productivity Archives

What Do Employees Worry About?

by LizStevens | Nov 13, 2018 | Blog

What do employees worry about? Research on workplace fears ranks compensation, job security, overloaded productivity and workplace harassment as top concerns.

Employees Worry About Being Underpaid

The number one workplace fear for more than 60 percent of Americans is being underpaid, according to recent research from Business.org.

It’s a valid concern, The Economic Policy Institute reports employers underpay employees $15 billion each year through overtime and misclassification violations. Business.org also found that younger workers ages 18 to 34 were roughly 30 percent more likely than Baby Boomers to fear being underpaid.

Employees Worry About Job Security

Job security, rather the fear of losing a job, is the top work-related fear for over 20 percent of employees. “I just worry about my ability to [keep my job] so that I can pay bills and take care of my family… I am stressed out more often than not,” says one respondent. Much like compensation concerns, job security is another workplace fear with a rational basis. Almost 20 million Americans lost their jobs due to layoffs or discharge in 2016, reported by The Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Employees Worry About Being Overloaded at Work

Nearly 15 percent of employees say work overload is their number one workplace fear. Business.org cited research that found in comparison to working between 35 to 40 hours a week, working over 55 hours a week was shown to increase the risk of heart attack by almost 15 percent and the risk of stroke by more than 33 percent. Productivity showed a sharp decline after 50 hours of work a week. Half of employees who are moderately to highly engaged are burnt out. They’re dealing with exhaustion, frustration, anxiety and struggling to keep up with daily tasks. Engagement has limits and when it’s too high it can start to affect productivity, retention and job satisfaction.

Some employees are more fearful than others. Adults ages 18 to 34, individuals with a previous workplace issue, parents and those living in urban areas had a higher level of fear. In contrast, those who identified as white had less concern than respondents of other ethnicities. “Issues of race and gender equality, equal pay for equal work, freedom from harassment of any kind all remain unresolved. [All workers] should feel supported for their efforts,” one respondent said.

Leaders that address workplace fears are likely to have more loyal employees. Employees feel valued when employers make a point to acknowledge and take their concerns into consideration when making changes in policies and processes. Supervisors could benefit from direct and open communication with employees. It has the potential to limit some of employee concerns by replacing fear of the unknown with confidence in transparency from upper management.

How High is Work-Related Stress and What’s Causing it?

by LizStevens | Sep 19, 2018 | Blog

Almost all employees are affected by work-related stress and a new study gives some insight into how high work-related stress is, what causes it, events that make it worse and what employers can do to improve productivity and retention.

Work-related stress affects 94 percent of employees and almost a third of them experience “high” or “unsustainably high” stress, according to a new study by Wrike. Nearly 50 percent of employees said workplace stress makes them “check out.” “Checking out” is estimated to cost US companies $450 to $550 billion in lost productivity annually.

Over 25 percent of employees said they will burn out in the next 12 months if they can’t reduce their stress levels. More than 50 percent have searched for a new job due to stress at work. Almost half of staff turnover is caused by employee burnout and recruiting costs US companies roughly $160 billion a year.

Employees are taking their work-stress home with them. More than 50 percent said work-related stress has had a negative effect on their home life at least once a week. For 10 percent of employees, work-related stress has affected their home life almost every day. Work-related stress caused more than 50 percent of employees to lose sleep.

What’s stressing so many employees out? Poor communication was the top stressor for employees at companies both small and large. It was followed by team members not pulling their weight on projects, though smaller organizations were equally stressed about being overloaded. Bottlenecks, waiting for others to take action, was one of the top stressors for almost 30 percent of employees at companies small and large.

Receiving assignments with unrealistic deadlines were events that had the highest impact on employee stress levels. The second greatest stress inducer was being unable to locate information employees know they’ve seen in the past. For some, too much time spent in meetings meant that they don’t have enough time to do actual work.

Wrike’s study assesses the severity of employee stress and its main drivers. Employers can start to lessen the high levels of stress employees experience by improving communication, adjusting workloads, reviewing information systems and reigning in time spent in meetings.

It could also be advantageous for employers to look into stress management program offerings as an employee benefit. Close to 20 percent of employees said they’ve sought professional help with stress management and if it’s something that’s included in their benefits package that number could be even higher. Investing in the well-being of employees can differentiate an employer and help reduce profits lost to productivity and turnover each year.

Why Are Millennials so Distracted at Work?

by LizStevens | Aug 28, 2018 | Blog

Financial stress is a huge work distraction for Millennials in debt and it’s costing the American economy billions. The statistics on student loan debt in this article have been updated as of February 20, 2020.

Millennials are now the largest generation in the American labor force and they’re distracted by an overwhelming amount of debt. Human resource departments are overwhelmed with solving new issues around financial stress that Millennials are bringing to the office every day.

Around 44.7 million out of 171.3 million American adults have student loan debt and the total amount of outstanding student loan debt passed $1.5 trillion in 2020. The average monthly student loan payment is nearly $400 and roughly 10 percent of borrowers have defaulted on their student loans.

Most millennials have nothing saved for retirement and of those that do, research from E-Trade revealed that 60 percent have already taken an early withdrawal from their 401(k). Nearly half of them use credit cards for monthly necessities they couldn’t afford otherwise.

Millennials are also falling behind when it comes to major life events like getting married and buying a home. All of this affects their work performance, including productivity, retention and turnover, unexplained absences, and presenteeism.

According to a PwC study, almost 60 percent of millennials are financially stressed. Money is a huge issue for them. Bank of America found they spend an average of 4 hours a week on personal finances at work. Close to 20 percent of them have missed days at work due to financial stress.

The American Psychological Association found that financial stress is responsible for 40 percent of turnover and 60 percent of workplace accidents. More than 20 percent of Millennials have changed jobs in the past year (a number 3x higher than those outside that demographic) and Gallup estimates Millennial turnover costs the American economy close to $30 billion per year. It’s advantageous for employers to help employees reduce financial stress to take back productivity and reduce absenteeism, turnover and workplace accidents.

One thing experts agree on: Millennials want help navigating their financial futures. Over 90 percent of Millennials surveyed by Bank of America say they would participate in a financial education program provided by their employer. In the same survey, roughly 80 percent of Millennials say their employer was influential in getting them to save for retirement. According to Willis Towers Watson research, employees are looking for financial wellness tools to track spending, saving, assess their financial position, and set financial goals.

With an extremely tight labor market, employers have become highly motivated to address their Millennial employees’ desire to gain financial wellness. What the early adopters of best-in-class financial wellness programs have begun to see is that greater employee financial wellness also improves productivity and retention, and helps them stay competitive in a tight labor market.

As part of a larger financial wellness program, some companies have instituted a student loan benefit and the IRS approved tax-free employer matched 401(k) contributions for student loan repayments in 2018. The Society of Human Resources (SHRM) reported over 50 percent of U.S. companies offered financial wellness programs in 2019, more than doubling the less than 25 percent who did so in 2015.

Even though more employers are offering financial wellness programs it doesn’t mean employees are using them. In other words, if you offer a financial wellness program that isn’t sophisticated, mobile-first, in the cloud, that offers different kinds of assessment tools and personalized information and solutions, it may well get overlooked in the sea of other benefit paperwork that has to be reviewed and managed.

For increased employee engagement select a financial wellness program, like Best Money Moves, that has the tools, information, and functionality your employees need. Best Money Moves is a mobile-first service that offers budgeting, resource articles, confidential counseling, free credit score, and personalized information and solutions for employees to use to measure and dial down their financial stress.

All of which will help your employees settle down and get back to work.

If you want to learn more about how Best Money Moves can bring financial wellness to your company download our whitepapers and sign up for a demonstration here.

Revealing Research on Financial Stress and Productivity

by LizStevens | Aug 14, 2018 | Blog

Revealing research from Fidelity Investments highlights the toll financial stress takes on productivity through increased absenteeism.

Absenteeism doubles for employees with high levels of debt, according to a recent study by Fidelity Investments.

The study focused on the four pillars of well-being (financial, health, work, and life) and found that employees struggle most with their financial well-being. A whopping 98 percent of respondents reported feeling stressed in the past three months. Employees reported high levels of stress caused by debt (33%), saving for the future (34%), their job (47%), and their weight (30%).

Workers with high levels of debt were very unlikely to be in “excellent” health, only 14% compared with 35% of workers without debt issues. Those struggling with debt were also less likely to get enough sleep and more likely to be frequently stressed or anxious. On average, employees with the highest levels of debt missed an additional full week of work more than those with the lowest levels of debt.

Past-due medical bills were the leading indicator of workplace absenteeism, followed by payday loans, personal loans, retirement plans, and mortgages. Surprisingly, student loans and credit card debt were not significant causes for employees to miss work.

“When it comes to total well-being programs, employers have traditionally focused on health, but have recently expanded efforts to include financial wellness. Financial wellness programs have gone a long way toward helping workers to create a budget they can live with and have helped many employees consolidate and/or minimize debt,” said Jeanne Thompson, head of Global Workplace Insights, Fidelity Investments.

Strong healthcare plans, retirement plans, and payday advance programs could reduce absenteeism and help employers take back productivity. In order for those systems to be effective, however, employees must learn how to manage their money. Financial wellness programs, like Best Money Moves, lower the high levels of financial stress employees experience by helping them take control of their personal finances.

How Can You Make Teams Work for Your Business?

by LizStevens | Aug 13, 2018 | Blog

Insights from a recent survey from Imprev, a leader in real estate marketing automation, on real estate brokerage teams can be applied to any business in any industry that operates with teams.

“We knew teams were making a powerful impact on real estate. There are many fantastic studies out there covering the inner workings of teams, but we felt there was a need to understand teams from leadership’s perspective,” shares Renwick Congdon, CEO of Imprev.

Healthy competition between teams boosts productivity, retention, engagement and job satisfaction but nearly half of Imprev’s respondents agreed that teams are hard to manage. Although 73 percent of organizations have policies and guidelines for teams to follow, like adjusted commission structures and legal guidelines, organizations felt managers could do a better job serving teams.

Finding solutions that work isn’t as hard as it seems. “Based on brokers’ feedback, the key at the moment seems to be putting more comprehensive policies and frameworks in place to ensure team leaders and brokers build strong, mutually beneficial relationships,” says Congdon.

Organizational changes, such as providing guidelines, technology, orientations and mentoring to support teams proved most beneficial to brokerages. One broker’s suggestion was to, “Train them [managers] how to build a team that is sustainable. Teach them how to hire properly.” These solutions may seem simple but don’t underestimate how costly and time-consuming it can be to develop or update materials and train teams to implement new technology.

Still, as you think about how to train your team to better help your business, it might be worth the effort and cost to make a valuable asset more effective. Teams helped organizations build their businesses and influenced total sales volume over the last five years for almost 80 percent of respondents. Most agreed that teams aren’t a competitive threat and don’t diminish the power of their brand. And more than 65 percent continue to encourage the creation of teams.

The study found that teams were responsible for roughly 30 percent of overall sales. Improving that even by 5 percent could bring in meaningful revenue while building more cohesive and engaged teams.

“With a clear structure, a brokerage is more likely to build a mutually beneficial relationship with teams and drive greater success overall,” says Congdon.