The whimsical picture shown above belies the serious matter of many American workers suffering from financial problems. They are living paycheck-to-paycheck with budgets stretched thin affecting employees at all pay levels.
Dr. E. Thomas Garman, Professor Emeritus of West Virginia University, became concerned as far back as 2006 about workers struggling with their finances when his research showed that approximately 50% of American employees are facing financial diffculty and are trying to reduce their debt of which 25% struggle with serious financial stress.
That year Dr. Garman, Aimee Prawitz, Judith Cohart, and others established the Personal Financial Employee Education Foundation (PFEEF) of which I am now President. PFEEF is a 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to promote and facilitate financial education in the workplace.
Employee financial stress spills over into the workplace negatively effecting direct employee costs of absenteeism, administration, lost productivity, and turnover. An employee’s low engagement or absenteeism can also have a negative impact on coworkers’ attitudes.
Today, more so that in 2006, employers recognize that workplace wellness programs should not only include health matters, but employee financial education. The market place now offers a wide array of resources and tools such as in-person counseling, on-line course, and our own Personal Finance Well-Being Scale™, a survey used to benchmark the financial health of employees and let the employees track their progress.
Now as to which delivery method is best? That’s a topic I’ll discuss in a future blog post.
About the Author
Adam Turville is President of the Personal Financial Employee Education Foundation (PFEEF), a 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to promote and facilitate financial education in the workplace.
Image courtesy of Flickr by topgold.