Last Updated on Mar 24, 2021 by Manonmayi
Unfortunately, most schools and colleges in India don’t teach personal finance management. That is why most freshers who earn income, oftentimes don’t know how to manage it. Month-end blues are proof. But this doesn’t bode well in the long-term, not even for you as a company. Because your employees are constantly worried about their finances, which results in low productivity.
That is why, it makes sense to offer a personal finance management course or a financial literacy program to your employees. But how would that help your employees? Most importantly, how would an employee financial wellness program help your business? Read on to find out.
The article covers
Merits of offering a personal finance management course to your employees
Tips on offering a corporate financial wellness program to your employees
Introduction
For all the right reasons, there’s no one to blame here but the pandemic. But stress, no matter where it originates, is no good for your business. Think about it. A pay cut doesn’t translate into lower expenses but only adds to the employees’ burden. For instance, debt repayments can’t be postponed beyond a time. Worse, what if one of your employees’ family member loses their job? All of this leaves your employees battling hard.
Merits of offering a personal finance management course to your employees
Like a boon in disguise, this situation emphasises the importance of offering a personal finance course to employees. So, let us look at why you should be doing it and whether it helps your business.
Offering a personal finance management course enhances the productivity of your employees
Financially-well educated employees can make smart money-related decisions. They also tend to concentrate better on work than on money-related issues and make relatively lesser errors. This, in turn, increases employee productivity.
Offering a financial literacy program reduces the instances when your employees request an advance
As a result of mismanaging finances, some employees may approach you for an advance salary. By offering financial management lessons, your employees get an opportunity to learn to manage their income well, which may reduce instances wherein they need to ask for advance payment.
Offering a personal finance course reduces on-job time spent on learning about money management
It is no secret that employees spend some of their work hours in researching financial management or investment. That’s why, if you offer a financial literacy program to employees, they can use that time on the business as usual instead.
Offering an employee financial wellness incentivises your employees to stay longer with your company
Just like how you expect employees to offer more value to the company, your employees too like it when you go beyond and put in efforts to make their lives easier. It is only humane to do it. Most people have a quest to learn better ways to manage personal finance. So, why not make it possible for your employees? As a brownie point, this instils trust in the employees and lets them know that you mean more than just business.
Offering an employee financial wellness incentivises your employees to stay longer with your company
Let’s all agree that salary, however big or small the figure may be, alone doesn’t motivate employees to stick for long with the company. This is especially true in big corporates. Though there are thousands of others who can fill a vacancy, letting go of an employee that knows their job and your company goals has opportunity costs attached. That’s where offering employee financial wellness programs come into play. You give them a reason to stay. This may not be the only reason but a good addition to other perquisites that you offer.
Offering financial wellness programs in the workplace enhances the financial security of the employees
Having a sound financial education goes a long way in the employees’ lives. So much so that, on applying theory into practice, they get a sense of financial security over time. They learn how to manage the salary you offer optimally. That is how offering a personal finance course to your employees ties back to enhancing their morale and productivity.
Offering a corporate financial wellness program reaps a decent return on investment
True, offering financial education comes with a cost. But don’t overlook the returns that you can reap from doing so. Look at the bigger picture to understand. By offering a financial wellness program at the workplace, you tend to attract genuine talent who tend to stay longer with you and work at their best productivity levels. Collectively, this improves your team’s productivity and saves various costs that are the side-effects of financially-stress such as errors and absenteeism.
Offering a personal finance course to your employees is a pathway to corporate social responsibility (CSR)
Men may come and men may go, but a company goes on forever. So then why would you offer a financial program to your employees, who will, down the lane, switch jobs anyway? Why incur that cost at all? Well, think of it as a CSR venture. When you offer financial wellness programs in the workplace, your employees are in for a life-long change of mindset. Meaning, they can reap the benefits of your financial program even after they join work elsewhere. Because then, they are not your employees but part of the society at large.
Tips on offering a corporate financial wellness program to your employees
Offering personal finance management programs need not be a break-the-bank activity. You can start off low-key and scale up with time. Here’s how:
- Get your higher-ups to speak on personal finance management. They are in their respective position for a reason.
- Encourage your employees to attend online financial webinar sessions and be a facilitator.
- Tie up with a corporate financial wellness services provider for long-term and negotiate (you are supposed to be good at doing it *wink*).
- Send in weekly or monthly personal finance management newsletters covering varied financial topics such as investments, loans, repayments, savings, retirement, and so on.
- Target personal finance management topics relevant to employees’ major life events and milestones such as repayment of education loan, wedding, home purchase, having children, retirement, and so on.
- Encourage spouses of your employees to partake in your corporate financial wellness programs.
By now you may have understood why offering financial wellness programs in the workplace win-win deal for both you and your employees. So consider introducing financial wellness programs in the workplace, make a difference in your employees’ lives, and reap the benefits of employing financially savvy human resources.
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