Resources departments for information on workplace safety, benefits and managing retirement plans. Increasingly, they are looking to their employer and HR team to provide debt counseling, financial tools and management options and overall financial wellness. By offering debt counseling and financial literacy services, you show your employees that you understand the financial challenges they face paying back student debt and are invested in their wellbeing. Your employees will not only feel happier to work for an employer who cares about their wellness; as their financial wellbeing grows and their student loan debt decreases, your employees will be healthier, more present, more productive, and ready stick with your company for the long term.

Financial literacy and financial planning are key to reducing financial stress, student loan debt and creating financial wellness. The first step, however, is knowing how to get there. For your employees, student loan debt affects their ability to plan for the future and build productive and meaningful relationships. For employers, it means being able to attract and hold on to talented employees. Consider who in your workforce might be affected by significant student loan debt. The cost of a higher education shouldn’t cost your company a good work force and it shouldn’t hold your employees back from planning their future.

To get the complete picture about student loan debt and your employees, be sure to read Part One of this article here.