Love and Money: How We Can Support Employees’ Financial Well-being

It’s well understood that money is the leading cause of stress. According to CNBC, more than a third of all people indicated that financial concerns were the biggest issue in their relationships. Only 25% chose the second leading concern; annoying habits, so make of that what you will. 

Often when we consider stress at work, we are thinking of its direct causes, such as an overload of tasks, poor managers or a lack of communication. But what about indirect causes of stress; with symptoms like a lack of engagement, lethargy and a general feeling of dissatisfaction? After all, there is no reason to think of our relationship with our job as any different than other relationship. And do we not spend more time at our work than in any other activity? 

It should really come as no surprise then that financial stress plays such a big role in causing work-related issues. PwC recently found that 54% of employees indicated that finances are their biggest stressor at work. Employees with increased financial stress are nearly four times as likely to admit that their finances are a distraction at work. They’re also more likely to be attracted to other companies that care more about their financial well-being.

The real question then is, what can we as HR professionals do to help address this problem? After all, with traditional work-related stressors, HR offers support, such as workload management, manager training or improvements to communications processes. What can they do about financial stress?

To help mitigate employees’ financial stress, providing the right resources to help employees understand their money goals and giving them the tools they need to achieve these goals requires financial education and support. Enabling employees to meet their short-term goals, such as paying the bills, as well as their long-term objectives like saving for a home or retirement can help relieve this stress. It really is no different than any other type of wellness. It’s all a matter of helping people find out where they currently stand, where they want to be and how to get there, the same as with dietary, fitness or productivity goals. 

To learn more about this, join me and Neha Mirchandani, CMO and Head of People of BrightPlan as we discuss how to develop and implement a powerful and highly impactful wellness program. We would love to hear your questions live, and you can also email me at [email protected] any time with your questions regarding this or any HR topics. 

Hope to be seeing you soon!

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Mike Cooke

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Mike Cooke

Chief Executive Officer of Brandon Hall Group Mike Cooke Prior to joining Brandon Hall Group, Mike Cooke was the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of AC Growth. Mike held leadership and executive positions for the majority of his career, at which he was responsible for steering sales and marketing teams to drive results and profitability. His background includes more than 15 years of experience in sales, marketing, management, and operations in the research, consulting, software and technology industries. Mike has extensive experience in sales, marketing and management having worked for several early high-growth emerging businesses and has implemented technology systems to support various critical sales, finance, marketing and client service functions. He is especially skilled in organizing the sales and service strategy to fully support a company’s growth strategy. The concept of growth was an absolute to Mike and a motivator in starting AC Growth, in order to help organizations achieve research driven results. Most recently, Mike was the VP and General Manager of Field Operations at Bersin & Associates, a global analyst and consulting services firm focused on all areas of enterprise learning, talent management and talent acquisition. Tasked with leading the company’s global expansion, Mike led all sales operations worldwide. During Mike’s tenure, the company has grown into a multi-national firm, conducting business in over 45 countries with over 4,500 multi-national organizations. Mike started his career at MicroVideo Learning Systems in 1992, eventually holding a senior management position and leading all corporate sales before founding Dynamic Minds. Mike was CEO and Co-Founder of Dynamic Minds, a custom developer of software programs, working with clients like Goldman Sachs, Prentice Hall, McGraw Hill and Merrill Lynch. Also, Mike worked for Oddcast, a leading provider of customer experience and marketing solutions, where he held a senior management position leading the company into new markets across various industries. Mike also serves on the Advisory Board for Carbon Solutions America, an independent sustainability consulting and carbon management firm that specializes in the design and implementation of greenhouse reduction and sustainability plans as well as managing the generation of carbon and renewal energy and energy efficiency credits. Mike attended University of Phoenix, studying Business Administration and Finance. He has also completed executive training at the Chicago Graduate School of Business in Chicago, IL.