SHRM26 Debrief · Health & Wellness · #2696

Supporting Financial Wellness: Insights from SHRM and Raymond James

with Ragan Decker & Kristen Koluch

▶ Watch on the SHRM portal ~73 min, distilled

financial wellnessfinancial stressemployee benefits

"The need and the stressors around finances acts as an invisible productivity tax for your workforce"

What it was about

New joint SHRM/Raymond James research shows most U.S. workers carry persistent, often invisible financial stress that drags on focus, engagement, and retention. Most employer financial wellness programs remain underdeveloped, unmeasured, and misaligned with what employees say would actually help.

By the numbers

74%

workers who experience financial stress at least sometimes

fewer than half

workers who could absorb a $5,000 unexpected expense without borrowing or asking for help

50% to 200% of compensation

SHRM research on the average cost to replace an employee who leaves

Key notes

Financial wellness should be treated as a cross-functional business strategy tied to ROI (turnover cost, productivity, healthcare spend), not a benefit product you simply purchase.
Prioritize offering loan support, caregiver support, equity compensation, and emergency/flexible funds. Employees rate these as the most effective benefits, yet fewer than 1 in 10 organizations currently offer loan support.
Train managers and other non-HR 'ambassadors' to recognize financial stress and point employees to resources, since employees turn to peers and direct managers more than HR.

The contrarian takePay increases and higher income are commonly assumed to solve financial stress, but the research shows income alone does not predict financial wellness. Even high earners and C-suite executives show moderate or underdeveloped financial wellness due to lifestyle creep and financial complexity. As the research puts it, 'pay increases can help, but that's not a financial wellness strategy.'

Take this back Monday

Do this for your team

Ask your 401(k) vendor for loan-usage and student-loan-debt data, then add one loan-support or emergency-fund option for staff.

Say this in your next leadership meeting

74% of our people feel financial stress at work, but fewer than 1 in 10 companies offer the loan support employees say helps most.

Watch out for

Treating financial wellness as a one-time vendor purchase or expo-hall checkbox rather than an ongoing, evolving strategy.
Delivering benefits in disconnected silos, creating 'point solution fatigue' and confusing employees about what's available.
Assuming higher income equals financial wellness and that pay increases alone solve the problem, ignoring lifestyle creep and complexity.

Fun fact · Kristen Koluch

Before advising employers on benefits, she was an investment banking analyst at Barclays Capital advising major companies on corporate financing.

If this landed, see these

↳ Go deeperOpportunities and Pitfalls of AI in Financial Wellness: What HR Professionals Need to KnowAI can triage financial stress instantly, replacing scattered point solutions with one system.⇄ The counterpointAdapting to Change: What Workers Really Need in an Age of Economic UncertaintyRetirement security shifted onto workers themselves once employer pensions disappeared entirely.✦ The unexpected oneHR Executive Insights: Architecting the Future of the Global Frontline WorkforceFrontline workers carry this stress hardest, yet get the least tailored support.