Wellness programs are designed to improve employees' health and at least slow the damage to (if not improve) the employer's health care bottom line.

Employers get it. They know that employee health care costs pose a huge administrative expense and they are doing what they can to rein in that expense.

One can't really quibble with this approach. However, I would argue that our scope is too narrow.

To put a disproportionate share of our focus on health promotion programs while failing to address the importance of a financially healthy employee is to ignore a major element of overall wellness.

Compensation is not enough

Many employers believe that since they offer competitive compensation programs, their work is done in the area of employee personal finance. But an astute employer - particularly one that is already investing significant dollars in health promotion - will see the benefit of assisting employees in becoming smart savers, spenders and investors as well. These employers understand that by improving the financial wellness of employees they are also creating an environment for better overall employee wellness.

Three levels of financial wellness

In her book, The Difference, Jean Chatzky notes that people at different levels of financial wellness possess very different characteristics. She calls people with the lowest level of financial wellness "Further-in-Debtors." She describes them as unhappy and insecure and goes on to say that nearly half get physical symptoms like insomnia, heartburn, stomachaches or headaches when they think about their finances. For health and productivity reasons, you'll want as few Further-in-Debtors in your workforce as possible.

On the other hand, she describes the "Financially Comfortable," her second-highest level of financial wellness after "The Wealthy," this way: "Although they're not as satisfied with their social lives, health, or sex lives as The Wealthy are, they're just as satisfied with their family life, which makes sense, since they are more likely to be family focused. The Financially Comfortable stick to a budget and are careful about how much they spend. Nearly 70% of the Financially Comfortable pay off their credit cards in full every month and three quarters devote a chunk of household income each month to personal savings."

As you might guess, the Financially Comfortable probably sleep well at night and are able to give 100% while on the job. I believe it is highly unlikely that employers are getting that kind of effort from the Further-in-Debtors or, for that matter, from their "Paycheck-to-Paycheck" employees - which is how Chatzky describes the second-lowest level of financial wellness.

Financial control

Few of us have had formal education in personal finance management. The personal finance training programs in our schools today are growing, but they are still limited in scope and are often optional. Employers need to provide the resources necessary to support a financially literate workforce. The payoff for employers can be greater than that attained by focusing on physical health alone.

There is no magic formula that will lead to a financially fit workforce. While you won't catch all employees with a financial wellness campaign - just as you won't catch all employees with a health wellness campaign - a serious effort to improve the financial I.Q. of the workforce will do much to promote overall employee wellness. In turn, this will lead to higher productivity and an improved bottom line.

A training program that covers the basics of tracking and budgeting expenses, short- and long-term goal setting, credit and debt management, the magic of compound interest and where to obtain resources for financial planning will serve as a nice platform for more sophisticated training that may follow, such as investing beyond one's 401(k) plan, housing and mortgage matters, insurance and retirement planning.

Not only does the employer gain at the bottom line by having a financially and physically healthy workforce, but employee goodwill is immeasurable. And word will soon spread that your client is a first-rate employer of choice.

Hanson is an HR consultant with a special interest in financial literacy. He is a contributor to Employee Benefit News, published by SourceMedia.