5 ways to help employees feel more positive about money
Not many people feel positive about their financial situation, it seems, according to Standard Life.
Its Retirement Voice 2023 report revealed that, for those who do no financial planning, just 21% feel positive about their finances.
But the good news is that people who spend a bit of time planning are almost twice as likely (41%) to feel positive about their financial situation than those who do nothing at all. This jumps to 61% for those who do a great deal of planning.
The benefits of planning go beyond feeling positive. Planners are also more likely than non-planners to feel confident making financial decisions and that they’re saving enough for retirement.
Clearly, people who put plans in place are reaping the rewards of good financial wellbeing. This is further good news, because people who feel financially well are more likely to feel in control of their finances, be less stressed and distracted by financial worry, and more productive at work.
The start of a new year could be a good time for employees to approach their finances in a new light. Here’s how you can help get their financial positivity levels up in 2024:
1. Boost engagement with tailored communications
A good first step to help employees get more engaged with their finances is to understand their financial priorities.
Share an anonymous survey to gather insights into what’s important to your employees, and use these to send personalised communications. Employees are more likely to engage if relevant communications are landing in their inbox.
Consider weaving these messages into your internal communications calendar too, to remind people of key milestones such as share scheme maturity or annual bonus pay day. Doing so could nudge them into thinking about their finances, and even help them to take action.
If you’re with Standard Life for your workplace pension scheme, you can get insights like these through our Client Analytics tool. This allows you to see how many of your employees are engaging with their pension plan and how many are on track to meeting the PLSA’s Retirement Living Standards bands. And if anyone is falling behind, you can boost your communication efforts for those specific groups.
2. Help employees get to know their finances better
Next, help employees get a better understanding of their finances, i.e. their monthly incomings and outgoings, credit card use, what’s going into their pension pots, or how much they’re saving. Provide support by signposting to tools that can help them.
For example, Standard Life workplace pension scheme members can get an overview of their finances through its Money Mindset platform. This uses open finance technology, which means employees can see their bank, savings, mortgage, pension and other accounts in one place, and in real time.
Services like MoneyHelper also provide calculators that can help people figure out their finances for a range of situations, from mortgage affordability to dealing with debt.
3. Raise awareness of transferring pensions
Many of employees have probably had a few jobs throughout their careers. So it’s likely they have several pension pots floating around – and it’s easy for these to get forgotten.
It’s estimated that one in four UK people have lost track of at least one pension pot, which totals a combined value of £26.6bn in unclaimed pension savings.
To help employees avoid the same fate, consider raising awareness of pension transfers. Transferring their pension pots into a single plan could make it easier and simpler for employees to manage.
If employees aren’t sure where to find their old pensions, signpost to tools that help locate them, such as the government’s pension tracing service. Standard Life also has a pension finder tool, available through Money Mindset.
But transferring pensions isn’t right for everyone and there’s no guarantee of a better income as a result.
4. Empower employees to manage their everyday finances
Planning can go a long way to helping people feel more positive about their finances.
You can help make it easier for employees to plan their day-to-day finances by pointing them towards tools and resources that simplify the process.
MoneyHelper, for instance, provides budgeting tools to help people break down and prioritise their spending, as well as savings calculators to help them work out how much money to put away.
The Money Mindset platform also allows scheme members to plan budgets, create savings goals, set up emergency funds, and get analysis into their spending.
5. Help employees plan for retirement
When it comes to retirement planning, many employees may not know where to start, especially if they’re decades from retirement.
Help demystify retirement planning by providing tools that break it down into manageable chunks. Doing so could help employees tackle their future plans during moments of downtime, rather than it being overwhelming.
For more insights on financial wellbeing, including resources on how you can help support your employees, visit our Financial Wellbeing hub.
In partnership with Standard Life
Standard Life are part of Phoenix Group, the UK’s largest long-term savings and retirement business. We both share an aligned ambition to help every customer enjoy a life full of possibilities.
