If you’re looking for a financial wellness program foryour company, you probably have some goals in mind for it — maybehelping your employees with their money, growing participation in a401(k) plan, or increasing productivity.

Those are all good goals. But though they’re often held up asgreat ideals, most companies and employees aren’t living up tothem.

Why not? Good goals alone don’t change behavior. And it doesyour company no good to have a financial wellness program ifbehavior change is not a core part of the teaching.

Cookies (and other habits) distract us fromchange

We all know what it’s like to be torn between two desires. Whenyou want to lose weight, for example, your goal is oftencompromised by your cravings. Which side of you will win: therational side that knows losing weight is good for you, or theemotional side that just wants a cookie?

More often than not, your emotional side wins the battle. Simplyknowing that the long-term goal of weight loss is good forus is not enough to overpower the fact that we want that cookienow.

Our efforts to reach our financial goals work the sameway. We all have longstanding money habits that are comfortablesimply because they are familiar. We fight against any changes tothose habits, even when we know those changes will help us in thelong run.

To achieve life’s big goals, financial or otherwise, you mustfind a way to appeal to both the emotional and rational sides ofyour brain at once. Then they can work together rather than againsteach other.

Americans are misbehaving with money

Take a look at these personal finance stats and think about howthey are probably impacting the lives of your own employeestoday:

• 70 percent are living paycheck to paycheck

• 64 percent wouldn’t be able to cover a $1,000 emergency ifit came up today

• 24 percent of most Americans’ income is going toward consumerdebt payments

Surveys show that most Americans already know they shouldeliminate debt and save more, yet the outrageous borrowing andspending continue. The trouble isn’t a gap in knowledge — it’s alack of will to change the bad habits that created these problems.After all, success with money is only 20 percent head knowledge.The other 80 percent is behavior.

Engaging heart and mind

There are a few key concepts your financial wellness programmust include to bring about lasting behavior change in yourcompany.

• Make it personal. Group presentations aboutretirement plans won’t cut it. Your employees are looking for anindividualized solution that will walk with them, step-by-step,through the whole process, taking them from a place of debt andworry to a place of wealth and generosity.

• Give employees crystal-clear direction. A trulygreat financial wellness solution gives people goals to work towardand shows them exactly what it will take to change their moneyhabits. Your employees need a program that will spell out theimportance of setting goals like learning to budget, eliminatingdebt, or building an emergency fund.

• Tug at their heartstrings. Even clearlyoutlined steps can only do so much. The heart drives a lot of humanbehavior, and your employees won’t begin laying a foundation for abetter financial future until they feel the stirrings of hope thatthey can really change.

• Forge their path. Remember, you want to setyour employees up to succeed in a way that engages both theiremotions and their reason. A turnkey financial wellness programmakes the process easier for you and for them. You’re far morelikely to see lasting behavior change in your team if your wholecompany shows that financial wellness is a central part of yourculture. Positive peer pressure in the form of shared wins andsuccess stories is another great way to shape a path ofsuccess.

It’s time to look a little deeper at what’s preventing thepeople you care about from making lasting changes to theirfinances.

When you give them clear direction, motivate their hearts, andcreate a positive environment for change, real financial wellnesswill be the natural outcome.