shrm mhfcu-financial-wellness-2014-final

SHRM Survey Findings: Financial Wellness in the Workplace

Sponsored by McGraw-Hill Federal Credit Union

May 14, 2014

Financial Wellness in the Workplace ©SHRM 2014 2

Definitions

• Financial education: Any workplace initiative, program or resource designed to provide employees with information on how to manage their resources effectively for a lifetime of financial well-being.

• Employee Generations» Traditionalists: born before 1946; 69 years of age or older. » Baby Boomers: born between 1946 and 1964; 50 to 68 years of age.» Generation X: born between 1965 and 1980; 34 to 49 years of age.» Millennials: born after 1980; 33 years of age or younger.


Key Findings

• What are the most common financial challenges faced by employees? According to 42% of HR professionals, medical expenses are the most common personal financial challenge affecting employees. As of December 2013/January 2014, this number increased seven percentage points compared with 2011. Furthermore, 41% of HR professionals reported that an overall lack of monetary funds to cover personal expenses affected employees at their organization.

• Do personal financial challenges affect overall employee performance? Seven out of 10 HR professionals indicated that personal financial challenges have a “large” or “some” impact on overall employee performance. Of these HR professionals, approximately one-half reported that employees’ stress (50%) and their ability to focus on work (47%) were the aspects of employee performance that were most negatively affected by personal financial challenges.

• Are employees currently faced with more personal financial challenges than before? Thirty-eight percent of HR professionals reported that their employees have more personal financial challenges now compared with the early part of the Recession in late 2007, while 23% of HR professionals said their employees are experiencing more personal financial challenges compared with 12 months ago.

• Are employees more likely to request a defined contribution savings plan loan or hardship withdrawal now than before? Almost two-thirds of HR professionals (62%) agreed or strongly agreed that employees have been more likely to request a defined contribution plan loan over the past 12 months compared with previous years, whereas 44% agreed or strongly agreed that employees have been more likely to request a defined contribution savings plan hardship withdrawal.


Key Findings (continued)

• Are organizations providing financial education to their employees? Nearly three-fifths of organizations (57%) provide some kind of financial education to their employees. Nonprofit organizations are more likely than privately owned for-profit organizations to offer this benefit to their employees.

• What challenges do organizations that provide financial education face? One-quarter of organizations reported facing obstacles in providing financial education for their employees. The greatest challenges among organizations that offer financial education to their employees are the cost (33%) and the lack of interest among staff (28%).

• What type of financial education do organizations provide to their employees? The most common types of financial educations organizations offer to their employees are retirement planning (79%), financial counseling/resources through an employee assistance program (75%) and financial investment planning (56%).

• Which generations are most likely to take advantage of financial education benefits? HR professionals indicated that Baby Boomers (70%) and Generation X employees (53%) are the generations most likely to participate in financial education programs. Furthermore, Baby Boomers are most interested in retirement planning (77%), and Generation X in financial investment planning (44%).

• What are the biggest obstacles that prevent organizations from offering financial education to their employees? The most common concerns for organization that do not currently offer financial education to their employees are the cost (24%) and the lack of staff resources to pursue offering financial education (22%).


• Even in an improving economy, many workers continue to struggle with their finances. This research shows that nearly two out of five workers are having a harder time with money now compared with the onset of the Great Recession in 2007. Knowing this, organizations should consider offering some type of financial counseling program for their employees.

• Other SHRM research has shown that most employers do not leverage their benefits programs as a retention/recruitment tool; less than one-fifth (18%) use their benefits program as a retention tool and about one-quarter (26%) as a recruitment tool).* However, organizations that do leverage these benefits frequently cite their retirement savings and planning benefits as a means of keeping or attracting workers (57% of HR professionals who leverage benefits programs use retirement savings and planning benefits for retention, and 70% of HR professionals use them for recruitment).

• When developing a formal financial and/or retirement counseling program, HR professionals should tailor that benefit for different generations in the workplace. Baby Boomers and members of Generation X are most likely to participate in a financial education program at work. But younger workers, such as Millennials, represent a fast-growing segment of the labor force, and other research has shown that they value an assortment of retirement options and other types of financial planning they receive through their jobs.

What do these findings mean for HR professionals?

*Source: Society for Human Resource Management (2013, December). 2013 State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace Series. Retrieved from http://www.shrm.org/Research/SurveyFindings/Articles/ Pages/2013StateofBenefits-BenefitstoRecruit.aspx.


The Impact of Financial Challenges on the Workplace


In the past 12 months, which of the following personal financial challenges have affected employees at your organization the most?

Medical expenses

Overall lack of monetary funds to cover their personal expenses

Saving for retirement

Credit card debt

Child care expenses*

Home mortgage payments

Education expenses

Home rental payments

Other debt

Elder care expenses*

Bankruptcy

Other

42%

41%

31%

25%

16%

15%

13%

7%

5%

4%

2%

2%

35%

49%

26%

22%

22%

12%

9%

8%

4%

4%

2011 (n = 459)

2014 (n = 401)

Note: Respondents who answered “Not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages may not equal 100% due to multiple response options. An asterisk (*) indicates that the response option was not offered in 2011.


How much of an impact do employees’ personal financial challenges have on employees’ work performance?

A large impact

Some impact

A slight impact

No impact at all

15%

55%

26%

4%

22%

61%

16%

2%

2011 (n = 424)2014 (n = 351)

Note: Respondents who answered “Not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding.


What aspects of overall employee work performance are MOST negatively affected when employees face personal financial challenges?

Overall employee stress

Ability of employees to focus on work

Overall employee productivity

Employee absenteeism/tardiness

Employee engagement*

Overall employee morale

Overall employee health

Working relationships with other employees

Other

50%

47%

29%

26%

15%

15%

7%

6%

0%

46%

47%

26%

24%

20%

12%

7%

1%

2011 (n = 341)2014 (n = 234)

Note: Only respondents who said that personal financial challenges have “a large impact” or “some impact” on overall employee work performance were asked this question. Respondents who answered “Not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options. An asterisk (*) indicates that the response option was not offered in 2011.


Were employees at your organization faced with more, about the same or fewer personal financial challenges in December 2013/January 2014 compared with…?

Note: Respondents who answered “Not sure” were excluded from this analysis. * The early part of the Recession refers to late 2007.

The early part of the Recession* (n = 321)

12 months ago (n = 333)

38%

23%

46%

68%

16%

9%

More personal financial challenges


In the past 12 months, has the amount employees contributed to their organization-sponsored defined contribution plans (e.g., 401(k), IRA, etc.) changed compared with previous years?

Note: n = 335. Respondents who answered “Not sure” or “My organization does not offer this benefit” were excluded from this analysis.

Decreased

Stayed the same

Increased

24%

54%

22%


In the past 12 months, compared with previous years, employees have been more likely to request a…

Note: Respondents who answered “Not sure” or “My organization does not offer this benefit” were excluded from this analysis.

Defined contribution savings plan hardship withdrawal

(n = 269)

Defined contribution plan loan (n = 263)

9%

15%

35%

47%

46%

32%

10%

5%

Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree


Employer-Sponsored Financial Education Resources


Does your organization currently provide any kind of financial education to your employees?

Note: Respondents who answered “Not sure” were excluded from this analysis.

Yes

No

57%

43%

52%

48%

64%

36%

2009 (n = 401)2011 (n = 435)2014 (n = 362)

Of those organizations that do not currently provide financial education, 21% plan to do so in

the next 12 months.


Does your organization currently provide any kind of financial education to your employees?

Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown.

Comparisons by organization sector

Nonprofit (71%) > Privately owned for-profit (50%)

Comparisons by organization sector

• Nonprofit organizations are more likely than privately owned for-profit organizations to provide any kind of financial education to their employees.


What type of financial education do organizations provide to employees?

Retirement planning

Access to an Employee Assistance Program (EAP)*

Financial investment planning

Medical/health care costs planning

General budgeting advice

Privacy, security and fraud protection

Education planning

Credit restoration/repair resources

Home buying seminars

Other

79%

75%

56%

40%

26%

25%

24%

11%

7%

3%

Note: n = 208. Only respondents whose organizations offered financial education were asked this question. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options. An asterisk (*) indicates that the EAP includes financial counseling/resources.


How do organizations provide financial education to employees?

2014(n = 208)

2011(n = 219)

2009(n = 256)

Seminars during work hours using outside speakers*

61% 60% 57%

Paper resources (e.g., pamphlets, handouts) 51% - -

New-hire employee orientation 44% 44% 47%

Self-directed e-learning 37% - -

Intranet* 36% 40% 42%

Seminars during work hours lead by trained in-house staff*

25% 17% 31%

In-house newsletter 23% 25% 30%

Seminars outside of work hours* 20% 22% 15%

Employee assistance program (EAP)** 5% - -

Mandatory seminars/training - 11% 17%

Other 6% 9% 2%Note: Only respondents whose organizations offered financial education were asked this question. Percentages may not equal 100% due to multiple response options. A dash (-) indicates that the response was not asked that specific year. An asterisk (*) indicates that the response option was modified from previous years. A double asterisk (**) indicates that the response option was developed from open-ended responses.


In the past 12 months, has your organization seen an increased demand for financial education from employees?

Yes

No

32%

68%

37%

63%

35%

65%

2009 (n = 195)2011 (n = 154)2014 (n = 171)

Note: Only respondents whose organizations offered financial education were asked this question. Respondents who answered “Not sure” were excluded from this analysis.


In 2013, have the financial education offerings at your organization changed compared with 2012?

Note: n = 195. Only respondents whose organizations offered financial education were asked this question. Respondents who answered “Not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages do not equal 100% due to rounding.

Increased

Stayed the same

Decreased

27%

73%

1%


For your 2014 budget, will you request more, about the same or fewer funds for financial education than in previous years?

Note: n = 164. Only respondents whose organizations offered financial education were asked this question. Respondents who answered “Not sure” or “No funds for financial education in 2014” were excluded from this analysis.

More funds

About the same funds

Fewer funds

6%

88%

6%


Which generations are most likely to participate in the financial education offerings at your organization?

Note: n = 208. Only respondents whose organizations offered financial education were asked this question. Respondents who answered “Not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.

Traditionalists

Baby Boomers

Generation X

Millennials

10%

70%

53%

15%


What financial education topic is most important to each generation?

Note: Only respondents whose organizations offered financial education were asked this question. Respondents who answered “Not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding. Respondents were asked to select one financial education topic for the generation that was most likely to participate. Data are sorted by the “Baby Boomers” column. Results on “Traditionalists” are not included due to a small sample size (n=20).

Baby Boomers (n = 144)

Generation X (n = 105)

Millennials (n = 29)

Retirement planning 77% 20% 14%

Medical/health care costs planning 9% 7% 10%

Financial investment planning 9% 44% 31%

General budgeting advice 1% 12% 24%

Credit restoration/repair resources 1% 9% 7%

Home buying seminars 1% 4% 3%

Privacy, security and fraud protection 1% 1% 3%

Education planning 0% 4% 0%

Other 0% 0% 7%


Has your organization conducted a needs assessment (including surveys, focus groups, etc.) to determine what topics or delivery methods of financial education would be most beneficial to your employees?

Yes

No

16%

84%

10%

90%

12%

88%

2009 (n = 253)2011 (n = 214)



Overall, how effective has your organization’s financial education initiative been in improving your employees’ financial wellness?

Note: n = 143. Only respondents whose organizations offered financial education were asked this question. Respondents who answered “Not sure” were excluded from this analysis.

Very effective

Somewhat effective

Somewhat ineffective

Very ineffective

6%

66%

19%

9%


Has your organization’s financial education initiatives faced any obstacles?

Yes

No

25%

75%

21%

79%

33%

67%

2009 (n = 256)2011 (n = 215)2014 (n = 167)



What is the biggest obstacle that your financial education initiatives face?

Organizations currently offering

financial education

Organizations not currently offering

financial education

2014 (n = 43)

2011(n = 48)

2009 (n = 171)

2014(n = 86)

2011(n = 150)

2009 (n = 132)

Cost of providing financial education 33% 33% 25% 24% 25% 27%

Lack of interest among employees 28% 27% 37% 16% 23% 19%

Lack of staff resources to pursue this offering* 16% 10% - 22% 0% -

Concern about perceived violation of fiduciary duty if providers of financial education (i.e., outside providers) are not objective*

7% 6% 11% 8% 9% 14%

Lack of support from organization’s leaders 5% 8% 11% 15% 15% 14%

Not sure how to create or find financial education resources 2% 4% 8% 2% 14% 7%

Lack of need in the workplace 0% 6% 6% 7% 8% 17%

Other 9% 4% 2% 5% 6% 2%

Note: An asterisk (*) indicates that the survey choice was changed from prior survey years. Percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding. A dash (-) indicates that data are not available. Data are sorted by “Organizations currently offering financial education” in 2014.


Demographics


Demographics: Employee Generations in Respondents’ Workplace

Employees are more or less equally distributed across all generations

Millennials

Generation X

Baby Boomers

Traditionalists

5%

20%

60%

45%

1%

Note: n = 361. Percentages may not equal 100% due to multiple response options. Respondents were asked to select up to two generations that primarily represented their workforce. Respondents who answered “Not sure” were excluded from this analysis.


Demographics: Employee Gender in Respondents’ Workplace

Mostly male em-ployees

More or less equally distributed between

male and female employees

Mostly female employees

25%

39%

36%

Note: n = 346. Respondents who answered “Not sure” were excluded from this analysis.


Demographics: Organization Industry

Percentage

Professional, scientific and technical services 22%

Health care and social assistance 18%

Finance and insurance 14%

Manufacturing 11%

Educational services 10%

Government agencies 10%

Transportation and warehousing 6%

Retail trade 5%Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services

5%

Accommodation and food services 4%

Religious, grant-making, civic, professional and similar organizations 4%

Note: n = 354. Percentages may not equal 100% due to multiple response options.


Demographics: Organization Industry (continued)

Percentage

Utilities 3%

Information, publishing industries 3%

Wholesale trade 3%

Construction 2%

Arts, entertainment and recreation 2%

Real estate and rental and leasing 1%

Repair and maintenance 1%

Mining 1%

Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 1%

Personal and laundry services 0%

Other 5%

Note: n = 354. Percentages may not equal 100% due to multiple response options.


Demographics: Organization Sector

Other

Government sector

Publicly owned for-profit organization

Nonprofit organization

Privately owned for-profit organization

3%

11%

14%

23%

48%

Note: n = 353. Percentages do not equal 100% due to rounding.


Demographics: Organization Staff Size


25,000 or more employees

2,500 to 24,999 employees

500 to 2,499 employees

100 to 499 employees

1 to 99 employees

4%

9%

22%

41%

23%


Demographics: Other

Does your organization have U.S.-based operations (business units) only, or does it operate multinationally?

U.S.-based operations only

83%

Multinational operations 17%

n = 359

Is your organization a single-unit company or a multi-unit company?

Single-unit company: A company in which the location and the company are one and the same

36%

Multi-unit company: A company that has more than one location

64%

n = 358

Are HR policies and practices determined by the multi-unit corporate headquarters, by each work location or both?

Multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies and practices

65%

Each work location determines HR policies and practices

1%

A combination of both the work location and the multi-unit headquarters determine HR policies and practices

35%


What is the HR department/function for which you responded throughout this survey?

Corporate (companywide) 81%

Business unit/division 13%

Facility/location 6%

n = 232


SHRM Survey Findings: Financial Wellness in the Workplace

• Response rate = 14%• Sample composed of 401 randomly selected HR professionals with the title of assistant

director or above from SHRM’s membership• Margin of error = +/- 5%• Survey fielded December 17, 2013 – January 27, 2014

Sponsored by McGraw-Hill Federal Credit Union

Survey Methodology


• Retirement Plans Resource Page

• Retirement and Financial Planning Articles

• Defined Contribution Plans Resource Page

• Defined Contribution: Loans and Withdrawals

• Defined Contribution: Education and Advice

Additional SHRM Resources

http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/benefits/articles/pages/retirementplans.aspx

http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/benefits/articles/pages/dc_planning.aspx

http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/benefits/Pages/DefinedContributionPlans.aspx

http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/benefits/Articles/Pages/DC_Loans.aspx

http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/benefits/articles/pages/dc_education.aspx


For more survey/poll findings, visit shrm.org/surveys.

For more information about SHRM’s Customized Research Services, visit shrm.org/customizedresearch.

Follow us on Twitter @SHRM_Research.

About SHRM Research

Project leader:Christina Lee, researcher, SHRM Research

Project contributors:Alexander Alonso, Ph.D., SPHR, vice president, SHRM ResearchEvren Esen, director, Survey Research Center, SHRM Research

Copy editor:Katya Scanlan, SHRM Knowledge Center

http://www.shrm.org/surveys

http://www.shrm.org/customizedresearch

http://www.shrm.org/customizedresearch

http://twitter.com/SHRM_Research


Founded in 1948, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is the world’s largest HR membership organization devoted to human resource management. Representing more than 275,000 members in over 160 countries, the Society is the leading provider of resources to serve the needs of HR professionals and advance the professional practice of human resource management. SHRM has more than 575 affiliated chapters within the United States and subsidiary offices in China, India and United Arab Emirates. Visit us at shrm.org.

About SHRM

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