Your Benefits Aren't Working? Tailor Wellness for Real Employee Financial Health

“The Aflac Workforces Report, which is something that we've done for about the last 15 years now, we actually found that almost half of the folks we surveyed, employees that we surveyed, they don't have more than $1,000. They can't afford more than $1,000 for an out-of-pocket medical expense or a planned one.”

Highlights the severe financial vulnerability of a significant portion of the workforce, directly impacting their ability to afford essential medical care.

“If you ask my employees, they would all just say, believe me, if I could, I think we would pay everybody more. What I do is to think about it through the lens of we need our employees to maximize the offer, to maximize savings programs, in the 401(k), in your health savings accounts, things like that, to become almost better educated consumers of the different programs and services that we offer in order to try to limit those unplanned expenses.”

Illustrates a pragmatic approach to supporting employees financially by maximizing existing benefits and education rather than solely focusing on salary increases.

“Our CEO actually has a statement that is, if you take care of the employees, they'll take care of the customer and the company.”

Reveals a foundational leadership philosophy at Aflac that directly links employee well-being to business success, making the case for HR initiatives easier.

“One of those is around student loan assistance. So we actually have a program that we're starting in 2025 whereby if you have student loan debt and you're one of our employees, which we know more than half of our employees do, you can actually pay down your student loan debt rather than contributing to your 401(k). And then if you document that and demonstrate to us that you did that, we'll still put that— put the company match that you would have received had you put that money in your 401(k), and we'll do that at the end of the year.”

Provides a concrete example of an innovative and flexible benefit program designed to address a major financial burden for employees while still supporting long-term savings.

“The Aflac Workforces Report actually found, I think, that 3 out of 4 folks who are enrolling in benefits in 2024 said that they actually wanted to work with a benefit advisor.”

Emphasizes the ongoing importance of human interaction and guidance in navigating complex benefits, even with the availability of technology.

“So my advice is know your population, know your programs and policy, become educated yourself, understand the financials and how it all ties together for your organization, and make sure that you're talking to your business partners, your financial partners, as in their language, as financial partners.”

Offers critical advice for HR professionals to effectively advocate for and implement employee well-being initiatives by understanding both employee needs and business financial implications.