As Americans battle burdensome debt, rising medical costs, monthly budget shortfalls and other money issues, employers are recognizing those problems are distracting employees and diminishing productivity. It's one reason why more benefits advisors and their clients are introducing or improving financial wellness programs to help employees get on target financially.

Nearly 2 in 3 employers (64 percent) report that helping employees improve their financial wellness is more important to their organization than it was two years ago, according to new research by Alight Solutions, a global provider of human resource programs. Moreover, 82 percent of companies that offer a financial wellness program say, “it's the right thing to do.”

But talking about financial wellness is one thing; actually doing something to improve it is another. Employers are looking for help from benefits brokers, consultants and financial advisors to figure out how to get started and help make financial wellness pay off.

Establishing an effective financial wellness program starts with a simple three step process: assessing employees' needs, creating multiple launch points for the program, and measuring and refining the program to obtain the desired results. What follows is a checklist to help guide employers and their advisors when implementing a financial wellness program.

Step 1: Assess employee needs

Like any program created for employees, success is achieved if and only if employees actually make use of it. That takes employee engagement. It also takes analysis.

Employers and their benefits advisors need to ask if the current benefits plan or wellness program is meeting the needs and priorities of every segment of the workforce. Chances are, somebody may be left behind.

Employers need to analyze their retirement plan data for insights into plan participation and how employees are utilizing or underutilizing their plan. An underutilized retirement savings plan may leave employees unprepared to retire when they would like to and may ultimately cost employers more for health care benefits, workers' compensation, and disability insurance for older employees who may lack the resources to retire.

But retirement is only the start. Employees' broader financial needs may be different and continually changing based on their age, life stage and family situation. Employers need to survey employees to better understand their pressing financial needs and priorities, their education and informational needs, and any roadblocks that may be keeping them from participating fully in their retirement and benefits plans. The assessment may uncover opportunities to make an employer's financial wellness program more relevant and valuable to every generation in the workforce.

Step 2: Create multiple launch points

Each employee must be addressed as an individual whose financial needs and path to financial wellness can be distinctly different from other employees, even those of a similar age or life stage. For instance, not all employees may be prepared to tackle saving for retirement at the same time or in the same way. That's why offering multiple access points to a financial wellness program may increase opportunities to participate and, ultimately, encourage healthy financial behaviors.

A multi-channel approach that meets participants at their particular life stage, in their preferred communication style, and at their own level of knowledge is best.. For instance, breaking down the key milestones for retirement readiness into actionable steps that build knowledge and confidence over time can encourage employees to not only start saving, but to keep at it over time.

Whether the focus is retirement savings or the broader goal of financial wellness, it may help to pair education with easy-to-access and use tools to help employees track their own progress. Online educational tools that provide a game plan for each step of an employee's financial life may be the most useful.

Step 3: Measure and refine

But are an employer's efforts to boost financial wellness paying off? Is the plan valuable to both the business and its employees? A well-designed financial wellness plan may reduce employer's long-term costs by ameliorating employees' distracting financial problems and helping them retire when they desire. But it's important to set reasonable expectations and to establish benchmarks for gauging a program's effectiveness.

Determine the metrics to track and determine the success of each component of the program, defining the value of the different benefits to employees and the organization. That means establishing reasonable, attainable goals. One goal, for instance, might be for an employer to reduce long-term health costs.

Employers need to understand the bottom-line impact of employees who are financially stressed and unable to retire on time. The best retirement plan providers have the ability to quantify the potential cost of a workforce that isn't on the path to retirement readiness, including each individual employer's data.

As in most team environments, the success of one teammate can beget the success of others. Encouraging employees who make use of the financial wellness benefits and tools to share their successes and express their ideas and opinions can be contagious. Their feedback may provide valuable input to improve the plan. It also can provide a powerful motivator for other employees to take greater advantage of what an employer has to offer.

Success requires reflection

An employee-driven financial wellness program — one that helps workers better manage their financial resources and plan for the future — should reflect employee demographics. That takes a comprehensive set of tools, resources and education to connect with employees wherever they may be on their financial journey. Those tools and resources should make it easier for employees to engage and take action.

Once employees can start solving their shorter-term financial problems — be it budgeting, covering medical expenses, reducing debt or other problems — they can begin to focus on longer-term financial security. And that's the ultimate destination on the path towards financial wellness.

Thomas Foster Jr. is head of strategic relationships for retirement plans for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. (MassMutual).

Instant Insights /

3 steps toward financial wellness

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