MetLife's 7th annual Study of Employee Benefit Trends reports that there is "an important relationship between personal health and personal wealth - specifically, how one's physical well-being may impact current and future financial situations. Employees across all company sizes who assessed their own health as fair or poor also said they were in worse financial shape than their healthier counterparts."

The findings from MetLife's study should not be surprising. More and more, it seems, companies and individuals are coming to the realization that financial wellness and physical wellness go hand in hand.

Jean Chatzky's book, "The Difference," describes a group of people known as "Further-in-Debtors." According to Chatzky, three-quarters of the Further-in-Debtors say that if they had to pay a large medical bill tomorrow, they would find it difficult to pay. "Not surprisingly, they're both unhappy and insecure," she writes. "Nearly half get physical symptoms like insomnia, heartburn, stomachaches or headaches when they think about their finances."

I believe that most companies across America have some percentage of Further-in-Debtors in their workforce. As an employer, you have to wonder what the impact of Further-in-Debtors is on your bottom line. Common sense would tell you that an individual who lives with insomnia and heartburn is not going to be as productive, and maybe not nearly as productive, as his colleagues who have a grip on their personal finances.

Money matters

In a recent article from the Wall Street Journal Sunday, "Money Matters Can Make or Break a Marriage," it was pointed out that "too many people know too little about budgeting, saving, investing and spending wisely - the basics of family finance. And when it comes to marriage, that's where problems arise . . . success in marriage doesn't rest on absolute mastery of the intricacies of personal finance.

Still, if neither of you - or only one of you - really understands the dollars and cents of daily life, you're likely to spend your relationship continually insecure financially, or frustrated with each other, maybe even routinely fighting."

Again, as an employer, it is worth pondering the notion of what impact a distressed spouse, coming off a rip-roaring financial argument with their partner, might have on your business. Let's say that the troubled spouse is a customer service representative.

How easy is it to separate one's personal life and business life? Some, certainly, have the ability to make this break without much trouble. I would argue, however, that a good number of our employees take their problems to work with them, although I expect there are a few that will argue with me on this point.

Where the emphasis is being put on employer programs that promote physical wellness, it is extremely important that employers not lose sight of the fact that employee financial wellness and physical wellness go hand in hand. Most of us recognize that there is a link between physical wellness, employee productivity and the bottom line. But what we tend to overlook is that financial well-being (or at least a positive outlook one's personal finances) is essential to physical wellness.

Job performance

In an article by Abigail Goldman in the Los Angeles Times last year, she commented that stress over money can affect job performance. She suggested that employers should be prepared for problems related to absenteeism and lower productivity as a result of personal finance problems. She went on to say that financial problems can also lead to more turnover, as employees in need of more money look for new jobs.

The crisis in personal financial management in these difficult times is exacerbated by the fact that many of our employees simply don't have the training to meet the financial challenges that face them. A recent financial literacy survey conducted by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling showed that 41% of adults gave themselves a grade of C, D or F on their knowledge of personal finance, and only 42% track their overall spending. With regard to savings, 32% reported having no savings. Of these, 29% said they would charge an emergency expense to a credit card.

In the first quarter of 2008, average consumer debt (not including mortgages) amounted to more than $19,000, according to Federal Reserve data. While there is a trend toward more savings today, many households are still strapped with enormous debt. People living with mind-numbing debt are the same people who are working in our corporations and our factories. Will it have an impact on the bottom line and shareholder value? You bet! Debt can start at a very young age and carry through adulthood. College students currently carry an average of 4 credit cards. Education is very often needed to break the cycle of debt.

Most employees have had little or no training in managing their personal finances and have had to learn the hard way. Then employers come along with 401(k) education and wonder why their employees aren't doing a better job of saving and diversifying their investments.

While some education may be better than no education at all, providing 401(k) education without a foundation in personal finance management is not unlike offering algebra before basic math. Not that it can't be done with some extraordinary effort on the part of the student, but it would be a lot easier to provide the full complement of financial education building blocks that will truly prepare employees to become informed in all areas of personal finance.

While physical wellness is extremely important to employee productivity, employers should not forget that the employee who has his financial ducks in a row will also be able to contribute much more to the organization.

Besides employee financial education, employers should also look to their EAPs to ensure they're getting the most bang for the buck. While many EAPs offer financial assistance in one form or another, oftentimes this is a much underutilized employee benefit. Employers should make sure their employees know about the financial services that are provided through their EAP and should advertise their services often.

By regularly communicating the company's personal finance support programs, you will not only educate your employees in the area of financial wellness, thereby improving employee productivity and shareholder value, but you will also gain the goodwill of your employees for making training and information available. Recruitment and retention will be well-served by the goodwill that comes with offering education programs that employees can use to improve their lives away from work.

A financially comfortable employee is much more capable of adding to shareholder value because this individual has the capacity to give of himself freely to the organization and is not constantly burdened by the thought of where the next mortgage payment is coming from. Financial acumen, coupled with good physical health, will undoubtedly help maximize employee productivity and shareholder value.