The success of your financial wellness program is only as good as the goals you set.
Your goals can help you measure the success of a program rollout and evaluate the costs.
As your plans adapt to employees’ needs, your goals will likely change. Below are popular goals to see how your program is performing.
Your First Goals
We recommend those launching their first financial wellness programs to establish just two or three core goals. This allows you to stay focused.
Your goals should include both company-wide goals as well as goals specific to your wellness program.
An example of a great first goal would be to reduce absenteeism. Engaging employees with their personal finances can lead to boosts in productivity and reduced absenteeism.
Organizational Goals
Increasing Benefit Adoption Rates
Almost half of Americans don’t use the current financial benefits offered by their employer. Low adoption rates may be because of a lack of eligibility or because they don’t properly address the right financial needs.
Financial wellness programs help address this problem by guiding employees in ways their existing benefits do not. Wellness programs can also help prepare employees to better understand what their other benefits are able to do for them.
Monitoring organization-wide adoption rates of existing benefits can be a good metric for employers to understand how their employees are benefiting from their financial wellness program.
Reducing Absenteeism in the Workplace
It’s no secret that a third of Americans are bringing their personal financial stress into work. A third of employees reported that their financial woes are hurting their performance. Things have gotten so bad for some workers that they’ve missed work to take care of financial problems.
Financial wellness programs can be used to reduce employee stress and reduce absenteeism. A popular goal for some organizations is to monitor reductions in employee absenteeism.
Boosting Overall Employee Health
Employees’ financial wellness can affect their personal health too. Stress is associated with other health problems. Financial wellness programs that address it can also reduce healthcare costs.
As employees address their financial stresses, they’ll not only feel more confident with their spending and saving decisions, they’re also likely to see increases in happiness and take fewer sick days throughout the year.
Whatever goals you choose, don’t be afraid to change them as your wellness program grows and becomes better at addressing employee needs. Start with just a few organizational goals during your first rollout and adapt them to your needs throughout the year.
Are you struggling creating a budget for your financial wellness program? Check out our newest educational guide Creating a Budget for Your Financial Wellness Program.