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Ceridian financial counseling: Helping to improve productivity
in the workplace

When your employees have financial worries, it can impact their productivity on the job. Financially stressed employees tend to be distracted, absent from work more often and use work time to deal with money woes. Performance and productivity suffers.

"As early as five years ago, a large percentage of the calls Ceridian's EAP and work-life services handled on money matters were from employees trying to be proactive with their money management," says Jonathan Hefner, manager of the financial and legal consultants for Ceridian's EAP Services. "Today, however, more calls involve severe financial problems such as bankruptcy and foreclosure."

Economic times are tough, with costs continuing to rise, lower consumer confidence and an unsteady employment outlook. Survey responses in a 2005 report, Financial Distress Among American Workers, indicate that one in four workers is seriously distressed about their personal financial situation. The report also indicates that financial stress impacts productivity in the workplace.

Published by E. Thomas Garman, professor emeritus at Virginia Tech University, the report found that nearly 80 percent of financially stressed workers spend time dealing with, or worrying about, money issues on the job. "These findings are something we've known at Ceridian for a long time - that major financial concerns cause anxiety for workers and this can have a significant and negative impact on their well being and productivity," says Hefner.

Ceridian asked Hefner to address how financial counseling can make a difference, improving not only your employees' lives, but ultimately, your company's bottom line.

What should businesses do to educate employees to prepare for and deal with economic challenges?

JH: "Organizations have a unique opportunity to provide financial education which emphasizes the importance of saving money and avoiding debt. Being proactive about educating employees will improve the chances that you can get to someone before there's a problem. By helping employees avoid financial problems, you not only save them from a lot of stress and trouble, but they will probably be more productive as well. Saving and avoiding debt is something our culture needs to work at and it's something we emphasize at Ceridian. If they don't already, employers should consider offering an employee assistance program so workers have a confidential resource to help them.

Our core advice is always to be proactive and have enough savings to cover basic expenses for at least three to six months, so if an employee loses a job, they have a financial cushion. Unfortunately, people don't usually seek help until there's already a problem and addressing the importance of saving at that point is usually not as helpful."

How is physical health related to financial anxiety?

JH: "When someone experiences financial stress on an ongoing basis, it can often manifest in physical symptoms, such as high blood pressure, depression and other illnesses. So now, not only are these individuals distracted, they're ill, which usually means they're absent more often from work and they use their health insurance more frequently. This can drive up costs and impact a company's bottom line.

We also see drug and alcohol abuse related to financial stress. Some workers are so overwhelmed and unable to cope that they deal with the problem by using substances. This can, and often does, lead to even more serious consequences and another set of problems that the individual, and the employer, must face."

Do money problems tend to affect one group in particular?

JH: "Concern about finances affects a wide variety of people and research indicates that financial stress affects workers at all income levels. In our current economic climate, in particular, there is the potential for almost anyone to be concerned about financial stability. For instance, many people need to learn to live on less take-home pay because of the ever-increasing cost of health insurance.

The Garman study, though, focused on people who are in a more serious situation - those already getting phone calls from bill collectors - and this isn't the norm. But even outside this group, a typical person has concerns."

Can you explain Ceridian's financial counseling services?

JH: "Ceridian has been providing financial counseling for more than 25 years. And from the beginning, we've emphasized a holistic approach. It's about more than money and numbers. It's also about people's emotions and beliefs. We help employees view money management positively, not just as a source of stress and struggle. We help people become financially stable and learn how to keep concerns about finances from causing problems in other areas of their lives.

Specifically, we deliver our services through several different channels. We have phone consultation. The consultants who work for Ceridian are also clinicians and understand emotions as well as finances. We also offer a menu of online resources and tools. And, the workplace seminars we offer are popular and effective, such as our workshop on managing credit card debt. Ceridian also conducts Web forums that employees can log onto at specific times. These take the form of live seminars or moderated chats, so they are interactive and employees can ask questions and get answers.

We find that once financially stressed employees are able to address and discuss their personal situation in a structured way, they usually feel great relief and hope - even if the solution still seems far from resolved. As a result, they're often happier, more productive and better able to keep their focus on work as they take steps to improve their financial situation."

For more information about Ceridian's financial counseling services, contact your Ceridian representative.

Source
USA Today, October 4, 2005, "Money worries hinder job performance"