BrightPlan in the 2020 Rear-view Mirror

Happy New Year! As we embark on 2021 with a new sense of optimism, we’d like to reminisce and share some key highlights with you on BrightPlan in 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic dominated the last year and upended our personal and business lives. But it also put a spotlight on what matters most--employee well-being. The challenges the pandemic brought on gave BrightPlan the opportunity to partner with many forward-thinking employers to support their employees’ well-being, resulting in growth and momentum for our company and enabling us to triple our customer base. 

Several industry analysts and research houses also acknowledged our efforts to drive innovation in the employee well-being space. Aragon Research identified BrightPlan as a “Hot Vendor” in financial wellness. Employee Benefits News named our founder and CEO Marthin De Beer as one of their 2020 Digital Innovators. And, the Brandon Hall Group awarded BrightPlan the Gold prize for Excellence in the Best Advance in the Corporate Well-being Technology category. 

2020 was the year that financial wellness gained steam. Yet there continues to be confusion around--what is financial wellness? Total Financial Wellness: the trusted solution built to lead all employees to financial success on their own terms at every stage of life. See our whitepaper and listen to our webinar to learn more. 

With the mass move to work from home brought on by the pandemic, many HR leaders in 2020 listened to their employees and took a hard look at their benefits offerings to align better with what mattered most to their employees. We hosted an industry roundtable on Wellness Benefits that Matter Most in the Time of COVID-19 to delve deeper into this topic and hear first-hand perspectives from HR leaders from Autodesk, eBay, TriNet, and Willis Towers Watson. 

We also conducted a survey of employers and employees, that revealed employees rank financial wellness higher than traditional benefits like healthcare and only second to compensation. 

This was reinforced by market intelligence firm IDC Research’s Market Spotlight report on the business impact of employee financial wellness. You can also catch Lisa Rowan, IDC’s Research Vice President, HR, Talent and Learning Strategies and hear her direct perspective on this in this on-demand webinar. Lisa discussed how employers that invest in robust employee experience programs--of which financial wellness is a key component--have employees who plan to stay with the company 6-10 years on average and are 35 times more likely to feel like part of one team, ultimately driving business results.

Now that you’ve heard about the value and positive business impact of financial wellness, where should you start? Check out this  Buyer’s Guide to learn more about what employers need to know when evaluating a financial wellness solution along with its webinar accompaniment. This guide includes questions to consider when evaluating solutions, capabilities to look for, and ways to measure success.

2020 also saw an increase in conversations and commitments around Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I). Most DE&I efforts focus on representation and removing workplace bias. We believe there is an often overlooked but powerful opportunity: helping employees from underrepresented backgrounds create lasting wealth through financial wellness. 

Despite the many challenges faced in 2020, there are some silver linings and lessons learned that we can take with us into the new year. We look forward to continued partnerships with employers prioritizing their employees’ financial wellness and enabling greater productivity and engagement. To stay up to date on the latest on Total Financial Wellness, sign up for our blog and visit our Resources page. We wish you the very best in 2021.

Disclosure: Awards are not indicative of future performance. Awards and Other Recognitions should not be interpreted as a guarantee or suggestion that a client or prospective client will experience a certain level of results if our firm is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services, or as an endorsement of our firm by any past or present client. None of the sponsoring publications or organizations are affiliated with our firm, none of the Awards or Other Recognitions are based on client evaluations of our firm, and we have not made any payments for or in anticipation of any Award or Other Recognition.