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26 May 2021
by Martin Blinder

How to support employees to put their financial education knowledge into practice

Worries over financial wellbeing have a significant impact on employees and, in turn, a big impact on business. The pandemic and its implications have magnified financial concerns for many employees, only adding to the growing stress and worry already felt.

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Financial wellbeing at work is essential. The Workplace Wellbeing Study (2019) from Hastee, reveals that 78% of UK employees rely on finance options, such as credit cards, to source money quickly between paydays. Financial stress was also found to have a big impact on employees' wellbeing, affecting their sleep (45%), social life (38%), relationships (34%) and health (32%).

On top of this, a whopping 80% of employers found financial stress was lowering employee performance, according to Financial Education for Today’s Workforce (2016) by CEBS.

This is why providing employees with the financial education that gives them the ability to take action is imperative. Incorporating financial wellbeing into your broader wellbeing strategy is a great way to ensure your employees feel supported.

Here are three ways you can start giving employees financial wellbeing support and help them to take action.

1. Make it inclusive

What works well for one employee may not work well for another. An employee's financial circumstances are just as unique as they are. So, you need to provide a range of financial education – from the basics around terminology and budgeting to the more in-depth such as savings and pensions.

Make sure that the knowledge you're putting out there isn't just for one demographic. Whether it's a graduate, a long-serving employee, a parent or someone working part-time, no matter their background, any information you provide should be easy to understand and apply to their lives.

Employees are demanding more inclusive wellbeing initiatives from their employer, and it's a crucial part of the employee value proposition, helping you attract and retain talent.

2. Make it accessible

An ecosystem of apps and tools can be a curse if not used correctly. Think about what's already in your HR ecosystem and where the best place to put financial education may be. A digital solution will enable you to share far and wide, update and amend. If you can put it in a place where discussion can happen, it can be a handy and engaging tool for employees to learn and grow together.

Don't forget to clearly communicate the benefits that great financial wellbeing can have for your employees, so they really understand the why. By signposting to and from your other related services and initiatives, whether that's pensions, additional benefits or broader wellbeing support, it can help you to drive engagement and uptake with employees too.

3. Make it manageable

Employees will be looking for practical ideas, tools and strategies that they can use and apply with relative ease. So carefully consider the type of information and guidance you intend to share with them. Help people understand that an increase in income doesn't necessarily mean better financial wellbeing – many of those perceived to be in a good financial position can feel stress about money too. More to the point is creating robust, manageable financial foundations.

It's important not to bombard people with jargon, extended articles and ideas without real-life examples. Keep it simple, engaging, practical and above all, keep it human.

But what about my wider strategy?

Great financial wellbeing is something everyone should have as it's one of the essential pillars for positive wellbeing – when we flourish in all areas, that's when we're feeling our best. But it only takes someone to struggle with one area of wellbeing to negatively impact the other areas.

By supporting your employees with their financial wellbeing, you're setting them up for success and empowering them to make tweaks and changes where they may need it.

The author is Martin Blinder, CEO and co-founder of Tictrac.

This article is provided by Tictrac.

In partnership with Dialogue formerly Tictrac

We're an employee wellbeing platform dedicated to helping employees live healthier lives.

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