Mentoro

Matt Armfield

Finding the Best Financial Education Services for Your Business

Time and time again, research has shown that a financially educated workforce provides countless benefits. From increased productivity to enhanced loyalty, the advantages of financial education services (FES) cannot be understated. However, it’s not always easy to find the right FES, especially if you’re unsure what the services entail. 

Additionally, the quality of adult financial education services can vary from one provider to another. Therefore, it is vitally important to understand exactly what to expect with FES — and where to find the best financial education services for your business.

What is FES?

FES is designed to provide employees with essential knowledge related to finance, including budgeting, investing, healthcare, and retirement planning. The exact offerings differ from one provider to another, but FES often takes the form of courses, seminars, online resources, and personalized advisory sessions with trained financial educators. In short, FES addresses the most pressing needs of your employees and shows them exactly how enhanced financial literacy can improve their quality of life and financial future. 

The Benefits of Financial Education Services

While the impact of FES on workers is evident, it’s not always easy for companies and HR heads to understand how these services benefit the business as a whole. For this reason, it’s important to look at the data. Though there are dozens of studies on FES and its positive impact on business, here are a few of the most important benefits of recruiting expert financial educators for your staff:

  • A 2020 study by GFLEC showed that workers with low financial literacy spend roughly 6 hours per week dealing with money issues; however, workers with high financial literacy spend about 1 hour per week doing the same. As a result, financial education services can help increase productivity by reducing the time needed to deal with financial stress.
  • The main goal of financial education services is to improve financial literacy by giving workers the tools they need to better manage their money, thereby reducing financial stress. A 2020 survey by Salary Finance found that financially stressed employees are nearly 5x more likely to deliver low-quality work and 6x more likely to miss deadlines. 
  • A PwC survey showed that about 3 out of 4 workers would be willing to change companies to find one that cares about their financial wellness. Moreover, research from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that financial literacy programs help increase employee retention, engagement, and loyalty.

Mentoro Financial Education Services

As you can see, investing in FES for your employees has the potential to increase productivity, improve the quality of work output, and reduce high employee turnover. As a result, financial education services can end up paying dividends for your business over the long term. However, the key is finding the best financial education company for your business. Fortunately, Mentoro offers retirement advisors, benefits consultants, FES customer service, and financial educators to help you and your staff get the most with your money. 
If you are currently in the market for a financial education company or you want to learn more about the benefits of financial education services, be sure to contact the experts at Mentoro today!

When Employees Benefit From Financial Wellness Programs, Companies Prosper

Benefits packages have long been used to attract talent from other companies and to keep current employees from leaving. Over the years, employers have tried to stay ahead of each other by offering new perks. For companies trying to keep up with others while also remaining profitable, it’s fair to ask if certain program benefits are worth it. When it comes to corporate wellness programs, they do more than just benefit employees.

Years ago, a company might think paying their employees is enough financial wellness. But employers that offer the education and guidance of a well executed financial wellness program experience direct positive impacts. Below, Mentoro’s president, Whitney Queen, gives her insights on how companies that use Mentoro feel effects. 

Benefits of Employee Wellness Programs

“Having a competitive benefits package can significantly impact a company’s ability to attract and retain employees,” says Whitney. “A recent survey from Glassdoor showed that 60% of employees consider benefits and perks a major reason in choosing one company over another.”

There’s been a major push to offer financial wellness programs. According to Whitney, that trend has multiple factors, but two big ones are: 

  • Programs like Mentoro are still relatively new in the space. Offering a comprehensive financial program puts a company at the forefront of workplace wellness and shows that they’re culturally aware. 
  • Employees are increasingly acknowledging that they want financial guidance. A John Hancock survey found that 73% of employees would seek advice on retirement planning—up from two-thirds in 2019. And 63% would seek out investment advice— compared to 50% last year.

Financial Wellness Programs Can Fight Turnover, Absenteeism, & Financial Stress

Absenteeism & Financial Stress

Our financial lives were exposed during the pandemic. Employees have been experiencing increased levels of stress since 2020 and it’s affecting their ability to work. According to the same John Hancock survey,  62% of employees are financially stressed, versus 39% before the pandemic. Also, 43% of workers spend work time dealing with personal finances and 50% said they’d be more productive without their current financial worries.

“Employees who are overstressed miss an average of 3.5 days a year. When you take the statistics and scale them to fit mid to large companies, that leads to a huge loss,” says Whitney. “With Mentoro, employees receive the help they need to solve their biggest financial stressors, which leads to fewer days missed and increased productivity.”

Turnover

“One of our client’s in the telecommunications space was experiencing a high rate of turnover. Their biggest issue was hourly employees leaving for a rival because they offered a slight bump in pay,” says Whitney. “By using Mentoro and our educational program, the company successfully communicated that with the free benefits that they offered – financial wellness being one of them – the cost benefit of moving was negligible.”

Dealing with turnover can come at an incredible cost to companies. There’s the direct money spent on job postings and recruiters, which can easily pass $4,000. But it’s not always what you’re spending, it’s also what you’re losing. Considering the average job posting takes 52 days to fill, the work that role is supposed to carry out has to be spread out or put on hold. 

Education and Employee Wellness Programs 

The old way of handling benefits was to hand over a guide and put the responsibility on the employee. Now, companies can establish a parental-type role to explain how the benefits can be used to help employees live a more stable and healthier financial life. 

“We’re not taught the basics in school, let alone what it means to have a high versus a low deductible. Everyone is just expected to know everything, and instead of asking questions most of us just go status quo through life,” says Whitney. “An example would be an employee’s 401(k). Without an educational platform in place, we’ve seen employees request hardship withdrawals or loans against their account, and the company grants it without question.”

Mentoro sets up a “triage” program instead. If an individual wants to take money from their 401(k), they must have a one on one with an Educator before they can complete the paperwork. They’ll report back to the company on the circumstances and will make a recommendation on what the employee actually needs and how the company can handle the situation.

Corporate Benefits of Healthy Employees

“Tech firms have been more at the forefront of this financial wellness technology, but it’s built for any industry, everything from non-profits to municipalities and school districts,” says Whitney. “School teachers are sort of in the wild wild west with their retirement options, and we’ve seen that educators are great financial students.”

In this current environment with employees being eager to learn and improve their financial situation, companies can use that to their advantage and benefit from reduced healthcare costs, increased productivity, and greater retention rates. If you’re interested in learning about how Mentoro can be an asset to you and your employees, contact us today or call 1 (844) 324-2411.

Mentoro Announces Harris County School District Wins Plan Sponsor Of The Year

Atlanta, GA / June 2021

Mentoro, a financial education company that specializes in collaborative financial wellness, announced today that one of its plans – Harris County School District in Hamilton, Georgia, has been named Plan Sponsor Of The Year.

The annual Plan Sponsor of the Year awards program recognizes retirement plan sponsors that show a commitment to their participants’ financial health and retirement success.  Nominations were made in December and January, finalists were revealed in March, and winners were announced in May.  To be considered, a plan sponsor first had to be nominated for the award.  All nominees were then asked to officially enter and complete an online form, supplying details about the plan’s administration, participant statistics and data.  Entries were judged both against other nominations in the category and on a sense of best practices specific to each plan sponsor’s industry. 

The Harris County School District, with central offices in Hamilton, Georgia, started developing its financial wellness program in late 2018 after seeing evidence that many of its employees felt financially stressed.  “I noticed a recurring issue: our participants taking loans and hardship withdrawals,” Benefits Coordinator Renee Lipp recalls.  “It just broke my heart. I thought, ‘This is not a savings account, this is a retirement account.’”  But there is only so much an employer can do in its role as plan sponsor to address employees’ broader financial issues, Lipp says.  So in January 2020, the district launched a financial wellness program in partnership with financial education provider Mentoro to address employees’ financial stress points.

The district has widespread employee demographics, and most of its workers lack any education in finance.  “We have everything from our cafeteria lunch ladies who may have a GED (General Educational Development diploma) and little or no financial background, to people with a doctorate who are in leadership,” says Assistant Superintendent Stacey Carlisle.  “On the education staff, our teachers have put their lives and hearts into helping students build their future.  At the same time, if you talk to the teachers about their own financial future, that’s not their skill.  So we decided to take our educators and turn them into students.  We thought, if our people know better, they will do better.”

Danny Kofke, a former elementary school teacher and current Motivational Mentor for Mentoro, said, “I could not be more excited for Harris County.  As someone who knows first-hand the struggles teachers face, it is wonderful to see a school district get rewarded for not only investing in their students but staff as well.  Hopefully this paves the way for financial wellness in school districts across the country.”

Mentoro is a non-biased independent company that creates customized programs tailored to a company’s needs that ease monetary stress and equip employees with how to plan for their futures.  Mentoro’s emphasis on human interaction, engaging technology, and customization through individual coaching makes their offering unique in the financial wellness space. 

About Mentoro

Mentoro is a financial education company providing a turn-key collaborative financial wellness℠ solution derived from the belief that financial mentors are the last great hope for educating the working population on healthy money habits and positive behavior change.  For more information on Mentoro’s Financial Wellness solution, contact:

Casey Stegman, SVP Strategic Planning and Business Development

844.324.2411

cstegman@mentorogroup.com

Mentoro Announces Launch of Financial Wellness Initiative with North American Plastics

Atlanta, GA / January 2021

Mentoro, a financial education company that specializes in collaborative financial wellness, announced today that it has engaged with North American Plastics, Inc. to provide financial education services to all its employees.   

North American Plastics is the largest wholesale distributor in plastics today with locations throughout the United States and Canada.  Their diverse brands provide customers with a wide range of products and services to help their businesses grow.  They are part of a global plastics family including Amari Plastics brands in the UK, Vink Holdings in mainland Europe and MM Plastics in Australia and New Zealand.

“It is exciting for us to be partnering with North American Plastics to help reduce financial stress in the workplace,” said Whitney Queen, President of Mentoro.  

Mentoro is a non-biased independent company that creates customized programs tailored to a company’s needs that ease monetary stress and equip employees with how to plan for their futures.  Mentoro’s emphasis on human interaction, engaging technology, and customization through individual coaching makes their offering unique in the financial wellness space. 

About Mentoro

Mentoro is a financial education company providing a turn-key collaborative financial wellness℠ solution derived from the belief that financial mentors are the last great hope for educating the working population on healthy money habits and positive behavior change.  For more information on Mentoro’s Financial Wellness solution, contact:

Casey Stegman, SVP Strategic Planning and Business Development

844.324.2411

cstegman@mentorogroup.com

Mentoro Announces Launch of Financial Wellness Initiative with HKS, Inc

Atlanta, GA / February 2020

Mentoro, a financial education company that specializes in collaborative financial wellness, announced today that it has engaged with HKS, Inc. to provide financial education services to all its employees.   

HKS, Inc. is an American International architecture firm headquartered in Dallas, Texas.  Their firm employs more than 1,000 people making it one of the largest architectural firms in the United States.  They have completed services on structures valued more than $69 billion.  Their projects include AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Phoenix Children’s Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona and Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“As the country faces an uncertain future we are looking forward to partnering with HKS to help minimize the financial stress that may occur due to the pandemic,” said Whitney Queen, President of Mentoro.  

Mentoro is a non-biased independent company that creates customized programs tailored to a company’s needs that ease monetary stress and equip employees with how to plan for their futures.  Mentoro’s emphasis on human interaction, engaging technology, and customization through individual coaching makes their offering unique in the financial wellness space. 

About Mentoro

Mentoro is a financial education company providing a turn-key collaborative financial wellness℠ solution derived from the belief that financial mentors are the last great hope for educating the working population on healthy money habits and positive behavior change.  For more information on Mentoro’s Financial Wellness solution, contact:

Casey Stegman, SVP Strategic Planning and Business Development

844.324.2411

cstegman@mentorogroup.com

Mentoro Announces Launch of Financial Wellness Initiative with EZLynx

Atlanta, GA / August 2019

Mentoro, a financial education company that specializes in collaborative financial wellness, announced today that it has engaged with EZLynx to provide financial education services to all its employees.   

EZLynx enables insurance agents to generate accurate real-time rate quotes from multiple insurance companies’ sites with a single data entry point.  They pioneered the concept of real-time quoting in the insurance market when the industry was still grappling with the inaccuracies of manufactured rates and how to deal with the same.  Today, EZLynx is the leading real-time solution vendor for independent agents and processes more than a million auto, home and package transactions every month covering more than 330 insurance companies in 48 states.

“We are excited for the opportunity to partner with EZLynx as we continue our mission in seeking to spread financial literacy in the workplace,” said Whitney Queen, President of Mentoro.  

Mentoro is a non-biased independent company that creates customized programs tailored to a company’s needs that ease monetary stress and equip employees with how to plan for their futures.  Mentoro’s emphasis on human interaction, engaging technology, and customization through individual coaching makes their offering unique in the financial wellness space. 

About Mentoro

Mentoro is a financial education company providing a turn-key collaborative financial wellness℠ solution derived from the belief that financial mentors are the last great hope for educating the working population on healthy money habits and positive behavior change.  For more information on Mentoro’s Financial Wellness solution, contact:

Casey Stegman, SVP Strategic Planning and Business Development

844.324.2411

cstegman@mentorogroup.com