Employee financial education is a hot topic in the news recently. With many people feeling the burden of the economic crisis, more employers are noticing an impact on their workforce. A reduction in productivity, emotional distress and worker complaints are all symptoms of a deeper issue.
Personal finances do not just impact ones bank account they impact ones lives. Providing a workplace financial education program will do a lot more than just help them save. Employee financial education programs help employees reduce financial stress and become better employees.
Top workplace financial education programs have several features in common. First, most quality employee financial literacy presentations included pre and post testing to measure results. There is often a larger event followed with ongoing financial literacy training. Finally, setting up an accountability program helps to solidify new positive personal finance habits.
If you offer the employees a 401k plan it is especially important to consider since your workforce makes those investment decisions typically on their own. Most people do not understand that certified financial planners typically won’t make suggestions on workplace 401k plans as they do not earn a commission. So without a solid employee financial education program your employees will likely use the ‘talk to the person in the cube next to me’ investing technique or the ‘pick a mutual fund on previous years returns’. Both are poor investment decision plans.
Employers, strongly consider adding a workplace financial education program. The results you receive can be measured in terms of a return on investment as well as employee morale. With an employee financial education program you not only are improving your bottom line but also positively impacting multiple areas of your employee’s life.