In recent years, employees have consistently identified financial health as their top stressor. But while there is a clear need for financial information, it isn’t always easy to engage your employees in educational programming. Let’s examine some common challenges to participation, tips for effective delivery methods and potential partnerships for financial training.

Common challenges

Employees sometimes shy away from financial education because they:

  • Are hesitant to talk about money with people they don’t know
  • Worry that they won’t understand financial terms or lessons
  • Don’t want to be judged by colleagues or supervisors
  • Think third-party experts are just trying to sell something
  • Believe the education won’t apply to their situation
  • Think admitting to problems could decrease job security

To overcome these obstacles:

  • Address common concerns through concise, plain-language communications. Let employees know that your goal is to offer support, not repercussions.
  • Demonstrate commitment from company leaders and colleagues. Your employees will be more likely to participate if they know that others have similar challenges and are seeking help.

You can further incentivize your employees by:

  • Offering time during the workday to participate in financial education programs
  • Providing an extra paid vacation day or a gift card for completing a certain level of training

Challenges to employee engagement can also be unique to individuals or workplaces, so a good place to start is with an employee survey. You can then use the feedback to pinpoint your employees’ biggest challenges and develop relevant education.

Because supervisors regularly have formal and informal conversations with their reports, they are another good resource for insights into financial challenges and potential roadblocks to participation.

Topics to cover

Financial education isn’t one size fits all. For example, some employees might be living paycheck to paycheck, while others are trying to figure out how to split savings between their retirement accounts and their kids’ college expenses. Likewise, millennials may be concerned with student loan debt, while Gen Xers may want information on caregiving costs for elderly parents.

Knowing your employees will be facing a variety of challenges, a good rule of thumb for financial education is to provide training that:

  • Builds a foundation of widely applicable topics and skills
  • Is nimble enough to respond to employee feedback and target specific needs
  • Can accommodate different knowledge levels, primary languages and life stages

The following actions can help deliver a broad foundation for financial wellness:

  • Look at current expenses and assess financial priorities.
  • Create a spending plan.
  • Prepare for short-term savings needs like car repairs and emergency funds.
  • Start building long-term savings for major expenses like housing, college and retirement.
  • Address different types of debt to differentiate between good debt, like an affordable mortgage, and bad debt, like high-interest credit cards.
  • Review insurance options to protect assets and reduce risks.

If you have limited resources, you may want to start small and target your most financially vulnerable employees. Keep in mind that vulnerability isn’t necessarily based on salary. High earners can also have low financial literacy and challenges with debt.

Opportunities for partnerships

Building your own financial education program can be daunting. There are many opportunities to partner with financial experts, including:

  • Insurance companies
  • Banks
  • Credit unions
  • Financial advisors

When exploring potential collaborations, make sure your partner organization doesn’t use high-pressure sales tactics and is willing to adapt their services to your employees.

Common services you can get through third-party partnerships include:

  • Before-and-after financial assessments
  • One-on-one meetings with financial advisors
  • Financial coaching
  • Personalized action plans
  • Financial workshops
  • Webcasts that provide ongoing education after initial training

Talk with your benefits advisor about financial education programming and partnerships. They can help you assess your employees’ needs and find solutions that work for you.