Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER JANUARY 2018 6 NEWS CAREpath is the only Canadian Health Care navigation program of its kind offered in Canada. We have extensive experience in navigating Canadians through the health care system. Cancer Assistance Seniors' Care Assistance HealthCare Assist Your Wellness Partner and income growth opportunity, and I think that that is perpetu- ating apathy in the workplace. People are looking at it from the standpoint of 'Companies keep making all this money and all these record profits but I'm not seeing any of it.'" Seeing Sears Canada fold and people not being paid severance is one example, he said. "at's creating some anxiety and animosity… where we're see- ing large bonuses being paid out at the top, very similar to what we saw back in the late '90s," said Wiginton. "It increases their anxiety, and cre- ates a negative and in some cases toxic work environment, especially if they're struggling financially to make ends meet." "So we need to look at it and say, 'Are the things that we're doing ef- fective, are they impactful? Or are we just wasting our time?' And if they aren't effective and impact- ful, why is that, and how do we change that?" Employees are asking for more information, and when employ- ers offer financial literacy, it's say- ing they recognize employees are stressed, which can lead to higher absenteeism and lower productiv- ity, said Rooney. "We know that when people are feeling more in control of their money, their health improves and they're more present at work." Using tools that work About half of employees (48 per cent) said they would like their employers to offer tools that sug- gest how they can improve their financial situation, according to Willis Towers Watson. But there's definitely room for improvement, said experts. "e way we've done this in the past, the way we have commu- nicated things to employees, has been very much from a legal per- spective: 'How do I limit my risk?' Which means we use words like 'notwithstanding' in employee communications and we do it in a way that makes nobody want to read it, nobody engage in it and nobody understand what it is we're trying to say," said Isabel. Even if employers offer a gen- erous pension plan, employees often aren't participating because they don't know it's there, she said. "We have to start treating em- ployees like consumers. If you think about how they engage with technology, how they get informa- tion, it's all bite-sized pieces with graphics and simple language, and we need to start engaging with employees in that exact same way… so let's stop doing what we were doing before, and talk to people the way they actually like to be talked to." It's also about employers losing the paternalism, and empowering people to have more confidence and control, said Wolff. "We think about engaging em- ployees now, it is (about) educat- ing them, really helping them un- derstand they have an influence over their financial well-being, and we are a partner as an em- ployer in that effort. So it's a tri- fecta way of thinking about this versus 'We will take care of you,' because there's only so much an employer can do," she said. "It's not about the tools, it's about driving the behaviours, educating people." One tool being offered by Wil- lis Towers Watson is FiT Age, or Financial Independence Target Age, which is about driving sound financial well-being behaviours among employees using moti- vational tactics. It begins with "At what age will I have financial independence?" and doesn't use complicated math or require people to select investments, said Wendy Poirier, Canadian health and group benefits growth leader at Willis Towers Watson. "at's something you can eas- ily understand and grab onto, it's simple… and that's resonating re- ally well." The FCAC has a variety of tools employers can use, such as an online budget calculator, a financial goal calculator, and videos around financial stress. e organization has also joined up with an organization called BestLifeRewarded to offer in- centives to both employers and employees through a Money Fit Challenge focused on financial well-being, said Rooney. e agency has also partnered with several organizations to de- velop a best practices framework for employers offering financial literacy programs, and works with Chartered Professionals Accoun- tants to offer financial workshops in the workplace, said Rooney. "ey're unbiased, they're not offering a product or service." But people won't become finan- cially literate just by clicking on some links, said Wiginton. "ey need the guidance, the structure, of a properly formatted program, and the problem there is the majority of people who are providing financial literacy, if you will, don't have that (because) they aren't people who are edu- cators or know how to create a program that delivers educational effectiveness." Many of the tools are piecemeal and focus around the skill set of debt and debt management be- cause that's where the provider can provide the biggest service, he said. e biggest part of the fault comes down to the employers that don't put in the dollars or time to bring in a proper program, said Wiginton, who develops financial wellness programs. "They keep looking for the quick fix, the inexpensive 'Let's put $10,000 into something like this,' and for $10,000, you can't get anything — any of the free, quick-fix stuff, you get what you paid for, it's just a waste of every- body's time." Some tools are good, some tools are bad, and that's the chal- lenge today, said Yih. "ere's more choice, more in- formation, more opportunity… but that's actually created more confusion and information over- load… and we're not sure what to believe and what's good and what's not." A person could use three differ- ent retirement calculators and get three different answers because the assumptions used are differ- ent, so "there's no question it can be challenging," he said. at's why employers can defi- nitely play a role, whether that means having experts come in to educate people on finances, or providing some form of work- place retirement savings plan, said Yih, who runs financial education programs. "I would love to see, person- ally, more mandated programs through the workplace. e gov- ernment's already talking about enhanced CPP and that's a good thing because it covers every- body, but if more employers put pensions, RSPs and education into their environments, it would help a lot of people with anxiety, because then they have an outlet, they have an option." More control, better health FINANCIAL < pg. 3 "ere's more choice, more information, more opportunity... but that's actually created more confusion and information overload. We're not sure what to believe." Credit: KieferPix (Shutterstock)

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