How Financial Health Impacts Employee Productivity

Financial health is a term that many are using frequently to describe the current state of one’s personal financial situation. According to Investopedia, there are many dimensions of financial health including, “the amount of savings you have, how much you are setting away for retirement and how much of your income you are spending on fixed or non-discretionary expenses.”

And, with the rising cost of benefits and employee contributions eating away at take-home pay — 50 percent of employees are concerned about their financial health. Compound this with the fact that only 39 percent of Americans said they would be able to pay for a $1,000 unplanned expense and nearly 8 in 10 people are living paycheck to paycheck. Not only does this stress keep employees awake at night, it affects their work during the day. Employee disengagement then becomes a massive hindrance on your bottom line.

In a study of 1,600 employees, PricewaterhouseCoopers uncovered that almost half of employees who are worried about their financial health miss work and are spending at least three hours each week dealing with personal financial issues while on the job. Between absenteeism and lost productivity, the financial wellness of your employees should be top of mind.

How Organizations Can Help Decrease Employees’ Financial Stress

U.S. companies lose an estimated $500 billion annually because of employees’ being distracted and stressed. A large part of this comes from finances. Organizations have an opportunity to improve their employees’ mental and financial health, leading to better results in the workplace.

Financial health goes well beyond having money. It’s the peace of mind that someone feels when they can meet their basic needs and feel like they are progressing forward monetarily rather than remaining stagnant or even falling behind. Much of this can be taught through behavior, and that’s where employer-sponsored financial wellness programs come in.

By bringing in a coach and offering tools and resources your employees can access, their confidence to budget, manage debt, and save for the future can flourish.

However, this won’t address outside threats that can flip an employee’s financial health on its head and further hurt their performance at work.

Alleviating the Sting of Identity Theft & Fraud for Your Employees

Another consideration around protecting your employees’ financial health is to take a serious look at identity theft protection. Identity theft is America’s fastest-growing crime and one of the biggest threats to personal finances – and we’re all at risk. According to Proofpoint’s 2018 User Risk Report, one-third of working adults in the U.S. have had their identity stolen. That is twice the global average, and a percentage we see rise every year.

Not only will victims of identity theft experience direct financial losses, they’ll need time outside of the office to restore their good name. Restoring an identity can take an average of 6 months and 100-200 hours’-worth of work, which includes making phone calls, sending emails, dealing with paperwork. Not to mention the severe emotional distress that can ensue.

To augment your organization’s financial wellness program and provide peace of mind to your employees, add the industry’s best identity theft protection to your benefits stack. As an employer-paid benefit, ID theft protection is non-taxable and non-reportable.

Learn more about identity theft protection for your employees and get started with a Free Business Trial.