The WellRight Blog

Stress is an unavoidable part of life. While some amounts are manageable, too much stress over time can lead to physical and mental health maladies—not to mention the negative impacts on morale and performance. 

That’s why it’s crucial for companies to address employee stress in the workplace. But where do they start?

According to Purdue University, finances are the number one cause of stress and anxiety for employees (73%)—more than the work itself (49%). At the same time, a PwC survey found almost 60% of workers agree that compensation isn’t keeping up with the rising cost of living—which is up from 41% in 2021.

What if you could solve your turnover, engagement, and customer service issues with your workplace wellness program?

That’s what wellness experts like Steven Van Yoder, co-founder of Returns on Wellbeing Institute (ROWI), are exploring as they research the effects of holistic wellness investments on organizational ROI and VOI. ROWI’s most recent publication, “Workplace Wellness: Best Practices Study 2022,” identifies key issues and recommendations related to employee financial wellness within organizations that are directly linked to successes in attracting, engaging, and retaining employees.

Financial wellness has become a hot topic for employees, particularly women.

A 2021 financial wellness survey found that women are more concerned about their finances than men—and it’s not just because women earn less than men do.

From health care to transportation to education, voluntary staff attrition has become a big enough problem that HR teams are digging deep into their bag of tricks to attract and retain talent.

Some companies are even dangling the carrot of helping alleviate student loan debt, which seems to be charming candidates—and improving employees’ financial and emotional well-being.

When you think about creating a healthy company culture, do you include employees’ financial well-being?

You should.

A PwC survey from May 2020 found that for 54% of America’s workers, financial matters or challenges are the largest sources of stress. That number has surely gone up since then, as the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to reverberate.

In short, when it comes to financial wellness, America’s workers aren’t feeling well.

Editor's Note: We recently updated this previously published post with new insights. Enjoy!

The generational makeup of the workforce is changing rapidly: for the first time in history, four generations of employees are represented in the workplace. Millennials have surpassed both boomers and Gen X to make up the largest portion (40%), while the first wave of Generation Zers, composed of people in their early 20s, are just entering the workforce.

We are all living in undeniably stressful times. A deadly pandemic is sweeping the globe, people are holed up in their homes with no real sense of when normal life will resume, and every economic indicator–from the stock market to the unemployment numbers–is setting off alarm bells.

However, even before the coronavirus pandemic–and even during a strong economy–Americans were stressed about their finances. Surveys show a large percentage of Americans routinely rank money woes as the top stressor in their lives.

Ahh…retirement. When we picture our future without an alarm clock, what does it look like? Maybe it looks like a beachfront condo or a camper on the open road. Maybe it looks like volunteering or picking up a new hobby.

However your employees envision their retirement, you want them to be as prepared as possible to enjoy it. But you know that designing a comfortable retirement isn’t as easy as it sounds. There are finances to plan, health issues to manage, days to fill.

Luckily, employees have you—and your wellness program—to help them prepare. Here’s what they should do … and how you can help.

Wellness is more than a single blood pressure reading or the number of miles we logged last week on our Fitbit. Instead, wellness is a complex connection of systems, with each one affecting the next.

Because of this, companies who take a siloed approach to employee wellness, focusing solely on nutrition or fitness, do themselves—and their employees—a huge disservice.

But imagine what could be accomplished when an employer helps their employees not just eat well and better manage health conditions, but also plan for retirement or college, teach stress management and coping strategies, and develop social groups to keep employees feeling connected.

A person’s job obviously affects their financial situation. But what about when their financial situation affects their job? Money IS important, and not managing it can affect employees’ health and performance in far-reaching ways.

So, how can employers really help their staff improve their financial well-being (other than giving them raises, of course) without resorting to cliched advice like bringing lunch to work or skipping that daily double-foam soy latte?