4 tips to help ease employees’ money worries via a benefits programme

How financial education can help employees feel more in control of their money during difficult times

Worries about money are all too common, with 45% of people around the world feeling anxious about their financial situation. The global cost of living crisis means more people than ever face financial stress and loneliness.

This can have an enormous influence on their happiness and contentment, with 1 in 3 people feeling depressed about their financial situation. But organisations are in a unique position to provide a benefits programme that will guide their people toward a brighter future. The 2022 Edelman trust barometer highlights how employers are currently more trusted than either government or financial institutions. Impartial financial education can empower people with the practical knowledge and skills to defend their financial wellness, and support their overall health and wellbeing.

Research shows that those with financial literacy are far more likely to have enough money to thrive, as life goals such as buying a home, travelling the world or retiring become achievable. In fact, those who receive high-quality financial education can end up with 40% more wealth than those without access to these resources. We also know that knowledge gained early in life about finances has a positive effect on wellbeing when people are older.

Here are our 4 tips to start easing your employees’ money worries with financial education:

1 Open up the conversation

With the global cost of living crisis there’s a risk that people will bury their heads in the sand – which is of course the worst thing to do.

Create space for your people to have conversations about money. This could take many forms: support networks, feedback forums or financial wellbeing masterclasses. Brainstorm the kinds of financial wellness programme ideas that would resonate with your workforce, then bring in advocates and experts for talks, coaching and workshops.

2 Use technology

A financial education platform will give you unrivalled access to tools and resources that will improve your employee’s financial wellbeing by helping them prepare and organise their finances. Calculators and guides for budgeting, saving and investing will allow your people to demystify money management and track their progress – ultimately decreasing financial stress and anxiety.

3 Kick-off with a campaign

We see it in health programmes – in-house initiatives and technology that motivate staff to improve their physical health. Why not do this for personal finance? How about a financial health score based on individuals’ knowledge of money management, for example. If your employees have data to benchmark themselves against, engagement will increase. These programmes are most effective when they run alongside international awareness events. This Mental Health Awareness week, empower your people to check in with their finances and utilise the tools and resources you have on offer to support their financial wellbeing.

4 Communication is key

It’s no good having an amazing financial wellness programme for your employees if they don’t know about it — so get their attention. Financial wellbeing communication should take the form of personalised notifications (or nudges), encouraging employees to take action based on key life moments.

With the market moving so quickly, it can be difficult to keep people up to date with the latest and greatest within your employee benefits and the world of personal finance. So by ensuring that you have a multichannel approach to communications, you can keep your people in the know with everything you have in place to make the most of their money – consider personalised WhatsApp, Slack, Meta or Teams messages as an alternative to company-wide emails.

There’s a wealth of untapped potential in your people right now. You can help them to unlock it, find hope in their financial futures and, ultimately, alleviate money worries. Whether you have solutions in place or not, our financial wellbeing playbook will guide you through research, delivery and everything in-between.