Most everyone knows what wellnessprograms are designed to do for the body — help employees get andstay more physically fit and be more proactive with personalhealth. But what about financial well-being? Do the nation'semployees suffer from the financial flu?

A new survey said money worries have become a significantdistraction for employees during working hours. Not Facebook, notchain emails, not weight loss — worries about money.

The survey has implications for credit unions as employers andas benefit providers that partner with select employee groups.

Although many U.S. businesses have recovered from the GreatRecession, many of the people who work at those businesses haven't.The Society for Human Resource Management said those worriesare now a huge drain on employee productivity.

Here's what the 2014 SHRM survey Financial Wellness inthe Workplace found:

• Seven out of 10 human resource professionals said personalfinancial challenges have a large or some impact on theiremployees' performance.
• More than 40% said that difficulty in covering personalexpenses is having a workplace impact on employees.
• Almost 40% of employees are facing greater personal financialchallenges now compared with the onset of the recession in2007.
• Nearly 25% of human resources professionals said employees areexperiencing more personal financial challenges now compared with12 months ago.

And those numbers represent HR professionals who areattuned to the financial difficulty of their employees. Otherscould be clueless.

The survey also uncovered this alarming fact: Employees were 60%more likely to tap their retirement account for a loan than inprevious years, and 44% were more likely to ask for a hardshipwithdrawal from retirement savings.

In today's economy, many of your employees are experiencingfinancial distress. Employee financial distress costsemployers:

• Increased absenteeism
• Lower productivity
• Increased turnover
• Decreased employee health
• Diminished work environment

Even in a good economy, individual financial wellness isimportant. For employers, the well-being of employees is a criticalcomponent to success. Today, the financial distress employeesexperience is yet one more way a bad economy impacts your business.When workplace outcomes can be improved, everyone benefits. Thebenefits to employers are definitely worthwhile, leading to thefollowing positive results:

• Enhanced productivity
• Decreased absenteeism
• Improved employee health and preventative care/lower healthcare costs
• Increased pay satisfaction
• Utilized benefits

Typically, financial wellness programs offer an array ofproactive financial planning tools that help employees bettermanage money in the short term (through budgeting, creditcounseling and the like) and in the long term (retirementplanning). Even if offered as an employer benefit, employees shouldweigh these three factors: The services offered, confidentialityand their ingrained financial habits.

Establishing and maintaining healthy spending and saving habitsis as important to employees' well being as proper nutritionand regularexercise. Firms can achieve financial wellness — thebalance between living responsibly today and planning wisely fortomorrow.

According to Waddell & Reed, financial wellness isn't aboutmoney; it's about decision-making. A good financial wellnessprogram should include these initiatives:

• Help employees build awareness of their financialsituation.
• Provide employees education for establishing financialgoals.
• Empower employees to change their behavior and achieve theirgoals through informed choices in the financial planningprocess.

For many companies, employee financial wellness is the missingpiece to maximizing the effectiveness of existing wellnessprograms and fully containing health care costs —not to mention fostering a workforce of healthier, happier and moreproductive employees who are engaged and empowered.