7 Step Guide To Implement Employee Financial Literacy Training At Workplace

Financial literacy is the capacity to understand and use economic resources effectively for life’s basic purpose. It is something that most employers do not think about much. It seems like a daunting task and it can be rather challenging to implement this type of employee training. 

“ According to the PWC 2021 Employee Financial Wellness Survey of 1,600 full-time employed US adults, it is found that many employees are experiencing deep financial strain since the start of the pandemic.”  

In this era of uncertain times and constant competition, employee financial literacy can make the difference between  success or failure of an organization as it is tied to many other facets like employee productivity at work.

1. Conduct a Survey On Employee Financial Health and Literacy

As a starting point, conduct a survey to find out the employee's knowledge base in handling his finances. While many people think that being financially literate means having a good amount of money, it is actually much more than that! Although employees may be knowledgeable about how to manage their personal finances, many lack the knowledge required to be successful in managing their finances once they start working. You can use free services from Google forms or other similar services. 

Here is an example of financial literacy questionnaire for employees:

1. What are your goals with regards to your finances?
2. Do you have any savings?
3. When was the last time you reviewed your financial plan?
4. What is your biggest financial goal right now?
5. How much do you earn per annum?
6. How much do you spend per month on essentials?
7. What percentage of your income do you save every month?
8. How comfortable are you with credit cards? Can you handle credit well?

2. Identify Employees Level of Financial Literacy

Based on the results of the surveys, provide training sessions for those who need additional assistance based on their answers on the surveys. It can prevent them from making costly mistakes with their finances.

To understand how to implement this training at the workplace, it is important to identify employees' level of knowledge. The employee financial literacy program provided by the company should take into account the level and needs of each employee as well as provide training tailored to specific needs.

For example, 

1. Employees with low financial literacy skills may require a more basic explanation of the concepts.
2.  Employees with higher literacy skills can benefit from more in-depth and specific training tailored to their individual needs.
3.  Employees who are just starting out should be trained on topics that include:

• Understanding a paycheck
• The impact of taxes on income and savings
• How debt can undermine long-term goals

4.  Employees who have been with the company for some time should be trained on topic that include:

• Planning for retirement
• Credit management – including credit scores and credit reports, understanding creditworthiness, managing credit responsibly by paying bills on time, not exceeding credit limits, etc.
• Saving for major purchases such as a home or new car

3. Make it Highly Engaging

Find a training program based on requirements and implement your employee financial well being program. Also simply providing this training isn't enough. You have to make sure employees actually learn the material and that it sticks with them long after the course ends.

It is important to create engaging and interactive sessions. You can also opt for simulations based on real life situations to help employees learn better. You can conduct simulations in the office or even online using a virtual setup to model various money management scenarios. These tools teach employees how they should handle their finances when faced by such a scenario . This is a  great way of helping employees learn concepts quickly and easily at their own pace.

4. Determine Goals by Considering Employee Needs

Knowing the reasons for employee financial illiteracy and its benefits will help you determine your goals for the program. In order to keep tracking, it’s important to outline what you’re trying to do and how you want financial  education to fit into the big picture of your business.

When determining goals, you want to be sure that the training will be effective and beneficial for your employees. Look at your company's overall goals as well as individual employee goals. You will also want to make sure that the training is relevant to your company's culture. 

5. Track Evaluation of Your Training Program 

The important factor of your educational program is evaluating its success. It is a feedback system that helps you to gather the information regarding their satisfaction level. The feedback system should be designed in such a way that it can help you to know about the effectiveness of your education program.

As an employer, you will want to equip your employees with necessary knowledge to help them make better financial decisions that will not only benefit their lives, but also the life of your business. So it is important to have a system in place to track if the goals and objectives of the training are achieved.

6. Make Them Aware of Its Importance

To get employees to understand the value of training, you will have to give them a clear picture of why they need financial literacy. It is more than just learning how to use excel and other software programs. It is about helping employees become better decision makers and learning how to manage their personal finances. 

To build a successful corporate finance training program, you must first learn what employees want from such a program and how to help your employees make the most of it. This is where learning management software like simulations can be helpful, and highly effective by helping employees retain the knowledge and apply it in real life.

7. Give Rewards 

If possible, offer rewards for accomplishments during the training. There’s something about being rewarded that makes people return to the good habit they became accustomed to. They can be monetary rewards, resources or incentive they need to do a good job and improve their skills.

Organizations can also conduct quarterly discussions about best practices and insights on investing right. This encourages employees to discuss more about financial wellness and motivate others to take actions in that direction. Management can reward their employees for reaching different milestones and their progress with educational resources or extra time off as incentives.

Conclusion 

It’s never too late to start financial  wellness programs at work. It will help employees understand their finances and make better spending, saving and investment decisions. It will also improve their overall well-being, lowering stress and leading to more effective ways of managing debt. More importantly, the organization should ensure this training does not end just after the employee training session.  Rather, it should be forming a partnership with them so you can help them on their path to financial health and success, both at work and outside of work.

Bonus

If you are looking for immersive and cost-effective gamified simulations on financial literacy for your corporate training programs, contact us and make the most of your corporate finance  training program