For HR or benefits professionals at competitive law firms, finding the right benefits offering for your employee is a top priority. The happier and healthier your team members are, the better off your firm is.
For this reason, offering a financial wellness package as a benefit to your employees is an excellent decision.
Though the average lawyer can expect to make a competitive (if not quite lucrative) salary within the first few years out of law school, the average lawyer is also saddled with a hefty amount of student loan debt. Add this to the high likelihood of “burnout” and emotional stress, and your wellness benefits have never been more important.
Top law firms have noticed these trends, and are taking action. Here are the five major benefits your firm will reap by offering a financial wellness plan to your employees:
Increased employee retention and engagement
Whether you’re a boutique firm of less than 100 employees or an international practice with branches around the world, one thing is true: you want your employees to stick around.
High turnover causes a number of headaches for your team. This can include the time it takes to recruit and hire new talent, the hours your team members will have to spend on-boarding this new talent, and more. Establishing a financial wellness program at your company will only improve employee retention and engagement.
At a time when the average lawyer has between $80-120,000 in law school debt, it’s a necessity that firms address this new normal by offering their lawyers the tools to combat this financial challenge. After all, people with student loans are less likely to keep up with other financial goals, including retirement plans. As a result, giving your team members long-term tools for financial success will serve as a massive incentive for them to stick around.
Increased productivity, because employees aren’t distracted by financial worries
It’s not exactly a secret that “burn out” in the legal industry is all too real, and extremely prevalent. Even if you’re hiring top talent year after year, that doesn’t mean much if that talent is burning out in the early part of their career.
A financial wellness plan will increase the productivity of your employees because they won’t feel the massive mental burden that comes with financial worry. After all, it’s one thing to see high returns of productivity from a young lawyer in the first few years of their career — but to keep them at the top of their game for decades, you’re going to have to offer them the tools they need to keep the other parts of their life afloat.
Drive participation in and contribution to employer-sponsored benefits and retirement plans (especially 401(k), HSA and FSA)
Law firms offer some of the most competitive 401(k) plans out there — but even the best retirement plans still require some knowledge on the part of the employee.
In a joint report by the Association of Young Americans and AARP, 31% of the baby boomers reported having to stop saving for retirement in order to address their student loan debt. And given the fact that the impact and size of student loan debt is on the rise for younger generations, it’s a foregone conclusion that employees will face greater challenges in the coming decades in order to balance their retirement goals with paying off debt.
You’re probably thinking that you already have great retirement benefits for your team. But are your employees taking full advantage of these benefits?
For the average HR professional in a law firm, you probably don’t have the time to walk through the ins and outs of your 401(k) offerings to every single one of your employees. That’s where a digital, scalable financial wellness offering like LearnLux steps in. It does the hand-holding for you, offering in-depth (and often customized) information to your associates on how they can best take advantage of their employer-sponsored benefits.
Better physical health for your teams, as financially well employees are less prone to illness
When it comes to the connection between physical health and stress at work, the jury has been out for years: if your employee is feeling overly stressed, they’re way more likely to come down with physical illnesses, which will likely impede their ability to work at the highest level. But did you know that financial security is the most significant driver for your employee’s overall well-being, more so than physical or emotional stress?
The average working American is behind on a number of his or her financial goals, including saving for college, saving for retirement, and paying off debt. For this reason, offering financial wellness packages for employees has never been more essential. If the increasing cost of living for the average American is the illness, then financial wellness education is one type of antibiotic your employees can use to lessen the pain.
Increased brand reputation and the ability to differentiate your organization’s benefits package when hiring top talent
A law firm is only as strong as the talent it can pull in, year after year. By adding a financial wellness offering to your benefits package, you can differentiate yourself from other law firms and build a brand reputation as an organization that invests in its employees for the long term.
Above, we mentioned that the number one cause of stress in the modern workplace is financial stress — so it follows that the benefits you offer to prospective talent should represent a proactive effort to combat that stress.
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For more information on financial wellness in the workplace, check out LearnLux’s high tech, high touch solution for companies looking to be a leader in employee benefits.