The job market is booming and employers are competing to attract and retain the best workers. This charge gets even trickier when looking at millennials. A recent study showed that nearly half of millennial employees said they would like their employer to provide additional help with financial matters, proving that there is a need for holistic benefits packages that more broadly address employee well-being.
As a benefits consultant, you can support your clients by providing financial wellness services that step outside of traditional insurance offerings. These services could include student loan assistance or college advisory services to help support employees’ educational journeys, financial planning or will preparation assistance, and fraud protection to help guard against identity theft.
Clients might not immediately recognize the merits of nontraditional options, but they can benefit both the organization and employees by helping to reduce everyday stress and ensure employees are fully present — both physically and mentally — while in the office. Below are a few more advantages that you can discuss when talking to employers:
1. Financial wellness services can help keep you competitive.
Simply put, employees want increased benefits options. According to the 2017 Aflac WorkForces Report, 58% of employees say they are at least somewhat likely to take a job with slightly lower pay but a stronger benefits package.
By providing additional options for employees to take advantage of, new talent is more likely to be drawn to a company, especially when their benefits packages include something as important as financial fitness.
2. Financial wellness services can keep employees focused on work.
Money is important — but it can also be stressful, leading some to focus on their financial situations while at work.
However, with a better understanding of financial wellness, employees may be more likely to spend their hours at the office tuned into their job, keeping distractions to a minimum.
3. Financial wellness services help establish employee loyalty.
Employees want to feel their employer is on their side.
Companies can achieve this through a variety of ways, but here is one you might not have considered: social responsibility.
Adopting initiatives demonstrating a sustained spirit of caring through giving back within a community or donating to a charity that is meaningful to employees can result in employee loyalty.
In fact, 76% of millennials consider a company’s social and environmental commitments when deciding where to work, according to a Cone Communications engagement survey.
Employers are looking for opportunities to become increasingly competitive in the benefits space, and they are turning to agents and brokers for help. By helping clients see the value of nontraditional options such as financial wellness benefits, employers can elevate their benefits to the next level and help ensure their employees remain protected and happy, too.
