When Personal Finances Affect the Workplace
By Elaine Boltz, CEAP, CLL, eboltz@lifemanagement.cc

Are your employees experiencing financial problems?  An American Psychological Association survey found that in addition to other life stressors, 81% of Americans experience a significant amount of stress due to their personal finances.  Chances are that many of your employees are feeling the effects of a challenging economy, a spouse who is out of work, credit card debt, rising energy costs, or risk of foreclosure.

These personal concerns can carry over into the workplace.  Workers with financial problems spend 13% of the workday dealing with financial issues according to a Consumer Credit Counseling Service survey.  An even greater concern is when employees deal with their financial stress by turning to drugs or alcohol.

When employees are stressed due to financial issues, they may not be as focused while on the job.  Organizations may be seeing increased errors, lower productivity, tardiness or increased absenteeism.  Employees may be less productive due to working a second job.  Their distractions due to financial issues may contribute to increased irritability or confrontational behaviors.  They may no longer be contributing to their 401K or are borrowing from it.

Here are some ways employers can take a proactive approach to helping their troubled workers:

• Create a company culture that is supportive of teaching employees money management skills
• Provide on-site basic money-management education
• Provide an EAP to help employees address a variety of life issues.  The EAP can provide psychological counseling, substance abuse counseling, basic budgeting and money-management skills, and encourage and motivate individuals to change behaviors that may be contributing to their financial problems.

Assisting employees to become more money-wise improves their emotional stability which in turn is beneficial to the organization.

Reference:  Research Works.  Partnership for Workplace Mental Health, Volume 1, Issues 1, February, 2009

Elaine Boltz, B.A., is the Employee Assistance Services Account Executive at Life Management Associates.  Contact Elaine at 717.394.6688 / 800.327.7770 or email eboltz@lifemanagement.cc