Mans hands cupped over a small leaflet growing on a pile of coins

The economic turbulence of the past three months has upended the financial wellness plans of millions of Americans. Millions of people have been caught unaware or unprepared. Almost one in three Americans have no money set aside for an emergency, according to a 2018 survey by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. And most of those who had some 'rainy day' savings had just a modest amount.

The uncertainty has left employees in dire need of financial wellness guidance, and employers have a duty to address this. It's time for companies to do more to help their workers evaluate their financial wellness and craft a robust plan for the future.

Companies have traditionally played a smaller role in their employees' financial wellness. Aside from a qualified retirement plan, most employees don't have access to financial wellness tools to help craft their overall financial strategy. Undoubtedly, there is plenty of room for employers to take a more proactive and far bigger role in their financial security. For instance, a recent special report from the Edelman Trust Barometer shows that, when it comes to COVID-19 information, people trust their employers more than almost anyone else. A total of 63% of employees believe right away what their company tells them about coronavirus, compared to 58% for a government website, 56% for a health company website and 51% for traditional media.

If employees rely on their workplace for critical health information, they will almost certainly trust them when it comes to providing tools to help them manage their finances through these turbulent times. For most people, their retirement plan is their only savings outside of a bank account. What's more, they count on their company paying them a salary every month to ensure they can pay their bills. It's no surprise they might also see their employer as a trusted source to provide tools for comprehensive financial wellness information.

This offers companies a great opportunity to help employees through these troubled times, building deeper engagement and trust with their workforce while doing so. For a start, greater engagement is a tacit acknowledgment of the unique role that employers play in their workers' lives. If done properly, companies will be rewarded with their employees' loyalty once we're through the pandemic and the economy is back on track. Financial wellness engagement should also address peoples' immediate concerns, as well as take a long-term view.

What to do now

Communicate. And don't be afraid to overcommunicate. We are all experiencing an economic upheaval not seen since the Great Depression. Given that most of the country is working remotely – some two-thirds of all workers by one survey – communicating with employees is a special challenge. So we should focus on what's possible. We might not be able to gather employees together for a pep talk from management or distribute materials to people deskside, but we can arrange virtual webinars to broach topics of financial wellness. These can range from internal executives discussing the resources that the company already has available, to featuring outside experts who can offer strategies and tools for helping people deal with uncertainty.

The content and tone of these webinars are crucial. Advice on what emergency resources your company may have and what pandemic-related government programs may be on offer are useful topics. Employees will also welcome strategies to manage and reduce debt and boost savings. It's worth remembering that everyone has been impacted by this pandemic with some much more than others financially. To some extent, it is safe to say that everyone feels financial stress these days.

Emails and mailings are excellent supplementary ways to communicate with employees, but we're all remembering that important messages are best delivered by people you can see. So make videos and virtual challenges, especially one where viewers can interact by audio and text chat, a central tool of your company's efforts.

What to do soon

Ideally, companies should begin to roll out new opportunities for employees to improve their long-term financial wellness. Companies can do this by being gateways to services like pet insurance to long-term care insurance – products that can make people better prepared for future expenses and help restore a sense of order, security and well-being to their lives. Benefits professionals should also review the timing and approach of programs that usually run towards the end of the calendar year, such as choosing a new health care plan option, 401k plan decisions and annual lock-in periods for other optional benefits. There might be scope to bring those programs forward to make employees feel better engaged. Digitally nudging employees to engage is an important step to build on the trust factor right now.

What to do for the future

None of us are quite certain what the future of work and financial wellness will look like once we're through the pandemic. We are adjusting to our new normal and are likely to see a greater appetite from employees for resources to prepare for the next 12-18 months. The Federal Reserve recently stated that we are in a recession and can expect a long economic recovery. It is worth discussing how the workplace, benefits and holistic employee programs might be structured for the recovery to ease financial stress. If possible, consider taking stock of the employees who went 'above and beyond' when answering the call of duty during the crisis, and how the company can and should reward them for their behavior. In the long-run, you want your employees to feel connected with the company and feel sure they will be taken care of in the future as they have been in the past.

At every stage, finding and offering financial wellness programs is only one part of the battle. Getting employees to click through and engage is the other. That's one reason why video is so powerful. This crisis has intensified our need for social connection because of real physical distance. Gamification of benefits and planning apps might be another useful tool to get people clicking.

it's also worth staying in tune with what employees want to learn about their financial wellness, as opposed to what companies want them to know about. A 2019 workplace benefits report from Bank of America showed that financial wellness engagement seemed to mean two different things to employees and companies. Firms wanted employees to read about benefits plans and how those benefits affected employee finances, while employees wanted information about gaining more financial independence and concrete steps on how to achieve their goals.

As we dive into technology, we shouldn't forget that going digital is not necessarily dehumanizing. The pandemic has made our lives temporarily abnormal, and the future holds a new, more permanent normal. Making the effort to support employees in their wellness, financial and otherwise, needs to be a part of our approach in every situation.

Cindy Dash is general manager and senior vice president at Matrix Financial Solutions, Broadridge.

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