By Rachel Feintzeig
Companies are expanding their wellness programs to focus on
workers' wallets in addition to their waistlines.
PepsiCo Inc., Staples Inc. and Meredith Corp., among others,
have begun offering programs aimed at improving employees'
financial security.
Modeled after physical-wellness programs that invite employees
to lose weight or undergo health screenings, financial-wellness
programs include finance classes, counseling sessions and even
videogames designed to help staffers pay down debt, stick to a
budget and invest for their retirement.
Bosses say the programs also boost productivity, citing research
findings that suggest workers under financial strain can be
distracted and absent from work.
Employees, though, may wonder why their employers don't just pay
them more.
Several years after the global recession and a long spell of
anemic wage growth, American workers still aren't happy about the
state of their finances. The most recent Labor Department jobs
report shows average hourly earnings for private-sector workers
were up 2.1% in March from the prior year, and wages have been
growing at about 2% for the past four years. Nearly 80% of workers
in the U.S. and Puerto Rico are under moderate or high levels of
financial stress, according to evaluations of about 40,000 workers
conducted by the financial-education firm Financial Fitness Group
last year.
Companies say financially stressed workers call in sick more
often and may be delaying retirement. In 2013, 76% of employers
said they were interested in financial-wellness programs, according
to a survey by Aon Hewitt. Last year, 93% said they were planning
to create or expand their efforts.
At Meredith Corp., workers who complete a 35-question "financial
wellness checkup" or take a course on refinancing their mortgage
earn points that can make them eligible for cheaper health plans
offered by the media company.
Employees' spouses can accrue points too, says Tim O'Neil, the
company's director of employee benefits and wellness. In 2014, 80%
of Meredith's 5,200 employees and spouses completed at least one
workshop, and 95% filled out the questionnaire, which asks whether
the person is behind on bills and whether financial stress affects
their productivity at work.
Since the program began, employees' financial stress has abated
at a pace that Mr. O'Neil says reflects more than just the
improvement in the economy. The company says employees' focus at
work has improved, too. According to Meredith surveys, 88% of
employees who reported lower money stress used no sick time last
year, a figure that was 10 percentage points better than for those
with higher levels of money stress.
As corporate-benefits programs shift more responsibility onto
workers, Meredith's chief executive, Stephen Lacy, says he hopes
the personal-finance help will "empower" employees to make the
right choices. "This whole self-directed activity is extremely
risky without a lot of education and effort," he says.
Others say businesses are trying to solve a problem of their own
making. "Companies pulled away a lot of the social safety net that
they used to provide," says Jeffrey Pfeffer, a professor of
organizational behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of
Business. "Since we pulled away the safety net, you of course are
going to be stressed."
In a Towers Watson report from March 2014, 76% of workers said
their employer "recently enacted significant changes that could
compromise their near-term or long-term finances," such as scaling
back retirement benefits or increasing health-care costs.
"It can feel a little like 'budget better, you'll have more
money,'" says a Meredith editor in New York who spoke anonymously
to avoid offending her bosses. "If I make more money, I'll have
more money."
She has also found the program "a bit big brother-y," adding:
"There's something a little uncomfortable about the person who pays
your salary knowing what margins you have."
Meredith says that individuals' financial information is
confidential and that it views workers' survey responses only in
the aggregate.
Employers also say that financial-wellness programs show
employees that they care--and also cost less than increasing pay.
Meredith says its program costs $100,000 a year.
Michael Case Smith, who oversees a 401(k) fund that provides
one-on-one financial counseling to participating workers, says the
counseling provides a "perceived benefit" to workers.
Anything [companies] can deliver that gives the employee the
feeling that the employer cares for them...is timely," he says.
Mike Kelly, who runs a general-contracting business in Chicago,
added the financial-wellness 401(k) for his employees last year.
During the recession, some workers requested loans from their plans
to make ends meet. He worries about employees being distracted on
the job--a potential safety issue--because of financial stress but
says he can't afford to increase wages.
"If pay is holding steady, what else can you offer them?" he
asks. "We haven't given out pay increases, but we can say, 'Hey,
we've got a way to manage your money more efficiently.'"
At Pepsi, about 15 counselors from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
are on hand to help employees who want to take a class on
foreclosure or need help navigating insurance claims after natural
disasters. The counselors also keep management apprised of what,
generally, is on employees' minds, says Chad Ryan, the company's
director of compensation and benefits.
Adding some levity to a dry topic, Staples has created
videogames that teach workers about money. For example, "Bite
Club," a vampire-themed game, shows players how to save for
retirement. Despite some eye-rolling, the office-supplies retailer
says about 15,000 associates have played the game.
Raymond Sablan says the fun of competing against co-workers,
plus a character that reminded him of the popular "Twilight"
series, was the "bait" he needed to start a 401(k) a few years
back. Now a manager at a Texas Staples, he says he regularly urges
his direct reports to play.
Write to Rachel Feintzeig at rachel.feintzeig@wsj.com
Access Investor Kit for Meredith Corp.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US5894331017
Access Investor Kit for PepsiCo, Inc.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US7134481081
Access Investor Kit for Staples, Inc.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US8550301027