Truist

Does financial literacy work? With 22% having no emergency savings whatsoever, money struggles are not a new problem, nor is financial literacy a new solution. Workplace financial wellness may provide the answer. After 18 years of research and practical application, Brian Nelson Ford has designed over 700 workplace financial wellness programs. He is a pioneer of the industry and currently serves as the Head of Financial Wellness at Truist Financial Corporation, where he delivers Truist’s Workplace Financial Wellness program, Truist Momentum, to over 400 companies worldwide.

In an exclusive interview with CFO Tech Outlook, Brian shares what it takes to design and deploy a successful workplace financial wellness program, along with what is next for the industry.

Why is workplace financial wellness different from traditional financial literacy?

Workplace financial education is perceived when it comes from a trusted source. Employees entrust their employer to take care of them in multiple ways, whether it is via a paycheck, health benefits, or helping them plan for retirement. Employees tend to see a financial wellness program as an extension of their total rewards, and employees are more likely to participate in a program that has been vetted and is proactively delivered to them vs. seeking something out on their own.

When we design a workplace financial wellness program, what should we keep in mind?

Our approach is to inspire, educate, and equip employees to achieve financial well-being.

Inspire

• It is important to help employees understand the ‘why’ behind financial literacy. One way to do this is by focusing less on money and more on what money can help the employee achieve. Also, a financial wellness program should be accessible and not daunting. I suggest providing a quick initial financial assessment that gives individuals credit for things they do well so they get a boost of confidence before they even get to the curriculum.

Educate

• We’ve found that providing content that appeals to various learning styles is beneficial. For example, some people are visual learners who prefer charts and infographics. Others are auditory and prefer a narrated video that explains concepts in detail. Some people want to sit down at their kitchen table with a printed workbook and take pen to paper. It also helps if you can make learning fun. In an online program, gamification (in the form of badges or other virtual accolades) provides that needed recognition when participants hit a financial milestone. If you are offering in-person or virtual classes, humor and personal stories go a long way in keeping individuals engaged.

Equip

• A good financial wellness program should equip employees with the tools and resources to incorporate what they’ve learned into their daily lives and routines.

What’s the best way to deploy a workplace financial wellness program?

Communication

Companies must leverage the communications tools and resources that are most effective within their specific culture. Emails, newsletters, all-hands meetings, or flyers in the breakroom can all be effective, and a multi-pronged communications approach typically works best. Full support of the program from executive leadership is also particularly important.

“Employees entrust their employer to take care of them in multiple ways, whether it is via a paycheck, health benefits, or helping them plan for retirement.”

Ignite Sessions

Ignite sessions are in-person or virtual ‘kick-off ’ meetings where we introduce the program to employees. The purpose of these sessions is to overcome objections and mitigate fears. Employees often think the program will be boring, or that it will expose them as having a problem with their finances, or that someone will try to sell them something.

Spending time explaining the program with energy and humor is highly effective while ensuring an employee’s privacy.

Holistic Approach

Positioning the financial wellness program within the context of the company’s existing benefit offerings benefits both the employee and the company. Integrating HR benefits within the financial wellness curriculum so the employee sees them holistically is ideal. For example, if the employee is learning about investing for retirement, we suggest referencing or linking to their 401(k) or other retirement plan. So, after the employee learns about the benefits of an employersponsored retirement plan, they can immediately take action.

What’s the future of workplace financial wellness?

Employer-sponsored emergency savings accounts (ESAs) are the future of workplace financial wellness. Sufficient emergency savings are fundamental to financial well-being.

Without emergency savings, when an emergency inevitably happens—whether it’s something large like a serious illness or job loss or something smaller like a broken-down car or dishwasher - people often turn to lessthan-optimal payment methods. This includes using highinterest rate credit cards, borrowing from family members, payday loans, etc. This can create a cycle of financial burden from which it is difficult to escape.

American employers have done a respectable job helping their employees save for retirement. The entire 401(k) industry was built by companies wanting to prepare their employees financially. However, employers have not traditionally taken a role in helping people save for emergencies. It is difficult to save for the future when you can’t even cover a $2000 emergency expense. Recent government legislation—the Secure Act 2.0—has legitimized employer-sponsored emergency savings, and we will see many more employers offering emergency savings as part of their employee benefits packages over the next several years.

Ideally, a Workplace Financial Wellness program and an ESA would be provided. Many employers already provide their employees with some kind of monetary incentive for completing a financial wellness program. With an ESA, employers can deposit a bonus or incentive directly into the employee’s savings account, truly equipping them to save and ultimately achieve their financial goals.