Paul Albone: How financial wellbeing workshops at tmgroup help employees make long-term plans

The financial wellbeing workshops were introduced as part of our wider employee wellbeing programme, which was launched in 2016 and then further expanded for 2017. The employee wellbeing programme covers areas such as physical fitness, work-life balance, healthy behaviours, mental wellbeing, healthy finances and healthy community.

A holistic wellbeing programme

The wellbeing programme builds on the existing benefits offered to employees, including discounted gym membership, two weeks’ paid paternity leave, two paid days off a year for volunteering, private medical insurance, childcare vouchers, free fruit and cereal, and free eye tests.

Financial wellbeing has a knock-on effect to other areas of everyday life. As a business, we wanted to provide our employees with guidance and support on how best to plan financially to allow them to be happy and healthy.

Workshops

The first workshops, delivered by wellbeing consultancy The Tonic, have covered topics including how to take control of daily finances, how to cope with financial shock, emergency funds, and how to achieve financial objectives.

The programme has been received well by the workforce, with one attendee saying: “The session was extremely helpful in providing suggestions and guidance on how to start building financial plans for the long term.”

The workshops take place twice a year in our Swindon and Glasgow offices, and are repeated at different times throughout the day to ensure as many staff as possible can attend. Home-based sales employees are also encouraged to attend the office-based sessions or to take part via a conference call.

Next steps

Follow up sessions will be taking place next month with an aim to help everyone “move forward” with their finances and for everyone to enjoy some time focusing on a relevant part of their personal wellbeing and developing their own plans.

This article was written by Paul Albone, managing director, tmgroup.