Pennsylvania businesses mostly held back on making large changes to their benefit plans during the pandemic, according to a survey of 100 organizations by Harrisburg employee benefit and investment advisory firm Conrad Siegel.

Pennsylvania’s employers aren’t using just one strategy to save money on employee benefits amid rising health care costs.

Managers at Conrad Siegel looked at personal-finance statistics from a variety of sources and figured there must be a better way to help clients and their employees plan for a secure future. So the Harrisburg-based employee-benefit and investment-advisory firm set about to create online planning tools that would take at least some of the mystery, as well as the stress, out of financial planning.

Arielle Weidner, 31, joined ConnectCare3, a service offered to members of Benecon’s self-funded health benefits consortiums and cooperatives, last year as senior director of client wellness and consulting and recently transitioned into her current role.

A strong wellness program can be a differentiator for recruitment, reduce the cost of health care benefits and help build a team atmosphere based around healthy choices. However, communicating the benefits and program elements of a wellness initiative can be hard to navigate. Human resources and corporate leadership need to walk a fine line – avoiding sounding paternal, moralistic or even too personal while empowering employees and spurring participation.

Employee financial wellness programs can help workers access information and put together a goal-driven plan for managing their incomes and saving for the future. And business owners who want to hire and keep top talent might want to consider adding financial education as an appetizer to their employee benefits menu.