Financial health: what employers need to understand
As an entrepreneur, you probably know that financial health is essential for the success of every enterprise. As a result, healthy business finance and proper management is a key determinant in recording success for your company. Even though financial wellness generally seems to be a concept relating to personal finance. Employers need a great deal of understanding of how to care about the financial strength of their enterprise. Therefore, if you seek more information about maintaining healthy finances for your business, keep reading to learn more.
What is financial health?
It is the overall monetary state of affairs for both individuals and corporate entities. Essentially, the state of your company’s finances influences your ability to make better choices at work. Therefore, financial health, just like physical health, can be either good or bad. For an organization, when the rate at which you generate revenue or experience cash inflow exceeds your losses or cash outflow, then the business is profitable. Additionally, a profitable business is usually in an excellent state of financial wellness, and company affairs become easier to manage.Why is financial health important for employers?
Employers need to care much about their financial health because it does not just affect them as individuals but the company at large. As a result, an employer who understands a thing or two about building healthy business finances will be better able to make informed decisions regarding matters that concern the business.Furthermore, because employers are always seeking the next available business opportunity, scouting for investors and financing, the healthy financial status of the enterprise becomes imperative. The reason is that you as the entrepreneur will have to pitch to investors or government agencies when seeking sponsorship or partnership. And people, whether individual investors or corporate entities, including the government, will require up-to-date information about the financial health of your business. That way, they are sure that their investment is secure and they are not making a huge financial blunder which translates to poor financial strength.Employee benefits that promote financial health
Offering financial health benefits to employees has an impact on an organization's capacity to attract new workers and retain existing talent. If potential recruits are aware of the benefits package ahead of time, it might be a decisive factor in their decision to join a company. Financial stress can also have an impact on current employees' retention and loyalty. Those who are concerned about their finances are more likely to be drawn to another company that has financial well-being programs in place.Over the last five years, the number of workers with insurance and retirement savings has declined. 4 Employees may be susceptible in an emergency if they do not have financial protection programs in place. Employers have an opportunity to provide financial advantages that can create a steady financial backbone, helping employees to construct a financially secure future. Employee benefits may include:- Insurance for life
- Insurance against disability
- Medical and family leave
- Retirement programs such as 401(k)s
How to assess your financial health as an employer?
Assessing your financial health as an employer means measuring or determining the state of your company finances. What you want to achieve here is to analyze the monetary affairs of your business to determine the financial security of your enterprise. A great deal of this analysis begins with monitoring how you allocate resources within the company. And how much the business generates in relation to return on investment.Therefore there is no particular metric for assessing the health of a company’s finances. The reason is that the chief determinant of financial health as it relates to employers depends on the profitability of the business. However, besides profitability, other key factors for assessing monetary health include but are not limited to: operating effectiveness, liquidity, and solvency.Factors for determining business financial health
Profitability
Profitability remains the top determinant of the financial health of any business. The reason is that the sole aim of every enterprise besides adding value to humanity is to make a profit. As a result, an enterprise running at a loss is not in excellent financial strength. Therefore the ability of a business to generate revenue from its resources or investment above its expenses and maintain it is business profitability.Operational effectiveness
It is the ratio of resource allocation within an enterprise. Essentially, proper allocation and management of resources are necessary for a business to improve its financial health. The reason is that, when you allocate resources judiciously within your business, you stand a greater chance of minimizing waste. And effective waste management during the production process is a no-brainer when it comes to boosting the monetary health of your business. As a result, if you want to improve the profitability of your business, then you as an employer should be super into monitoring the operational effectiveness of your business. Areas within your business that you can look into for better operational effectiveness include: service operations, labor, financial operations, etc. and an excellent way to achieve this is to introduce automation in your business.Liquidity
It is the amount of cash available in a company, including all assets that can be easily converted to cash without risking the market value of the business. Liquidity as a metric for assessing the monetary health of a company is relevant for short-term financial involvement. Therefore the ability for a business to easily convert assets to cash or be in possession of ready cash is invaluable. The reason is that it makes for monetary continuity within the company. Things like outstanding debts or impulse buying can be easily taken care of without delay.Solvency
Solvency is somewhat similar to liquidity as a metric for determining the financial strength of a business. However, liquidity deals with the availability of ready cash and assets that can be easily converted to cash. Solvency deals with the company’s ability to handle long-term financial commitments and meet up with its financial obligations. Essentially, liquidity focuses on the short-term, while solvency focuses on the long-term. It means that it is possible for a business to have high liquidity but very low solvency. And that counts as a red flag for the financial health of the business. It means that the company could get into a huge debt that may be difficult to rectify.What precisely are financial health programs?
Financial health refers to a person's confidence in their finances and ability to manage their finances. Financial health, like physical, mental, and emotional health, is a facet of overall wellness.Employer-sponsored financial health programs attempt to improve employees' overall financial wellness and assist them in developing a positive relationship with money. Financial health programs, like healthcare benefits, are intended to assist employees' physical wellness. They include initiatives like retirement plans and education, budgeting tools, and other initiatives to encourage employees' financial health.Financial wellness programs should range from company to firm in order to meet the unique and specialized demands of each workforce. Most programs, however, cover typical themes such as budgeting and personal finance, student loans, retirement and emergency savings, and financial considerations in health insurance, healthcare, mortgages, and other areas. Employers' education and tools assist employees enhance their well-being by lowering financial pressures and enhancing retirement preparation.Employee morale and productivity are predicted by financial health.
Employees' physical and mental health suffer as a result of poor financial health, presenting an ever-present barrier to feeling good in general, let alone at work. Employers experience productivity losses, absenteeism, and attrition as a result of their employees' financial hardship. Nonetheless, employees have stated that they would be more loyal to their employers if they could reduce their financial burden.According to Commonwealth, 65% of employees believe their companies should do more to combat financial instability. Furthermore, according to The Workforce Institute at UKG, 74% of employees would prefer to work for an employer that provides financial planning, budgeting, and automated savings tools over one that does not.So, if employers provide such financial instruments, is the morale benefit worth the cost? Consider that organizations lose an estimated $250 billion in productivity each year as a result of employee stress, and that financial worry is the most common source of employee distraction—to the point where people miss work to deal with it. According to PwC's "Special report: Financial stress and the bottom line," 12% of employees admit to skipping work due to financial stress, which costs a company with 10,000 employees $166,000 a year.Spending $100,000 per year on financial incentives such as on-demand pay and emergency savings might return millions of dollars for organizations with big hourly workforces. Employees would be able to address emergencies with their own money rather than relying on a payday loan, for example. Less financial stress implies less distraction, so employees can work more efficiently. That boosts productivity, and the boost in morale that comes with it encourages higher retention.Elements of financial health
As an employer here are a couple of signs that indicate whether or not your business is in poor or excellent financial wellness.Signs of poor business financial strength
- Diminished cash flow due to losses, expenses, and mismanagement of resources.
- Heavy dependence on one source of income because you cannot secure more contracts.
- Unhappy employees because you cannot fulfill your financial obligation to them.
- Pressure from creditors because you cannot pay your debt promptly.
Signs of excellent business financial strength
- Increased and steady cash flow
- High returns on investment
- Decreased debt and high company liquidity and solvency
- Steady profitability
