When it comes to launching a successful financial wellness program, several factors can drive program success. Investing in a program is a significant first step, but it’s also essential to have a strategy when it comes to launching the program. Here are five tips to think about when you launch your workplace financial wellness program.
1. Assess your workforce needs
Someone who is at the office or worksite regularly interacting with employees on a day-to-day basis is going to know your people and culture the best. We can list dozens of stats, but the real knowledge comes from personal interactions. Think about the average wage at your organization. How your employees regularly get to and from work, and the age of your population. It’s essential to design a strategy that embraces the unique culture and demographics of your workforce.
2. Align your HR strategy with your financial wellness strategy
When offering a successful wellness program, make sure your HR strategy is in alignment with your financial wellness strategy. Open enrollment can be a busy time, but also the perfect time to launch a financial education tool that helps participants understand their benefits options. The key to success is making sure your financial wellness program is a part of your total HR and benefits strategy.
3. Support and motivate your employees
Your financial wellness program probably has a strategy for engaging participants and personalizing the user experience. However, a successful program also needs financial wellness champions inside the company or incentives to help motivate employees to try it out. You will always have a group of first-movers who engage in a new program. Incentives or financial wellness champions can help motivate people who are on the fence to give it a try too.
4. Marketing and communication strategy
A strategic marketing and communication strategy can make a significant impact on your program’s engagement rate. Most programs include a marketing strategy or marketing tools to support your program. With that said, it’s still important to brainstorm how your employees receive and access information. Make sure employees have easy access to enrollment and continued engagement.
5. Provide Encouragement
Finances are not something that you typically talk about in the workplace. Whether people are embarrassed by their financial situation or finances stress them out, it’s easy to want to avoid the topic. It’s critical to encourage employees to try the program and access the resources available to them. Make it popular to learn about finances!