But as an employer, if I want to provide financial literacy programs, where do I start?

Janet Parker was kind enough to introduce me to Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, President of the Charles Schwab Foundation.  The Foundation is a private, non-profit organization funded by The Charles Schwab Corporation. The Foundation’s mission is to create positive change through financial education, philanthropy, and volunteerism.  My thanks to Janet for the introduction and Carrie for spending a few moments with the Bartender.

1. Everyday, we hear about the financial crisis in the media. Is it too late for financial literacy education to have an impact?

It’s never too late. But certainly, the sooner an individual understands and applies the basic principles of financial literacy, the easier it is to achieve financial security. In fact, if we can encourage everyone in their early 20’s to start saving 10% of their income for the rest of their lives, America will be in a better place. What young people don’t realize is that it’s not just how much money you have to save, it’s how much time you have to save that makes the biggest difference.

The truth is financial literacy evolves over a lifetime.  Being financially literate means understanding how to manage your cash flow (income and expenses), handle debt responsibly, save and invest, prepare for the unexpected with the right insurance and, lastly, create an estate plan that represents your wishes should something happen to you. The more prepared we are to adapt to changes in our financial lives, the more financially fit we’ll become.

For middle-aged workers who haven’t given much thought to their financial lives until now, there is no time like the present. Get involved with your finances: create a budget with a line item for savings, save as much as possible by taking advantage of your 401(k) and IRA, consider delaying retirement or start collecting social security benefits later. It will pay off.

2. What should a business do if they want to start a financial literacy program?

There are various tactics a business can take to help employees become more financially literate. The first step is to put the right programs and systems in place, such as a 401(k) program with automatic enrollment, gradual contribution escalations, varied investment options and a company match. My mantra is “make it automatic” – and it’s been proven that opt-out vs. opt-in features increase participation.

But a 401(k) plan alone doesn’t guarantee success. Broad-based education is critical. Employees need to understand how to live within their means and manage debt before they can think about saving and investing for the future. In fact, according to a recent Schwab study of four generations of Americans, 7 in 10 would like professional saving and investing advice from their employer. Take advantage of this desire.

An employee’s lack of comfort with investing can also get in the way of his or her long-term financial security. In addition to providing access to workshops, newsletters and educational websites, a company should consider offering one-on-one 401(k) consultations. Most plan providers offer this service. In a recent Schwab pilot, plan participants who met with an investment professional saved twice as much as those who did not receive a personal consultation. While on the surface, this appears financially daunting to implement, employers have a strong incentive: studies show that there is a strong correlation between financial stress and an employee’s productivity, which in the long run has a higher cost to the company. And most plan providers offer this service for free.

3. Can you share a success story with us?

There are many success stories to share, especially for those companies that make their employee’s financial wellness a priority.   In the attached Schwab-Ariel Black Paper, check out what McDonald’s did to respond to the lack of 401(k) participants among its black store managers.  I’ve also included a case study that shares NCCI Holding’s success in their quest to increase participation rate and help their employees diversify in anticipation of retirement.

Families can also find more information and resources on promoting financial literacy at Schwab MoneyWise.

4. Lastly, here at HR Bartender, we do serious work but try not to take ourselves too seriously. So, my question is what’s your favorite drink (adult or not)?

Vodka martinis, with an olive.

Thanks again Carrie for sharing this information.  I found the case studies to be very valuable…great info to share with senior leadership.

If we want to continue to see positive movement in our economic condition, education and training is key.  People need to make smart financial decisions, not only to improve their short-term circumstances, but their long-term position.

First, I wanted to share with you my latest post from Mashable, the world’s largest blog focused on social media news.  It’s called “5 Steps for Successful Social Media Damage Control”.  We all know that everything doesn’t always turn out as planned and sometimes damage control is necessary.  How you handle those moments really define you as a person and your organization in the public’s eyes.

Also, I discovered that tomorrow, July 11, is National Blueberry Muffin Day.  I love blueberries.  One of my fave foodie sites is called $5 Dinners.  Nice recipes that look pretty easy to make.  I saw one a few days ago for Almond, Raspberry and Blueberry Muffins.  Looks delish.

So have a terrific weekend and check out the post.  Hopefully you won’t need any ‘damage control’ if you attempt the recipe.  (oh, sorry…that was a really bad pun.)  Cheers!

There are 25 blogs in total, so be sure to check out the entire list. But here’s a peek at the Top 10:

1. cheezhead
2. Your HR Guy
3. HR Bartender
4. Compensation Force
5. Seth Godin
6. Punk Rock HR
7. Renegade HR
8. TalentedApps
9. The Recruiter Guy
10. All Things Workplace

Fistful of Talent also included the ‘up and comers’ in the blogging world … I found a few new faces that I’ll be adding to my reading list.

Speaking of reading lists, Effortless HR published the latest Carnival of HR yesterday.  Very timely collection of human resources topics including employee engagement, leadership development and social media.  Be sure to visit for some lively discussion.

As HR Pros, we are constantly reminding our management teams of the importance of recognition.  My thanks and congrats to all of the blog power ranking and carnival participants.  You are making a difference.  Cheers!

I recently had the opportunity to hear a presentation on financial literacy at the Alabama SHRM Conference.  Kudos to the HR Pros in Alabama for recognizing that financial literacy is an important topic in the business environment.

At the session was none other than my friend Janet Parker, SPHR.  Janet is the Executive Vice President of Human Resources for Regions Bank.  She’s also the former board chair for SHRM (which is how we met).  And, she was appointed by President George Bush to the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy.  Janet is a super smart HR Pro so I seized this opportunity to get her thoughts about financial literacy in the workplace.

1.  What exactly is ‘financial literacy’?

The President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy developed the following definition: “The ability to use knowledge and skills to manage financial resources effectively for a lifetime of financial well-being.”

2.  Why should business professionals care about educating their employees on this subject?

Our youth are not receiving financial education in school.  According to the National Council on Economic Education, only SEVEN STATES REQUIRE A PERSONAL FINANCE COURSE.

The workplace has many opportunities to provide education as employees experience life events:  home purchases, retirement planning, family changes, and health changes. Using the workplace as a financial education classroom is a tremendous opportunity to increase productivity, engagement and loyalty.

3.  With all of the increased demands on business, how can managers ‘sell’ the idea of financial literacy education to senior leadership?

Let me share a piece of a report by E. Thomas Garman, president of the Personal Finance Employee Education Foundation and professor emeritus at Virginia Tech University.  The following statistics clearly provide a business case for financial literacy programs in the workplace:

“30 million workers — one in four are suffering serious financial distress.  Nearly half of those who are financially distressed report that their health is negatively impacted by their financial worries; and 30% to 80% of financially distressed workers spend time at their place of employment worrying about personal finances and dealing with financial issues instead of working.”

Employers have an opportunity and a responsibility to educate workers at all levels about financial literacy and there is no better time than now to start.

4.  Lastly, here at HR Bartender, we do serious work but try not to take ourselves too seriously.  So, my last question is what’s your favorite drink (adult or not)?

It’s called an Orange Thing and is exclusive to Birmingham.  It’s served at Highlands Bar and Grill, which opened in 1982.  The Chef, Frank Stitt, has won the James Beard Award.  His meals combine the flavors of South France and the American South.

My thanks to Janet for sharing the business case for financial education.  We spend a lot of time here at HR Bartender talking about the significance of leadership and customer service.  It’s important to realize that, if our employees are distracted by financial challenges, it will ultimately impact their performance.

This is a critical topic so stay tuned for more information about workplace financial literacy programs.  Teaching our employees how to manage their money will not only help their personal bottom line, but our organization’s as well.

I’ve been involved with conference planning for a many years.  It’s great fun.  I’ve made lifelong friends and learned a lot.  And with that, I’ve also developed some opinions about the future of conferences.

IMHO, blog posts and Twitter hashtags aren’t total substitutes for attending a conference.  The distinct advantage conferences have (and will continue to have) is face-to-face contact.  That’s one of the reasons why TweetUps came to exist.  Social media tools take participants only so far.  Then at some point, you want more personal interaction.  No one wants to just be a spectator…if something is fun; they want to be a part of it.  My recent trip to SHRM is a case in point. Right along with the attendee Tweets were Tweets from those at home saying they wished they were there.  I hope next year, SHRM will have an even larger crowd of bloggers and Tweeters because everyone read how much fun we were having this year.

That being said, conferences will begin to leverage the strength of face-to-face interaction.  How exactly they will do that, I’m not sure.  But I do know there’s too much money to be made with conferences to let it all just fade away.  I’d actually predict that conferences will become more dynamic as a result of social media popularity.

One thing is for certain, conference planners will be paying close attention to exhibitor, sponsor, speaker, and attendee feedback as they plan future events.  Your comments and suggestions will drive future programs.

So before you ignore that conference evaluation, ask yourself why you attend conferences.  And, what you want to see in conferences.  The future of conferences lies with you.

One thing that’s tremendously important is leadership – having good leadership within your organization and being a good leader to those around you.  Dan McCarthy just published the latest Leadership Development Carnival over at his blog, Great Leadership.  Check it out when you have a moment.  It’s a terrific collection of articles on the subject.

My thanks to Dan for including HR Bartender in the list.  Cheers!

Image courtesy of J.W.Photography

For those of you who weren’t able to be there, you missed a good one.  Here’s my wrap up …

Session Soundbite

Without a doubt, the HR Bloggers Panel with Kris Dunn, Lance Haun, Jessica Lee and Laurie Ruettimann was a huge hit!  China Gorman, SHRM’s Chief Operating Officer, is a skilled moderator and kept everyone engaged.  I think it was a great idea to live stream the session and hopefully, in the future, SHRM will consider doing more of this.

Expo Highlight

The expo closed on Tuesday but there was still much to experience.  I stopped by the career transition center that was being sponsored by Lee Hecht Harrison.  They were offering workshops and personal coaching sessions for HR Pros in transition.  They also offered advice for companies that were considering layoffs.  One of the consultants mentioned they’ve seen hundreds of people during the event.

Kudos to SHRM and Lee Hecht Harrison for offering this great resource at the conference.

Swag of the Day

In packing for the trip home, I realized that I snagged some pleasant surprises in the expo that I wanted to mention.  The Bureau of National Affairs (aka BNA) was giving out cans of Café du Monde coffee and Ajilon had huge bags of M&M’s.  Coffee and chocolate…yum.  That trumps a jump drive any day.

Foodie Spotlight

I had a wonderful evening with the Jackson Lewis folks at Restaurant August.  The firm is filled with the best and brightest legal minds.  If you ever have the chance to dine at Restaurant August, it’s an invite you should never turn down.  The highlight was the crispy seared Louisiana redfish with Silver Queen Corn and local crab meat.  Just typing that makes me hungry again…

You Made My Day Award

I’d like to give a shout out to the SHRM staff for putting this event together.  I’ve actually worked on the conference team back in 2003 when the Annual Conference was in Orlando.  The hard work and commitment to giving the attendees, speakers, and exhibitors a quality show is phenomenal.  They deserve our accolades (and a long paid vacation!)

Like many others, I’m getting settled back into life at home and the office.  That means lots of laundry, nursing my blisters and answering tons of email.  But it was an awesome trip – I made a lot of great friends, learned new ideas, and pumped a ton of money into the New Orleans economy.  I’ll start saving now for next year – San Diego.

I’m thinking of using this format to report on future conferences.  If you have any comments about it, please let me know.  Hope you have a wonderful and relaxing July 4 holiday!