Among the nearly 460 HR professionals surveyed by SHRM, 52% reported that their organization teaches employees about financial planning—down from 64% in a similar survey 2 years ago.
Types of Programs Offered
Of organizations that offer financial education, 79% provide access to financial counseling and resources via their employee assistance program, SHRM found. Meanwhile, 68% provide financial education that is specific to employee benefits, such as retirement, medical insurance, and flexible spending accounts. SHRM also found that 47% of the organizations offer financial education on retirement-related planning only.
And 39% of surveyed organizations cover the following topics in their financial planning programs: budgeting, paying for education, debt reduction, credit card use, homeownership, and taxes.
Why It Is Important
Employer-sponsored financial education plays an important role in addressing workers’ concerns over money, SHRM said. The survey said 22% of surveyed HR professionals indicated that employees’ personal financial challenges have a “large impact” on work performance, while 61% said it had “some impact.”
“The source of money woes is unsurprising but the toll it’s taking on both workers and their employers, in addition to the persistence of the weak economy, are all troubling issues,” said SHRM’s Vice President of Research Mark J. Schmit, Ph.D., SPHR.
Also, 47% of HR professionals said financial challenges are causing employees to struggle with their “ability to focus on work,” while 46% reported issues with “overall employee stress,” and 26% noticed a negative impact on “overall employee productivity.” Other impacts include: “employee absenteeism and tardiness” (24%), “overall employee morale” (20%), “overall employee health” (12%), and “working relationships with other employees” (7%).
Free Resources
Employers that want to offer financial education programs have a variety of options available to them, including some free online resources. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, for example, offers free training materials, in several different languages, for its Money Smart program, an instructor-led curriculum with 11 training modules on basic financial topics. (Go to www.fdic.gov and search for “Money Smart.”)