25 May 2023

3 ways to promote the financial wellbeing of your employees

Worrying about money is not good for people and not good for business. Here’s what employers can do to ease the strain

People spend an awful lot of time thinking about money. Whether it’s saving for a house, a holiday or retirement, there’s an expectation that we will understand things like credit ratings, interest and plenty of other jargon that we are simply not taught at school.

The onus has been put on us all to learn for ourselves (and teach, if we have dependents).

According to the Money and Pensions Service’s (MPS) Financial Capability website:

39% of adults (20.3 million) don’t feel confident managing their money
11.5 million have less than £100 in savings
nearly nine million of us are in serious debt and only around one-third are given help.

The MPS says eight out of 10 employees take their money stresses to work, which can affect their performance. This has been recorded as 4.2 million working days lost due to poor financial wellbeing, which in monetary terms is in the region of £626m in lost output.

Debt and salary discussions often make us uncomfortable, whether at work or home. And yet financial wellbeing has a huge impact on our health and happiness.

NHS employers highlight that a common misconception about financial wellbeing is that it isn’t the employer’s responsibility, it’s down to the individual. The reality is that financial wellbeing is a shared responsibility between the employer and employee.

Everyone needs a sense of security

Good financial wellbeing, according to charity Caba, is having a sense of security in your earnings and having enough money to meet your needs. While it may not mean having an abundance of disposable income, it is about being reasonably comfortable to make ends meet each month, with some to save and spare.

According to MPS’s 10-year UK strategy to financial wellbeing, this can be broken down into three pillars: foundations, day-to-day and looking ahead.

How to promote financial wellbeing

The FlexGenius platform allows users to send communications directly from the interface. This enables employers to send regular updates about the benefits and services they offer employees.

Content about the financial packages available can be integrated within these. This could also include the services such as access to financial advisors, debt advice and pension planning tools.

Make employees aware of free, confidential, independent advice such as the Money and Pensions Service.
Ensure all employees are aware of and have access to your benefits platform, what’s available and how to make use of them.
Tackle the stigma associated with money and money problems by making it a talking point.

By understanding financial wellbeing and your responsibility as an employer, you can help drive positive change in your employees. As HR professionals your role is to educate your staff on the benefits available to them and how they use them.