Financial health has become a growing challengefor the American population. Two-thirds of Americans havedifficulty coming up with $1,000 to cover an emergency, 29 percent ofadults know someone who delayed the purchase of a home due tostudent loan debt and only 49 percent ofemployees are confident they’ll be able to retire when they want,according to a PwC survey.

In the past, financial stress wasn’t widely discussed in theworkplace, but employers are beginning to pay attention as itdirectly impacts retirement, physical wellness, absenteeism,presentism and productivity. In fact, up to 80 percent spend timeon the clock stressing about their personal financial situations. Thefinancial pressure placed on employees in the modern workforcecauses stress, but employers have an opportunity to address it in asustainable way to build a happier, more productive workforce.

Related: 7 ways employers can help employees save more, moreeasily

Employers have done some work around financial wellness, butlargely in the form of one-off lunch-and-learn sessions, webinarsand guest speakers. While informative and nice to offer, thesetools aren’t having the desired, immediate impact nor are theysustainable. They have the right intentions, but don’t get theresults.

Most employees that attend do so because they’re worried about aspecific personal situation, but the lessons or guidance don'tstick and aren’t ongoing, so they don’t make long-term decisions orlifestyle changes. To truly make a change, employers must put moreinto financial wellness.

The labor market remains highly competitive and employeebenefits are a differentiator. Offering more than the averagenumber and core health benefits can give employers an edge inrecruiting and retaining employees. Additionally, ROI of financialwellness benefits is not as difficult to trace as employers maythink. There are clear ties to retirement and health care costsavings as well as increased employee productivity andperformance.

So, what’s the solution for employers? To treat financialwellness as an ongoing engagement rather than ad-hoc effort.

To help employees improve their financial standing, the firststep is often to educate; make them aware. People want to do theright thing (like put money away for retirement), but they may notunderstand where to start or what steps to take. Offering financialwellness tools that track an employee’s goals, budget and accountsare important in building awareness.

Additionally, employees will not engage in the long-term unlessthe solution is personalized for their unique situation.Individualized, unbiased coaching is also critical to helpemployees understand their situation and options, and overcomeinstant gratification to save money to meet these goals. Employersthat implement a long-term, sustainable program will achieve thehighest ROI and the happiest employees.

From an employee’s perspective, learning about and thenimplementing steps to positively impact financial well-being is alot like learning to play basketball. You could learn to shoot abasketball or play the game by reading a book or attendingseminars, but you won’t absorb the information. Basketball is agame learned by consistent, long-term practicing and engaging witha coach. It’s perfected by making it part of your life. The samegoes for a person looking to lose weight. They couldn’t do sothrough reading about it online or listening to someone else speakon the topic.

When employees have the tools to tackle finances directly, truebehavior change will occur and be sustained over theirlifetime.

Most employers are aware of their employees’ financial stresses– to some degree or another – but their solutions are outdated andrudimentary, not for lack of caring but from a lack of specificbenefits tools and direction.

The true key to financial wellness is sustainability andbuilding good, long lasting financial discipline. As benefitsprograms evolve further and further into “total benefits” (orthinking holistically about health, wellness and finance),financial wellness, with its clear need and positive impact, is avoluntary benefit worth consideration. By modernizing the wayemployers think about financial wellness benefits and transformingthem into a formal benefit – with tools and structure – they have agreat opportunity to make a difference in the lives of theiremployees and differentiate their own employer brand along theway.