Employees are your company’s most valuable asset. Are you doing enough to support their financial wellbeing?

When worker's minds are distracted by financial stress, their productivity, engagement and health can suffer. 

Instead of settling for "check-the-box" financial wellbeing, here are six high-impact features you can look for in modern programs that will drive real results for your workforce.

Jump to a Specific Financial Wellbeing Feature:

• Blend of Human and Digital
• Access to Certified Financial Planner™️ Professionals
• Independent, Unbiased Guidance
• Holistic Programming
• Built for a Diverse Workforce
• Powered by Impressive Personalization

Blend of Human and Digital

The most impactful financial wellbeing programs blend powerful technology with human advising for one-on-one guidance. While many benefits are looking towards fully digital solutions, but personal finances will always be just that - personal. 

When offered digital education and tools, employees can go at their own pace. This allows knowledge to be absorbed at the time and cadence that works best for them. Think of a learner that retains info best in the morning, or the employee whose mind is most sharp at night. When they’re ready to speak to an expert, trusted financial professionals should be on-call.

By blending digital and human experiences, employers can also strategically reinforce topics that are customized to specific organizational goals. For example, your workplace may prioritize content around HSA contributions, retirement readiness, or employee benefits education ahead of open enrollment. 

Tip: Look for programs that are well-designed from the digital and human perspective with user experience in mind. Fun fact: User experience is often abbreviated to UX, which is part of the inspiration for the name LearnLux.

Access to Certified Financial Planner™️ Professionals

We see a doctor for our physical health, a therapist for our mental health, but what about for our financial health? Most of us are left on our own to manage our money. This is because traditional financial advising is incredibly outdated and only caters to the wealthiest among us.

Many financial advisors make money by charging a percentage of their client’s total assets. Without upwards of a million dollars in the bank, it’s difficult to find fiduciary financial guidance from real experts that don’t push products.

Financial wellbeing that provides trustworthy guidance from CFP® professionals that’s affordable for employers and offered at no cost to employees is the new gold standard.

Tip: LearnLux is on a mission to fill this gap with tools that are both tech and human-powered — and we only employ Certified Financial Planner™️ professionals, the highest level of financial certification an advisor can achieve.

Independent, Unbiased Guidance

Ask any benefits professional if they’d let a credit card company come into the office and try to educate and sign up their employees and we bet you’d hear a resounding “NO.” Yet, many programs that call themselves “financial wellbeing” make their money by selling financial products and services. Most aren’t even very subtle about it.

Employee trust is everything, so choose a financial wellbeing program that is 100% independent. At the core of any product is one question; Are they independent, or are they affiliated with a bank, financial product, or have an agenda with my employee data? Many employees are naturally suspicious of financial services, and earning their trust is crucial.

A solution that’s truly independent and plans to stay that way is so important for your employee’s financial wellbeing. That’s because affiliated programs push products, and guide employees towards solutions that are the most profitable for their business. It’s important to ask the right questions today to be sure the financial wellbeing program provider is independent today and will be tomorrow.

Holistic Programming

Financial wellbeing is about connecting the dots in each employee’s financial life. Point solution programs that address a single topic such as student loans or credit scores miss the big picture, so holistic solutions continue to be the most inclusive and impactful. 

You might offer a 401k, which is great for employees who are financially able to save for when they’re 62 ½. Student loan benefits are nice, but only for your team members that took on debt for their education. By considering a holistic financial wellbeing program, you are able to serve your wider employee population. This means covering everything from emergency funds to estate planning. Without a solution that meets employees where they’re at, your program is limited in its impact. 

Tip: Consider a holistic financial wellbeing program. You will be  able to serve your wider employee population without having to manage multiple point solutions.

Built for a Diverse Workforce

Income diversity and disparity should be at the forefront of any financial wellbeing solution worth its salt. Employers should look for solutions that empower their high earning employees and support their paycheck to paycheck population as well.

Generational diversity is another challenge that strong financial wellbeing programs should tackle. There’s no doubt that employees are living and working longer. This means businesses can soon expect to have up to five generations of employees in their ranks. Implementing a program that plans for the multi-generational workforce is incredibly important today, and will be the gold standard in the future. 

Geographic diversity and remote work is the new normal. Lunch and learns used to be how financial and employee benefits information was shared with employees. In our workforce today, financial wellbeing needs to be available to employees in headquarters and in the field, in corporate settings and warehouses, for those working remotely and essential employees required to work in-person. 

Powered by Impressive Personalization

Employees have different confidence levels, risk tolerance, debt and target retirement dates, so their financial wellbeing plan should be as personal as their fingerprint. Innovative financial wellbeing programs use data and AI to create custom experiences at scale, and content should be highly tailored to each organization’s benefits options.