28 Sep 2020

Three ways to tailor your financial wellbeing strategy to boost productivity

Many benefits offer to help you boost productivity, but how many really deliver?

We know that financial worries can often be the most stressful part of life, with 48% of people saying they’re distracted at work by their finances, according to PwC’s 8th annual Employee Financial Wellness Survey. With financial worries having such a huge impact on productivity, getting your financial wellbeing strategy right is important.

Here are three ways to tailor your financial wellbeing strategy to boost productivity:

1. Make financial wellbeing universally accessible

Any programme must be delivered in a way that meets the needs of your entire workforce. Productivity increases are always going to be stronger when more people can actually benefit from the solutions you implement.

Around 5.8 million people in the UK are financially excluded from affordable credit options, according to Experian. However, often these individuals are the ones who need it the most. By offering a universally inclusive financial wellbeing programme, available to everyone, 100% of the time, you can effectively meet the needs of your entire workforce.

Your programme also needs to be readily available through frequently used channels. 2019 consumer research findings from CREALOGIX revealed that 14% of all UK bank customers have at least one mobile-only account, so anything app-based will be a great way to keep up with the new realities of managing money.

2. Doesn’t increase debt in any form

Although borrowing money is a common element of modern life, it shouldn’t be a part of the employee - employer experience. Loaning money won’t change behaviours or reduce financial stress. It’s often the most stressful part of personal finance and won’t contribute to an overall increase in productivity.

As an alternative, employers should provide access to the right tools and resources so that employees can build their financial resilience. Then, when the time comes for them to borrow, for a mortgage or a significant purchase like a car, they are in the best financial position and have all the best deals available to them.

3. Include earned wage access

Earned wage access or earned salary access schemes (ESAS) quite simply allow employees to access their wages as they have earned.

The monthly pay cycle is no longer able to keep up with the ever changing world around us. This has been no more evident than during the pandemic, where workers have experienced increased external financial pressures, such as a sustained reduction in wages or partners losing jobs.

The feast and famine effect of the monthly pay cycle means, on average, 43% of disposable income is spent within the first 24 hours of payday found Portifina. This is exposing 3.1 million people in the UK to payday lenders every year, according to the FCA.

Disrupting this negative cycle through earned wage access has had a huge impact on the financial lives of working people and their productivity at work. Our research found that 77% of earned wage access users feel less stressed as a result. Less stress means more minds on the job and increased productivity for your organisation.

This article is provided by Wagestream.