Hitting workers over the head with a piggybank
Posted: Tuesday, August 19, 2008 2:01 PM by Eve Tahmincioglu
Filed Under:
Work/life balance, Financing, Staffing
I'm not big on employers forcing employees to do anything other than their jobs. But forcing workers to be better stewards of their finances -- why not?
Spiratex, a Michigan-based plastics maker, forces its 127 employees to get one-on-one financial planning help with an advisor whether they like it or not.
The company mandates up to an hour of money education as a way to help its workers become more knowledgeable about the firm's 401(k) plan, and also learn about debt management, college savings, and other personal finance topics.
Why did this small firm decide to make the sessions mandatory?
Just as you wouldn't let someone commit suicide, Spiratex doesn't want its workers to commit financial suicide, explains Garry Markle, a vice president at the company.
Spiratex used to hold group financial education meetings for workers, but decided that many employees weren't getting enough out of the sessions because some were too embarrassed to ask questions publicly about their private money matters.
So they decided to opt for mandatory one-on-one meetings as a way to force employees to sort out their money messes. The meetings are held on company time, so workers are essentially paid for the time they have with a financial advisor.
Markle says Spiratex's one-on-one financial planning sessions are run by The Principal Financial Group, the company that administers its retirement plans, and an independent financial advisor also sits in. Overall, the reaction from workers has been positive, he said.
According to Principal, more and more companies are offering private financial powwows for their workers, and some firms are adopting Spiratex's "shotgun" approach.
"Employers are so excited about what their employees get out of the meetings that some decide to make the meetings mandatory," said Luke Vandermillen, national services director of worksite solutions at The Principal. "They understand that employees can be overwhelmed with the magnitude of financial decisions they need to make these days and often do nothing."
The company's benefits experts that counsel employees are not paid on commission.
There often seems to be a workers-are-disposable view of employees these days, especially in manufacturing where so many firms are running off to Asia to get cut-rate labor. So it's refreshing to hear about companies actually investing more time and money in their workforces here in the United States.
It makes a lot of sense because it all comes down to productivity.
"We want to help people exist in this world," Markle explains. He says workers who are struggling with money issues will invariably bring that heavy mental burden to work with them, and that can impact their motivation and ultimately the work they do.
Many of Spiratex's workers have worked for the company for over 10 years, he adds, and the last thing the firm needs is to lose that institutional knowledge for any reason.
"We all work together to get the job done here," he stresses. "There's no reason to leave people hung out to dry."
What do you all think? Should employers force their workers to become more money savvy, or should they let them work out their own finances?
