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12 May 2017
by Julia Turney

Ways technology can help improve the workforce’s financial wellness

With ‘wellbeing’ being the current buzzword in the employee benefits space, we finally have to accept that it does not just cover ‘health’ and offering free fruit and discounted gym memberships just won’t cut it anymore.

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Wellbeing is much broader and not only covers health but also protection, support, lifestyle and financial and all of these contribute towards to an employee’s wellbeing. I could be as fit as a fiddle but if I am struggling with debt and stressed out it will not only affect my performance at work and reduce productivity, it will have a negative effect on the business. A holistic approach is the answer.

Traditionally the only ‘financial’ benefits typically offered was a pension and season ticket loan. Nowadays there are lots more options available to employers to provide their workforce. It’s easy to throw new benefits at employees as a ‘tick in the box’, the tricky part is how to educate, promote and raise awareness of any such initiative to employees so they know what’s available to them and why they should be interested. Let us face, it financial matters can be complicated and a minefield! This is where technology plays a pivotal role.

Generic information is no longer enough 

So, whilst a ‘blanket’ approach does the job and is a quick win, we simply cannot provide employees with generic information, assume they all have the same level of financial awareness and leave them to it. Technology needs to be able to segment and provide tailored information to the end users.

It’s not rocket science. Should the messaging to a graduate who is struggling with university debt be the same as 30 year old newlywed wanting to jump on the property ladder and a 55 year old baby boomer who is focused on retirement options? No.

I’m not saying that employers should ‘pigeon hole’ employees and assume they all should be thinking about the same thing. It’s more about sign-posting information and giving employees tools offering guidance and food for thought that is more relevant based on what stage of life they are at, but also giving them access to everything should they need it.

The value of technology

The use of technology combined with data gives a real chance of providing something all employees will value. As a minimum, technology should be able to aggregate all of this data from various sources for HR to analyse and create a strategy that will hit the spot.

Referring back to the ‘graduate’, ‘newlywed’ and ‘baby boomer’, with the use of all this available data there is no excuse for the technology not being able to provide each employee with tailored information based on them and their actual circumstances. This, supported with targeted communications, is the only way to have an effective strategy.

Technology needs to be intuitive and easy to navigate. There is nothing worse than an un-user friendly platform or website that employees will struggle to use and digest the information. In addition, employers should not assume that their employees will access the information at work - it needs to be available to them at any place, at any time.

Bringing all of these things together and with the support of a good communication plan can be a real help not only to the workforce but will also have a positive effect on the bottom line and absence levels.

Julia Turney is head of platform and engagement at Barnett Waddingham. 

This article was provided by Barnett Waddingham. 

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