Securian Financial

The 2020 PwC Employee Financial Wellness Survey reveals that fifty percent of employees are stressed about their finances. Given the overwhelming numbers, it stands to reason that financial stress ranks as the number one cause for concern among Americans. The deep financial strain, intensified by the pandemic, stems from student loan debts, escalating housing, food, and medical costs, among a host of others. While employees reel under financial stress, the ripple effect paints a grim picture for businesses, costing about half a trillion dollars each year. According to PwC estimates, the average business loses about $2,800 per employee per year due to financial stress. Evidently, for businesses, there is a compelling need to foster a culture of financial wellness.

To turn the tide, businesses are making a beeline to adopt value-based employee financial wellness programs, and the demand for effective and holistic programs that increase positive financial behaviors is soaring. In today’s tight job market, employers must offer competitive benefit offerings. It is high on corporate agendas to help workforces improve their financial well-being and thereby workplace engagement and productivity, which invariably has a positive impact on their bottom-line. However, in a market replete with numerous financial wellness solutions, it can be hard for employers adorning many hats to find the right financial wellness solutions for their employees—one that works best for them.

But they can rest assured that Securian Financial, the Minnesota-based Fortune 500 financial services company, holds the baton with its unique Financial Wellness 360® program for employers of all sizes.

Meeting Employee Needs, Today and Tomorrow

Given that workplace benefits are the foundation of many families’ financial future, Securian Financial brings decades of specialized expertise to create successful employee benefit programs. “Our purpose is all about helping our customers build secure tomorrows, and that influences how we approach our financial wellness value add offerings,” says Brandon Bellin, Director & Actuary, Securian Financial. “At the core, Securian’s Financial Wellness 360 program aims to provide employees a solid foundation on which they can build the edifice of a financially secure future.” The program kickstarts helping employees embrace a financial behavior change, which leads them to think about securing their immediate future, including appropriate financial protection products, and become confident about participating in a retirement plan. To achieve this, Securian’s solutions are carefully crafted to be personalized, comprehensive, and flexible to meet the unique needs of a diverse workforce regardless of where an individual is in their financial journey or the specific goals they have in place.

To determine what employees most value and would appreciate access to from their employer, Securian engaged in listening sessions with customers and channel partners and brainstormed with their customer experience and insights team. Eventually arriving at the eight building blocks to consider when creating a financial wellness program. The building blocks include: budgeting assistance and debt reduction, self-service money management tools, personal financial counseling, legal consultation, legacy planning resources - such as wills and trusts, beneficiary financial counseling and grief resources, student loan repayment and assistance, and retirement savings and investment resources. “Developing solutions for each of these areas of focus provides HR leaders with enough latitude to tailor the program to meet the needs of employees,” adds Brittni Roth, Strategic Solutions Leader, Securian Financial.

Then the company’s leadership sat down to define the best ways of triggering employee financial behavior change based on these building blocks. They determined which solutions should be developed in-house versus those that should be offered through best-in-class partners. Utilizing talent from devoted financial wellness organizations proves to be a differentiator as these experts keep their eyes on the latest in financial wellness marketplace trends.

Through such partners, Securian offers curated solutions for its employer clients based on the unique needs of their employees.

The All-Inclusive Financial Wellness 360 Program

When it comes to encouraging people to adopt financial wellness solutions, the Securian team realized that ‘you need to meet people where they are and ascertain what will motivate them to engage with the programs.’ To that end, Securian has designed flexible solutions to embrace the myriad of different ways employees like to learn. Employers can mix and match and create a custom solution suite that best meets their employees’ needs and align with their goals.

Securian’s comprehensive program is comprised of four main components: a highly personalized online education platform through a partnership with Enrich™; onsite or virtual seminars through their Advisor Connection program; student loan assistance programs; Securian self-service tools and access to resources though the LifeWorks program.

Through the company’s strategic partnership with Enrich, employees get highly personalized, interactive financial education that covers various financial topics. Employees answer a financial check-up questionnaire and gain access to content tailored to their needs, which meets them where they are in terms of financial knowledge and lifestage. The platform also has a financial wellness assessment component, whereby employees can learn about their money personality, which gives them an understanding of their dominant traits, strengths, and challenges, motivating them to make long-term changes. “Not only are they learning and being educated, but they are also given individualized prescriptive action plans to realize a realistic goal,” explains Bellin.

Next in line is the Advisor Connection program aimed at catering to employees who prefer to learn in a seminar setting, like a classroom environment or through on-demand sessions. Paired with each session is a downloadable and convenient workbook, which enables employees to explore more about the various financial wellness topics, including personal finance, retirement preparation, understanding Social Security and Medicare, and saving for college. Employees may also take advantage of a complementary, one-on-one consultation following the seminar. Securian handles the leg work of program management, registering participants and promotional campaigns, taking it off the employer’s plate.

At the core, Securian’s Financial Wellness 360 program aims to provide employees a solid foundation on which they can build the edifice of a financially-secure future

Student loan assistance programs are offered through CommonBond for Business™ and BenefitEd™. Both programs provide a full suite of student loan benefits that can aid many members of a workforce - regardless of age. These include employer contribution options, repayment and refinancing options and self-service tools. CommonBond addresses the unique needs of large employers offering group insurance plans. On the other hand, BenefitEd is tailored to the specific needs of small to midsize employers.

Finally, the Lifestyle Benefits program is a suite of self-service resources designed to help employees address various challenges at all stages of life. Available online and through the phone 24/7, employees and their families can get counseling assistance from professionals on legal, financial, and grief matters. The program also includes travel assistance, beneficiary financial counseling, and identity theft. Securian compliments this program with a host of their own tools like a suite of calculators and planning tools, retirement income projection tools, and decision support tools that recommend the right mix of financial protection products.

“Our associates are fully trained to explain to clients what these programs are,” chimes in Bellin. “If employers need further information, our partners step in with additional details.” A dedicated associate connects Securian Outlook 6employer clients and solution partners to facilitate seamless interactions. The clients have the full support of Securian’s marketing department in promoting their solutions to their employees. It focuses on helping people experience the solutions, and once they experience it, they tend to engage well with it.

Going the Distance

The purpose and values woven into the fabric of the Securian culture is centered on the core tenets of trust, strength, integrity, quality, respect, and community. “Our employees understand that we each play an important role in creating exemplary experiences to support our customers, colleagues, distribution partners, and community,” states Roth. And to foster a culture of customer excellence, the company has a culture champions program where thought leaders challenge

the status quo and help model critical behaviors that will accelerate company growth. “Our culture has contributed to being certified as a great place to work for the fifth year in a row,” she extols. The strong company culture shapes the solutions Securian brings to the market and the customer service that accompanies those offerings. The Financial Wellness 360 program is no exception. Committed Securian employees help customers with their financial wellness offering for the entirety of their relationship with the organization.

At Securian, innovation continues to be a top priority to solve customer problems and prepare for the future. Each year the company co-sponsors the OnRamp Insurance Accelerator which invests in five insurtech startups. The company also hosts DeepRacer events in coordination with Amazon Web Services, which provide a way to learn more about reinforcement learning and machine learning models and explore blockchain within some of their tools. “We pride ourselves on continually looking to find the best way to meet the needs of our employers’ complex benefits strategies,” remarks Roth.

Moving forward, Securian plans to continually invest in innovation and technology to better the digital customer experience for their clientele. This includes the tools aligned to the Financial Wellness 360 program. Even though the team is confident about the strength of their current program, they constantly review the current benefits and evaluate potential new benefits that could strengthen the Financial Wellness 360 program by keeping an eye on the market. “Our primary goal is to ensure our program is competitive to help our customers build that secure financial foundation—today and tomorrow,” Bellin signs off.

About Securian Financial

Securian Financial serves more than 21 million customers in North America. The organization has $1.4 trillion dollars of life insurance in force and over 97 billion assets under management and their underwriting companies are highly rated by the four major independent rating agencies.

With a legacy spanning 140 years, Securian Financial’s diverse businesses have been committed to providing financial products and services to four key markets: individuals and families, employers and employees, financial institutions and their customers, and institutional investors through a variety of distribution channels. The company strives to retain customers by providing exceptional service, appraising the market of regulatory changes, and continuously evolving and adapting its solutions. Roth completes the picture by adding, “We truly strive to bring a consultative, adaptable approach and relevant solutions to all of the markets we serve.”