5 Advantages of Digital Benefits

5 Advantages of Digital Benefits

5 advantages of digital benefits. Digital benefits options may be the next wave of HR. These are 5 major advantages of offering digital benefits in the workplace. 

The work landscape looks different today than it did just two years ago and HR teams everywhere are working hard to keep up. According to Mercer, 85% of organizations are changing their benefits due to the pandemic and 60% of companies are increasing their investment in employee wellbeing.

With remote and hybrid work as the new normal, digital benefits have become the hottest trend in HR. Here are 5 advantages that digital benefits can offer your team.

1. Digital benefits can increase retention and attract new hires.

Offering digital benefits can be attractive to many employees as going digital often means a more flexible schedule and a better work-life balance. According to Lorman, 83% of millennials say work-life balance is the most important factor when considering a potential job. An all-inclusive benefits program can also wind up saving employers on the back end. As reported by Employee Benefit News, on average, it costs 33% of an employee’s salary to replace them.

2. Accessible data makes information management easier.

There are many available pieces of information that can be useful for HR divisions. Utilizing a digital benefits system that aggregates all employee data in one place makes it easy for the HR department to make beneficial changes to the office and work environment. At the same time, the system can keep personal data personal and only provide the HR representative with the data they need.

3. Better benefits accessibility can mean improved employee mental health.

One way employers can play a role in reducing the stigma associated with mental health services is by providing readily available services in their comprehensive digital benefits package. The lack of readily available digital mental health benefits shows a disconnect between employer and employee. 

According to a survey from Bank of America, 60% of employees said that their mental health significantly impacts their wellbeing while only a third of employers communicate about mental and physical health more than twice a year.   Improved mental health for employees can also increase productivity and increase office morale. Nearly 86% of employees report increased work performance and lower rates of missing work after receiving treatment for depression according to a SHRM survey.

4. It’s important to keep your benefits offerings visible, even while working remote.

This can be hugely beneficial for employees to ensure often-marginalized groups have their voices heard. If an employee’s voice goes unheard, it can lead to lower motivation and productivity. According to Joblist, 38% of employees have gone above and beyond to increase their visibility since work went remote. Providing a digital benefits package is a great way for employers to return the favor. However, it’s important that employers toe the line between monitoring work on a digital space and invasions of privacy into employee’s data.

5. Digital benefits lead to increased employee satisfaction.

Digital benefits are a great way to signal to employees that their needs are being met. According to Willis Tower Watson, 78% of employees said they were more likely to stay with an employer because of their benefits program. However, to it’s vital for employers to ensure that their employees understand how to use their benefits effectively and to listen to what their employees want. One of the best ways to do that is by providing a comprehensive digital financial wellness program. According to a Bank of America survey, the demand for professional, personalized financial advice from employees has steadily increased since the pandemic.

 

Real world financial guidance. Digital tools. All in the palm of your hand.  That’s Best Money moves.

Best Money Moves is a financial wellness solution designed to help dial down employees’ most top-of-mind financial stresses. As a comprehensive financial wellbeing solution, Best Money Moves offers 1:1 money coaching, budgeting tools and other resources to improve employee financial wellbeing, regardless of one’s income level and background. Our AI platform, with a human-centered design, is easy to use and fit for employees of any age and financial background. 

Whether it be college planning or securing a mortgage, Best Money Moves can guide employees through the most difficult financial times and topics. Our dedicated resources, partner offerings and 700+ article library make Best Money Moves a leading benefit in bettering employee financial wellness.

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.

Closing the Gender Retirement Gap: How Financial Wellness Can Help

Closing the Gender Retirement Gap: How Financial Wellness Can Help

Closing the gender retirement gap: How financial wellness can help. Female employees still face workplace disparity when it comes to retirement planning. Here’s what employers can do to close the gender retirement gap. 

Despite progress toward gender equity in the workplace, women still face disparities in retirement preparedness. Men have about 40% more income than women during retirement, according to the OECD, and this trend isn’t limited to the U.S. In fact, nearly every retirement system in the world suffers from the gender retirement gap.

Find out how the gender retirement gap affects your employees, and how financial wellness and other strategies can help level the playing field.

What is the gender retirement gap?

The gender retirement gap refers to the difference in retirement preparedness between men and women — it largely stems from the gender wage gap. According to data from the Center for American Progress, white women earn only 79 cents for each $1 earned by white men. Race furthers this disparity, with Black and brown women earning only 60 cents.Preparing for retirement takes years of saving. So, lower wages earned for an entire career compound into significant differences in retirement preparedness.

How to fix the gender retirement gap:

Employers can help bridge the gender retirement gap; however, doing so requires dedication to employee financial wellness and equity. 

While there is no fix-all solution, here’s 3 ways to help join the gender retirement gap:

 1. Extend flexibility and family leave to parents of all genders

Women are more associated with time away from the office, especially when it comes to childrearing and the home. Under federal law, employees are only guaranteed 12 workweeks of unpaid family medical leave; however, the loss of income can be detrimental to household finances.

With little federal guidance, employees must depend on their employers’ leave policy.

Parental leave policies typically give women substantially more time off than men, and for most women, their leave is unpaid. Less than 25% of employees receive paid parental leave, according to BLS data, and they typically receive only a percentage of their original paycheck. 

When thinking about family leave policies, consider birthing and non-birthing parents and how each may need support. Some companies allow flexible or hybrid work hours, which allow working moms to gradually re-enter the workforce. Others offer family leave of at least six weeks to both, so it’s easier to balance and share home duties.

2. Address career differentials by gender to avoid wage gaps

Since women take on more part-time and unpaid work than men, overtime, this accumulates to women spending less time in the workforce than men. On average, women spend nine fewer years in the workforce, which can hurt women’s pay and promotional opportunities. Less money now means even less during retirement. 

Pension plans often require a minimum salary or hours worked for pension payouts. This lessens retirement security for low earners and part-time workers, who are disproportionately women. 

Take an honest, critical look at your company and see how you may overlook employees on leave during promotions and bonuses. This can help create equal opportunities for men and women to advance their careers and pay — which may mean reforming employee skills matrices to be more inclusive of those who take leave. Employees should never feel penalized or professionally stagnated for taking time off. 

3. Offer employee financial wellness resources and education

Women, on average, are less financially literate than men. When quizzed on personal finance, 21% of women exhibited a relatively low level of financial literacy, compared to 15% of men, according to the TIAA Institute. And when looking at specific financial topics, like investing, the financial literacy gap only widens. Gaps in financial knowledge, such as these, can enlarge the gender retirement gap.

Researchers also think the gap could be explained by women spending more income on the home (e.g., groceries, daycare and cleaning) than they do on retirement or themselves. 

Nonetheless, as a solution, experts at Mercer have advocated for financial wellness to help close the gender retirement gap. Through financial wellness programs, women can receive personalized money coaching and other tools to increase their overall financial preparedness. 

A major perk of financial wellness programs is that their personalization helps employees of all income brackets and ages. From fresh post-grads, to even those close to retirement, all can benefit from financial wellness resources and guidance — they are to help people achieve their financial goals, while dialing down financial stress. 

Need a financial wellness solution? Try Best Money Moves!

Best Money Moves can help your employees address their financial stress and become prepared for retirement, regardless of their stage in life or previous money habits. Best Money Moves offers personalized financial wellness resources and education, focused on solving your employees’ pain points. The program uses artificial intelligence and a human-centered design to measure employee financial stress and then dial it down with personalized solutions. Our budgeting tools, personal finance guidance and more helps employees make more informed 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

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.

Top 5 Financial Wellness Program Features for 2022

Top 5 Financial Wellness Program Features for 2022

Financial Wellness programs are the must-have benefit for 2022. Make sure your financial wellness plan includes these 5 top program features. 

Financial wellness is 2022’s must-have employee benefit. According to Corporate Insight’s Workplace Finance Monitor Report, 85% of employees without a financial wellness program want one. 

However, not all financial wellness programs are created equal. The most successful programs include features tailored to the employees that use them.

Here are 5 top program features for your 2022 financial wellness platform.

1. Look for financial wellness programs that utilize a holistic approach to money.

Each one of your employees has to navigate their financial health ⸺ that’s one of the top appeals of offering financial wellness benefits. However the money management needs of a veteran employee about to retire are going to look very different than those of a recent grad dealing with credit card debt.

So, financial wellness programs are most useful to employees if they can encompass all facets of financial health. From paying down immediate debt to reaching long-term goals, an all-encompassing program will grow with your employees and offer something for those at any stage. Best Money Moves offers solutions for users from any financial background. Whether it’s basic budgeting, complex debt repayment, funding an education or planning for the future, the platform offers something that all employees can use.

2. Give your employees professional, personalized advice.

While it’s important for financial wellness platforms to cover the financial spectrum, an effective program will also include specialty features that pertain to each employee’s unique situation. Offering specialized, professional advice can also help engage demographics otherwise less likely to use financial benefits. Female participants and those with lower household income are less likely to enroll in financial wellness programs and are more likely to reach out to a friend for financial advice. Best Money Moves takes in user data to highlight stress points and uses them to suggest resources. The platform helps employees connect to other, personalized services from our comprehensive list of verified partners.

3. Consider platforms with actionable resources.

The Workplace Monitor Report also found that, among employees who had access to financial wellness programs, financial goal tracking and budgeting resources were amongst the highest rated features. The Best Money Moves Budget tool is a detailed feature that allows users to input their income, expenses and savings to give a comprehensive breakdown of how to spend your money. Users enter information about how they currently allocate their budget and Best Money Moves helps highlight areas of success and concern. The platform also includes intuitive calculators and a savings and debt tracker that allow employees to monitor long-term financial progress. Best Money Moves also offers unique user Journeys that take employees step-by-step through large financial decisions such as buying a home or a car.

4. Engage your employees with easy to use platforms.

For your employees to get what they need out of a financial wellness program, those programs need to be easy-to-use. That’s why Best Money Moves focuses on providing financial education for employees of all experience levels. Users of any financial experience  can find what they need in a library of over 800 articles, videos and webinars. Even a 10-minute session on the site on desktop or mobile can get users started on their financial journey.

5. Find financial wellness programs that keep track of your team’s progress.

An integral part of effective financial wellness programs involve showing employees the progress they’ve made on their personal finance goals. Keeping these goals in mind allows employees to find long-term solutions to their problems, instead of quick fixes. Best Money Moves provides several features that help users track their financial journey over the course of months, or even years. Plus, Best Money Moves is designed to provide employers with anonymous feedback about which financial challenges their employees are struggling with most. In this way, employers can offer other benefits and solutions targeted to their team’s unique pain points.

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.

Financial Wellness: The Must-Have Employee Benefit in 2022

Financial Wellness: The Must-Have Employee Benefit in 2022

Financial Wellness: The must-have employee benefit in 2022. If you aren’t incorporating financial wellness into your 2022 benefits strategy, your employees are missing out.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a long-lasting impact on your employees’ financial health. According to a study by Morgan Stanley and SHRM more than one in four employees report financial trouble related to the pandemic. In the same study, 31% of employees reported having finance-related anxiety.

Financial wellness programs are a must-have for your 2022 benefits strategy. Here’s how these programs can offer a lifeline for your team.

Financial Wellness is the must-have employee benefit for 2022

Money management is a universal issue for your employees, whether they’re fresh out of college or approaching retirement age. But not all of your employees are financially stable. In fact, according to data from CapitalOne, 73 percent of Americans rank their finances as their top source of stress. The problem has only grown over the last few years due to the significant economic strain of the pandemic. 

Long-term financial stress has far-reaching effects on those struggling with debt and other challenges. Twenty-three percent of Americans report that their financial challenges keep them from a full night’s sleep and financial stress has long been linked to an increase in anxiety, depression and burnout. Meanwhile, around the office, financially stressed employees are often less focused, less productive and at a greater risk of employee turnover than their financially stable peers. 

That’s why comprehensive financial wellness programs, like Best Money Moves,  aim to allow employees to take control of their finances on their own terms. 

What employees want from financial wellness programs

Adding financial wellness programs to an employer’s benefits package is a great way to meet the needs of employees. According to a SHRM survey, 74% of employers have not added benefits that address employee’s financial stress since the beginning of the pandemic. However, in the same survey, over half of the employees said they wanted some form of financial wellness benefits. 

Seventy-seven percent of employees want retirement planning and 54 percent of employees want safety net insurance as a part of their financial wellness programs. Employees also want advice from professionals. Employees listed access to a financial advisor, information on retirement plans, and help developing good financial skills and habits as three problem areas that they want their employers to address.  

It’s not just the employees that reap the rewards of these benefits. According to a Bank of America survey, 8 out of 10 employers surveyed agreed that including a financial wellness program led to more productive, engaged and loyal employees.

Best Money Moves can help

If you’re looking for a first-in-class financial wellness solution, Best Money Moves could be the answer you need. Best Money Moves is a financial wellness program that provides all the guidance and support employees need to help them reduce their financial stress. It 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 and buying their first homes with access to a library of over 700 articles, videos and calculators. 

Best Money Moves is also gamified, featuring a point-based rewards system where users earn points every time they log in, enter their information into their profile, work with their budgets, read articles and measure their stress. Each point translates into a chance to win a monthly contest.

Employers want a financial wellness program that is expansive, engaging and suited to meet each of their employee’s unique needs and they’ve found it in Best Money Moves.

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