Financial Wellness in the Corporate Workplace
A Top HR Benefits Priority
Current studies show that worries about money top all other employees’ concerns, even over their own personal health and relationships. Worrying about paying their bills and saving for the future is the number one cause of stress at home and in the workplace. Financial stress takes it’s toll on every aspect of employees’ life, including work production and efficiency, waistlines, relationships and sleep. A stressed-out workforce will never be able to help businesses compete on a highly competitive level.
Financial Education, Guidance and Feedback, All in One Place.
The Melius Financial Wellness Program is a low cost, high return benefit that was created by experts in the financial, corporate HR and software industries to help people learn and build the simple skills and behavioral changing habits they need to improve their lives. Leveraging technology, Melius is an innovation in financial wellness that empowers employees with online tools and immediate resources to make simple, efficient and real-time educated decisions to improve their finances.
Melius is a more proactive and holistic approach to improving financial literacy that encourages daily changes in spending and saving behavior while helping workers break the feast or famine cycle of living paycheck to paycheck. Melius helps employees live more responsibly today, while planning wisely for tomorrow.
Statistics on Financial Stress in the Workplace
Employee absenteeism and productivity loss are linked to financial stress in the workplace.
Nearly 1 in 5 employees say their finances have been a distraction at work, according to accounting firm PwC’s 2015 survey of financial wellness programs.1
About 50% of all employees were concerned about not having enough savings for unexpected expenses.2
Less than half (46%) of employees have evaluated life insurance needs with in the last year and only 53% of employees indicated they were covered by disability insurance.3
Helping HR Build a Stronger Workforce
Supporting employees’ financial well-being is now a smarter priority, and companies are pursuing financial wellness programs to guide their employees to take more control of their finances.
Implementing a financial wellness solution reduces workplace costs while lowering employees’ financial stress and boosting their workplace engagement and productivity. Focusing on financial wellness also gives human resource directors the opportunity to help employees navigate their financial future. The benefits include a reduction in employees dipping into their 401K’s for emergency funds and fewer requests for paycheck advances and emergency loans.
HR Worries in the Workplace
Human resources professionals are concerned matching funds in 401(k) programs are being used to meet short-term emergencies, undermining an expensive benefit program.
Customer-centric businesses are worried that financially stressed employees will not provide the level of service required to succeed in a competitive marketplace.
Many employers believe financial wellness programs are an important way for employers to show they genuinely care about employees and are an effective way to reduce employee turnover and build loyalty.
Simple and Effective On Demand Financial Education
A real-time approach to critical financial skill building Melius uses technology to build a financially sound workforce. There are no shared documents, classrooms and/or counseling for human resources department to market or manage to their team. “Melius takes the burden off the HR Director by giving employees access to digital tools that do not require the organization of activities like lunch and learns with financial advisors,” explains Melius Co-Founder, RJ Irving.
Melius is a simple digital assessment tool that takes less than 5 minutes to complete online at anytime. Employees are given a Melius score and simple and actionable recommendations on how to improve that score through goal setting, spending management, emergency savings and debt management recommendations to help them build a more secure foundation. They are also introduced to financial advisors and insurance carriers if they so choose.
A Financial Wellness Benefit that Helps Employees Focus on
Understanding their complete financial picture, reviewing how all the pieces of their financial life fit together and the recommendation of actions to take to improve.
A complete review of assets, expenses, debt burden and emergency savings to measure their overall financial health while defining short and long term goals.
Building regular habits while focusing on the simple building blocks to security and wealth.
The Financial Benefits that Build a Better Future
Employees learn the smartest ways to spend, save and secure their assets.
Focus on where their money goes and meeting monthly expenses.
How to build emergency funds and cope with financial pressures in real time.
The Role of Financial Education in the Workplace
Companies are already in the financial education business. They provide benefits and educate employees about complicated financial and investment products.
Employees make some very important financial decisions at work, including how much to save for retirement, health, disability and life insurance. Additional decisions made at work include the spending of child care, medical expenses and specialized savings accounts.
As more and more employers give their team the ability to split their paychecks into savings, investments and checking accounts, the workplace is helping their employees save for college, a new car, a home and even a rainy day.
The Power of A Financially Capable Workforce
A less-stressed workforce is a more productive and competitive one for business with less turnover and a more confident and dedicated staff. Melius helps each employee build an emotional financial resilience to money management. Melius will also helps employees understand the value and effectiveness of their current benefits program.
The Melius Mission
“Our mission is the deliver financial information in the simplest way possible,” explains Irving. This is of increasing significance and importance as the millennial generation expects and demands a different type of experience with their advisors. Melius invites them into the daunting world of money and money management in a simple and approachable way.
Created by a team of renegades in the financial and technology markets, Melius offices are located in Boston, Massachusetts. Visit www.getmelius.com for more information.
***
Contacts
Madeline Johnson
The Market Council
(212) 729-1948
RJ Irving
Melius Co-Founder
(508)380-5603
Footnotes