Companies across America are increasingly committed to providing financial education programs to their employees as a benefit. Adoption of such programs is accelerating in corporate America as demand is being driven by employees seeking guidance in turbulent economic times.A recent survey of employers conducted by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans found that 43% of the U.S. companies surveyed offer financial education programs for their workers.

A number of Fortune 500 companies have shown their commitment to financial education as well, including: IBM, McDonalds, Pepsi, Home Depot, UPS, and Walmart. Financial education at work provides tremendous value for both the employee and employer.

The Cost of Financial Illiteracy
The cost to employers of not providing financial education to their employees is substantial. According to the Federal Reserve, American workers spend an average of 28 hours a month researching personal financial issues. This lost productivity across an organization can be translated into real dollars - as much as $5,000 per employee per year. The collective loss across an organization can quickly have a significant negative impact on the financial performance of the company. What's more, there is little doubt that the number of employees spending time in the workplace researching financial issues and seeking guidance will increase given the magnitude of the current financial crisis. As importantly, the Great Recession' is affecting everyone. People from all levels of the organization are facing financial hardship or struggling to survive day-to-day, while trying to navigate successfully to retirement.

Financial Education as an Employee Benefit
It is hard to argue that financial education has not earned its place in employee benefit plans as a valuable option. Additionally, outcome based financial education programs are a low-cost, responsible way for employers to reward their employees. However, effective design, implementation, and management of such initiatives are essential to creating a meaningful and sustainable employee benefit.

A first step in developing an effective financial education employee benefit program is to ensure that specific goals and outcomes of the initiative are established early. This is critical because the success of these benefits programs should be measured by the goals that are met, the progress of individual employees and of the entire organization, and the value derived by the participants. In addition, financial education programs need to be audience specific and flexible. Businesses and organizations of all types are more diverse than ever. Not only is this diversity reflected in each individual throughout the organization, but it also represents the unique educational needs that must be addressed. Proper planning and design of a benefits program can address these issues and help ensure the program's efficacy.

Planning for a Successful Benefits Program
It is imperative to clearly articulate answers to the following questions before designing a financial education benefits program:

• Why have you or your organization chosen to develop a financial education benefit?
• Does executive management and/or the leadership team support and value the program?
• Who is or will be the primary champion behind the initiative?
• Who will develop the framework for the financial education program?
• Who will manage the implementation?
• Who will execute and deliver the content, workshops, webinars, etc?
• Are the instructors certified and knowledgeable of the curriculum to be taught?
• Are the instructors trained to teach others - do they understand strategies for delivering the curriculum?
• Is the curriculum certified?
• Who are your audiences? How will the messages and content be customized to meet specific needs?
• How will you define a successful program?
• How will you measure success?
• How will you establish benchmarks by which to evaluate the program?
• What is the timeline for the training and for evaluating the outcomes?

FELA at Work
The specific intent of Financial Education & Literacy Advisers' (FELA) services to employers is to provide assistance in planning, developing, and implementing sound financial education programs to meet the diverse needs of the organization's employees and accomplish the desired outcomes identified by the employer.