The easiest way to find that out is simply to ask—and that’s precisely what the 2021 Employee Benefits Research Institute (ERBI) Workplace Wellness Survey⁴ did. We’ve highlighted some of the results below.

COVID-19 brought new stresses to employers and employees alike. After a downturn in 2020 that saw 59% of chief executives report layoffs or a hiring freeze,⁵ employee anxiety now extends beyond health in a way that has become intricately woven into the employment relationship. According to the ERBI survey, seven in 10 employees say their employer has a responsibility to ensure they are mentally, physically and financially well, with identical percentages (49%) saying they are concerned about each of these categories.

But while three in 4 employees trust their employer to help them improve their overall well-being through quality benefits and offerings, fewer than half (48%) are actually satisfied with their financial wellness benefits⁶—notably lower than their satisfaction with other types of benefits. From improving education and access to the steps outlined below, most companies have significant room to get more out of their financial wellness programs.

Many companies could improve retention of Black, Indigenous and People of color (BIPOC) employees—creating a deeper loyalty in the process—by better understanding the specific challenges they face, improving their knowledge of benefits and ensuring the benefits reflect their needs.

As more than half of employees struggle with managing multiple financial priorities, 2021 saw a significant increase over 2020 in the perceived importance of financial wellness programs.¹¹ Two thirds of participants now find these programs extremely or very useful, though with a persistent racial gap:¹²

• Only 61% of Black and Hispanic employees are finding their financial wellness program extremely or very useful compared to 72% of white employees¹³
• Satisfaction was much higher (73%) overall among employees who had taken advantage of education about benefits than among those who had not (43%)¹⁴

Student debt, childcare and retirement are top employee concerns:

• Among benefits offered by their employers, 73% of employees took advantage of student debt relief/repayment programs, with subsidized childcare a close second at 72%¹⁵
• Among benefits not offered, employees expressed the highest interest (52%) in tuition reimbursement¹⁶

But when offered a benefits budget — often a more accurate way of gauging relative preferences — employees put the most money into a retirement savings account followed by an emergency savings account.

This reflects the reality of employee financial anxiety. Not only do six in 10 employees report that thinking about their financial future makes them feel stressed, but nearly half say that it distracts them from work.¹⁷ Getting to know your workforce, their concerns and how it impacts their performance are the first steps in supporting them. That support, in turn, will help them become healthier, happier, more productive employees.

Financial wellness matters to employees and impacts their work, both directly through distraction and more generally in hiring and keeping valued talent. And that impacts your bottom line. Nevertheless, research¹⁸ by Morgan Stanley and SHRM shows that:

This represents a significant opportunity for employers to gain a competitive advantage in a tight labor market by adding value to their employees through meaningful financial education. Ideally, this would be in the context of a formal financial wellness program that goes beyond informative content to include coaching, savings tools, access to a Financial Advisor and a responsible point person within leadership or human resources who can help guide employees through the offerings to actionable solutions.

A successful financial wellness program that lowers employee anxiety, strengthens loyalty and improves focus needs to go beyond abstract offerings, onboarding brochures and periodic learning modules. It needs to actively put employees on a path to financial security through changed behavior and meaningful solutions. It needs to have a financial coach available for budgeting, build habits like tracking expenses in a financial journal, and offer a Financial Advisor who can talk through decisions on, for example, how to invest, whether to buy a house or finance it, and how to prepare for retirement.

We can provide all the high-tech tools, world-class planning and expert coaching. But a human connection is crucial. A personal relationship with a coach or Financial Advisor starts the road to accountability, and building those relationship starts with the employer understanding that many employees need help to take them there. The rewards for both employees and businesses are not new, but they have become significantly more acute in a post-COVID labor market that has been dubbed “The Great Resignation.” There has never been a more important time to invest in your people.