8 tips on how to join up your approach to financial wellbeing
Employers have learnt over the last decade or so that unsound financial wellbeing is often at the root of physical or mental issues for employees.
Financial wellbeing is crucial to employees because it significantly impacts their overall quality of life, their mental and physical health, long-term financial security and ultimately also their levels of productivity in the workplace.
By reducing financial stress, an employee tackles one of the most common sources of anxiety which, if left unchecked, can lead to health issues such as high blood pressure, depression, and even weakened immune systems.
Distracting financial concerns
Employees who worry about bills, debt, or saving for the future often bring those concerns to work, impacting their ability to focus and perform at their best.
Poor mental health too, regularly finds its roots in financial stress as employees who struggle financially are often more susceptible to mental health problems.
Fostering financial wellbeing in the workplace can be achieved by integrating it into all aspects of an organisation’s people strategy.
Here are a few handy tips on how to achieve such an integration:
1. Assess employee needs
Gather insights on employees’ financial stressors, such as debt, lack of savings, or confusion about retirement and how these affect other aspects of their wellbeing and how it might impact their work. This can be done through anonymous surveys or focus groups representing the workforce.
Keep in mind that financial support will need to be personalised as concerns vary by demographics, such as entry-level workers facing student loans versus different concerns for those planning for retirement.
2. Offer comprehensive financial education
Any quality offering begins and ends with education.
Hold workshops or interactive webinars and provide educational sessions on personal budgeting, saving, managing debt, and retirement planning.
Topics should cater to employees at different stages of their financial journey and cover financial commitments of today, tomorrow and one day.
Offer access to financial planning apps and self-guided learning platforms to help employees manage their finances in real-time.
Partner with financial advisers or organisations that can deliver ongoing financial literacy training.
3. Review and enhance pay and benefits where possible
Ensure that employees are compensated fairly based on industry benchmarks.
Offer benefits that can be tailored to individual financial needs, such as different levels of healthcare, dental care and life insurance.
Provide retirement planning support in the form of clear communications and guidance on employees’ workplace pension and retirement savings in general.
4. Introduce financial wellbeing programmes
Give employees access to certified financial planners or financial coaches for personal consultations on managing finances, investments, and debt.
Encourage employees to build emergency savings or other medium-term savings by working with providers who offer schemes where premiums can be taken directly from payroll making it easier to save.
5. Support flexible working
Flexible hours and remote work options can help employees save on commuting or childcare.
Also ensure employees have access to paid sick leave, family leave, and other time-off options that do not put their financial stability at risk.
6. Promote your employee assistance programme (EAP)
One of the industry’s best kept secrets is the financial wellbeing support included in EAPs where these programmes tend to be associated more with support for mental health.
EAPs include counselling on stress management, family financial concerns, and resources for navigating difficult situations. But check that they also offer financial health checks, similar to physical health checks.
7. Create a culture of openness and support
Normalise financial conversations by encouraging a workplace culture where financial wellbeing is not a taboo subject.
Senior management buy-in to this is very important and apart from being open and sharing personal experiences when appropriate, managers should at least feel comfortable discussing their company’s financial benefits with employees.
The organisation should provide manager training which should include equipping them to guide employees toward available resources.
8. Monitor and adjust programmes
Probably the most important aspect of any strategy or programme is your ability to track and measure its success and to adjust accordingly.
Measure the impact of financial wellbeing initiatives through employee engagement surveys, turnover rates, and productivity metrics.
FInally, keep in mind that integrating financial wellbeing into a people strategy and weaving it into all aspects of overall wellbeing is about creating an environment that not only supports employees' professional growth but also addresses their personal financial challenges.
In partnership with Barnett Waddingham
Everything we stand for at Barnett Waddingham is embedded in our promise – to do the right thing. We’ve applied this meaningful principle across all aspects of our business with continued success.
