Boosting Employee Financial Wellness through Voluntary Benefits 

Employers are turning to voluntary benefits as a way to provide more choice to a diverse workforce. In a recent webinar sponsored by Mercer and hosted by Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Mercer’s Brian Russell and Heather Coughlin discussed the correlations between financial wellness, retention and productivity and how to utilize benefits to satisfy the diverse needs of a multigenerational workforce.

“Employers are leveraging voluntary benefits to address employee financial needs,” said Russell, “Voluntary benefits provide an expanded option of low-cost benefits to help employees get where they need to be financially, to help protect them from major cost exposures and keep them from tapping into retirement accounts.”

Mercer found 90% of employees consider voluntary benefits to be a part of a comprehensive benefits package. Russell said these benefits can be positioned as financial protection in employee communications and tied to a “peace-of-mind” value.

Coughlin pointed to Mercer’s Healthy, Wealthy and Work-Wise study that found 70% of employees say benefits they receive at work help relieve their financial anxiety. “As more employers consider offering financial wellness programs to employees, they can reframe many types of employee benefits as broader financial wellness help.”

Coughlin added that financial concerns vary by generation, and employers should ask whether their benefits strategy delivers on those various needs.

More information on this webinar can be found here.