SAN FRANCISCO -
March 27, 2013 -
PRLog -- As debate continues about how employers can promote better employee health with corporate wellness programs, Jennifer Benz suggests employers may be missing a huge opportunity by only narrowly defining wellness. She recommends that employers expand the definition of wellness to encompass financial health—including promoting financial literacy and encouraging greater participation in their financial benefits. Jen is founder and chief strategist of Benz Communications, a leading HR and benefits communication strategy firm. “Employers use ‘wellness’
in their communication as their go-to term for physical health. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But for employees and their families, health is about so much more than a healthy BMI or blood pressure level. Good health also means having enough money to be able to enjoy life, to not stress about bills or retirement,”
stated Jen. “For maximum effectiveness, employers need to expand the definition of wellness to include financial health equal to physical health. This means promoting financial literacy and encouraging employees to contribute to their 401(k)s, open a tax-advantaged health savings account (HSA) to pay for eligible medical expenses (if they have a high-deductible plan) and participate in the financial programs they offer,” Jen continued. Jen offers the following three steps for weaving together physical and financial health messaging, and helping employees achieve overall health.
1. Broaden the definition of wellness. Most employees have heard the term wellness and most probably assume it’s related to physical health. Help them see the whole picture. They may not immediately realize how financial health is crucial to maintaining their overall health. Connect the dots for them. Rebrand your wellness campaign so that finance is on par with physical health.
2. Create profiles that demonstrate importance to employees according to life stage. Young employees may not understand how opening a 401(k) early in their careers will help them earn more compound interest. Employees closer to retirement may not know that they can make catch-up contributions to their HSA. To make the most of your company’s financial benefits,
segment your employees through program-use data. Once you have well-defined groups, you can create employee profiles that provide relevant financial and physical health content. These profiles will help you develop your communication plan as well as execute it.
3. Communicate year round. You will never have enough time (or attention) to weave together the health and financial messages employees need if you only communicate once a year.
Build the channels and processes necessary to send employees shorter messages all year long. This helps employees and family members focus on the issues, remember what’s available and take action.
About Benz Communications Benz Communications is a benefits communications strategy firm creating integrated employee benefits campaigns for employers committed to nurturing high-performing and satisfied employees. Benz Communications’
clients include Fortune 500 companies and Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For. Benz Communications also offers innovative products to help small and mid-size companies educate employees about their health and financial benefits. Additional information about Benz Communications may be found at
www.benzcommunications.com.
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