Making your financial wellness benefits work for every employee

The war for talent is raging on as fiercely as the COVID-19 pandemic. As employers try to navigate the road to recovery and employees struggle with the financial uncertainty the last 18-months has brought, adopting a one-size-fits all strategy for financial well-being benefits can hurt both the organization and its workforce.

But the time is ripe for companies to invest in programs that are more tailored to the individual needs of the people within the company, especially if they want to attract and retain talent.

“Our research has found that 52% of working Americans are either looking for a job or considering looking for a job in the next few months,” says Trent Burner, vice president of research for the Society for Human Resource Management. “What’s important to working Americans is shifting and if employers are not constantly reviewing their portfolio of benefits, they are at a disadvantage.”

Read More: Steps employers can take to help employees maximize their retirement

When it comes to designing an improved financial wellness program, employers should consider including comprehensive financial education resources, digital tools like sample spreadsheets and retirement calculators, access to coaching and financial planning programs.

No two employee groups have been impacted by COVID-19 in the same way. Financial well-being differs greatly depending on gender, generation, employment status, race and ethnicity — and some communities have reported greater hardship than others.

Thirty-five percent of working women say their financial health has suffered due to COVID-19, compared to just 23% of working men who say the same, according to a joint research effort by SHRM and Morgan Stanley at Work. Additionally, 40% of working women are more likely to experience financial anxiety, compared to 23% of working men.

Read More: Excellence in advising: This consultant unlocks the path to retirement

“Regardless of employment status, women were more likely than their male counterparts to indicate that their financial health has suffered due to COVID-19,” says Ragan Decker, senior SHRM researcher. “We attribute some of this to the ‘she-session.’ But even prior to the pandemic women tended to have poor financial well-being compared to men, due to less confidence in their ability to make financial decisions and in their financial knowledge.”

Generationally, only 15% of baby boomers say they saw a financial uptick during the pandemic, according to the study, and only 28%of millennials said the same. Almost all of the generations surveyed indicated that personalized financial advice is something they consider to be important, especially Gen-Z, where 65% report craving this kind of education.

Among different ethnic groups, 63% of Black workers, 61% of Hispanic or Latinx workers, and 65% of employees who identify as other races and ethnicities are more likely to indicate that the personalization of financial coaching is important to them as compared to 48% of white employees.

Read More: Suze Orman weighs in on why employers should offer emergency savings benefits

Holistically, the workforce is craving an expansion of financial well-being benefits, particularly perks that offer a one-on-one approach or consultation. For employers struggling to hire talent in a competitive market, access to financial advisers, student loan support and caregiving cost coverage can help make a compelling argument to job seekers.

“In our survey we found that 35% of organizations offer financial planning, and that compares to the 89% who offer other benefits like life and disability insurance,” Burner says. “Now is a good time to revisit the financial well-being offerings you're giving your employees and determine if they are utilizing them in the way they should and are you as the employer offering what they need, since their needs have changed.”