Rolling out a well-received financial wellness program requires employee communications that engage employees and call them to action. These programs are best designed with increasing employee knowledge as their main priority—educating employees on every option to assist them in their overall decision-making process.  

Today’s workplaces typically feature a diverse mix of employee demographics and populations, each with their own unique financial goals, future interests and timelines in mind; from the Millennials paying down student loan debt to the older generations focusing on retirement. 

Types of Financial Wellness Messaging

Financial wellness messaging can be broken down into three distinct categories, each designed to help employees make informed decisions for their unique financial situation: 

• Informational messages communicate an individual employee or team’s progress toward a goal, like completing a specific step in the program enrollment process. A medium like email is an effective way to send informational messages, as they could have accompanying resources, like tools such as financial calculators, or the dates of upcoming informational webinars with links to virtual meetings or lectures.

• Educational messages introduce supplemental information that helps employees dive deep into key financial wellness concepts. Some of these messages could include articles and advice from subject matter experts with reader-friendly infographics, and other materials that educate them on the ins and outs of their financial wellness benefits and options.

• Call-to-action messages invite employees to participate in specific financial wellness initiatives, take advantage of certain offerings, or take active steps toward their financial future. Their sole purpose is to engage employees into taking a specific action. 

Methods for Deploying Financial Wellness Communications

To reach a diverse employee population, it’s essential to meet everyone right where they are. While some are more reachable by email, others might prefer a phone call or videoconference. Tailoring your communication methods to each specific employee audience ensures everyone easily gets the message.

1. Web Portal or Intranet: A password-protected employee intranet or web portal is a great place to provide financial wellness content and key communications. Since employees are already well-versed in visiting the portal for other HR-based content like payroll information and health insurance coverage, it’s a practical place to store financial wellness information, as well. 
   
   
2. Email: Email makes it easy to incorporate informational, educational and call-to-action messages all in one channel. You can even create visually appealing, easy-to-read e-newsletters as an engaging way to highlight financial wellness initiatives or use dedicated software tools and services to measure analytics on which links employees clicked on and how much time they spent reading specific information. 
   
   
3. Mobile: American adults spend an average of 3 hours and 35 minutes on their phones each day. That’s almost 20 hours within the traditional 35-40 hour workweek when you have a captivated mobile audience. Sending out a text message with informational, educational or call-to-action messaging is a great way to reach those employees right where they are—scrolling through their phones.  
   
   
4. Video conferencing: In some cases, a more interactive form of communication can help employees who have questions, need more information, or prefer a more personalized approach to financial wellness. Video conferencing allows employers to have more meaningful interactions with employees, highlighting key program details and being available face-to-face to answer any questions that arise. 

Implementing a Successful Financial Wellness Program 

When it comes to rolling out a successful and strategically aligned financial wellness program, ease-of-participation, a personalized process and well-executed data measurement can go a long way: 

Gather and Analyze Employee Data

Identify your employees’ overarching financial wellness priorities, program preparedness, and perceived gaps in knowledge about the process. 

Take a Personalized Approach

Communicate financial wellness solutions in a way that’s tailored to their unique personal circumstances, financial goals, and preferred communication channels.

Simplify Employee Participation

Utilize a multi-channel communication approach (using a mix of the methods mentioned above) to ensure employees have the flexibility to access messages in the most convenient way. 

Measure Data to Determine Impact

Metrics like job satisfaction, productivity, engagement, and any costs associated with absenteeism and turnover can help you determine whether your financial wellness initiatives are having a real impact.

A diverse, multifaceted workforce with a wide range of financial wellness goals requires a mix of communication strategies to understand which methods best resonate with your employee audience. Pairing the right type of message with the most convenient channel is the optimal way to promote financial wellness programs and engage employees to participate. The end result? A brighter, less-stressed financial future for your workforce.