SYPartners, a renowned creative consulting firm based in New York, has a diverse workforce, composed primarily of Gen X and millennial employees. Their population was having a hard time trying to navigate financial decisions.

“These two generations want flexibility, but they have different financial goals,” said Alma Keita, Senior Manager, People Operations and Benefits at SYPartners. “Generally speaking, across both generations, people don’t really understand finances unless they know someone who has a background in finance or their family does.”

As a result, the SYPartners’ HR team was fielding a lot of questions on everything from Roth IRAs and taxes to student loans and 529s.

“I'd do my best to try to help people get to the resources they needed, but sometimes I’d have to tell them to find a financial advisor or a certified public accountant (CPA)”, said Keita. “People couldn’t afford it. It’s so expensive to be able to connect with someone, and we really wanted to find a solution.”

In addition to solving the pains of current employees, SYPartners also recognized the opportunity to provide a benefit that others in the industry weren’t yet offering.

“For us, benefits are a huge retention and attraction tool,” explained Keita. “We don’t just want to offer something for the sake of it, we want to be strategic. Truthfully, I don’t know why so many companies offer something like a gym benefit before they provide financial wellness.”

SYPartners partnered with Addition Wealth to provide their employees with accessible and affordable financial expertise. The offering for SYPartners included:

•   Free, unlimited one-on-one sessions with certified financial planners (CFPs) and tax experts to provide personalized financial expertise tailored to employees' unique financial situations.

• Customized webinars and resources to address complex financial concepts in layman's terms, empowering employees to apply the knowledge to their personal lives.
• Seamless integration of Addition's platform with SYPartners’s existing benefit structure, providing easy access to information about benefits and retirement options.
• A robust Knowledge Center complete with guides, articles and courses for employees to explore different topics.

Access to the digital platform and one-on-ones with financial professionals quickly kick started the program and drove high engagement across the company. Some of the topics that Addition has gone deep with SYPartners employees include tax preparation, paying down debt, planning for retirement, and buying a home - all things relevant to the employee population at the company.

“The information you all share is valuable and it’s not convoluted. No one knows finance language, and it’s so helpful to have it broken down in a clear way. People are happier and feel so much more secure by simply understanding these topics,” explained Keita.

SYPartners sees Addition as an extension of their team, supporting employees in various ways. Addition's platform contributes to employee retention and attraction by addressing their financial wellness needs and allows SYPartners to be ahead of the curve of other players in the creative consulting industry.

When it came to onboarding, Keita expressed appreciation for Addition's passion and dedication to ensuring the program's success, the fast communication, and making a positive difference in the lives of SYP employees.

If there is one thing that Keita would tell other companies it’s that you shouldn’t wait.

“Jump on it now. Personal finance is already a hot topic and we all know that with this economy with inflation and how expensive things are getting people are feeling nervous. Giving them Addition can help drive up productivity.”