The WellRight Blog

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?

At some point in their lives, approximately 75% of working women in the United States will become pregnant. But what should be a very exciting time in their lives can sometimes become a challenging one, with physical and emotional changes making daily work tasks difficult. Adding to the challenge is concern over discrimination, which can prevent pregnant employees from asking for accommodations to make things easier.

But by ensuring you have a robust employee wellness program, you can help your employees be more comfortable and productive throughout their pregnancy and beyond.

The generational makeup of the workforce is changing rapidly: In 2015, Baby Boomers made up 29% of the workforce, while Generation X and Millennials each made up 34%. But by 2020, Millennials are poised to make up 50% of the global workforce.

Even as Millennials dominate the workforce, employees are living and working longer. This means some businesses can soon expect to have up to five generations of employees in their ranks. How will this impact employers?