Expert view: Keep financial wellbeing practical, fair and flexible, says Jeanette Makings

Writing in REBA’s latest practical guide – preparing for a new era of financial wellbeing – Close Brothers’ head of workplace financial wellbeing offers three practical steps employers can take to boost employee financial health.

Financial wellbeing varies. The underlying numbers change over time, people change their goals and circumstances, the economic and legislative environment changes, and how people feel about their finances varies in line with what’s going on in the world and their lives.

Since 2020, finances have faced one challenge after another, resulting in depleted resources and lowered financial resilience, leaving many still struggling to keep on top of everyday living costs. People and their budgets have had to adapt to changing working patterns, such as home- or hybrid working, and having longer working lives. Economic uncertainty has dented consumer confidence, pushing more would-be retirees to defer retirement, and leaving other workers worrying whether they will ever be able to afford to retire.

Against this backdrop, it’s easy to see why there are now more employees seeking help with their finances, and more employers focused on revisiting their financial wellbeing support.

Make the most of what you’ve got

For most people, their pay and benefits are the primary source of income. So ensuring that employees understand and make the most of their workplace benefits – and make good financial decisions with their pay– is the bedrock of financial wellbeing.

Inclusivity is not optional; workplace provisions must be inclusive both in terms of accessibility and meeting differing needs. Therefore, in order to support financial wellbeing, organisations must ensure that their benefits meet a wide range of current employee needs. However, in many UK workplaces, these fundamentals are not universally in place or fully functional. In Close Brothers’ 2023 Spotlight on UK Financial Wellbeing research, only two-thirds of workplaces had a financial wellbeing strategy, and, of the top workplace benefits valued by employees, only half are offered in UK workplaces. However, with a few simple steps, and the practical tips in the Practical Guide to Preparing for a New Era of Financial Wellbeing, organisations can boost employee financial health.

One, two, three, go...

First, offer benefits that can make the biggest, immediate difference to everyday costs. For example, ensure that shopping discount schemes include discounts at all UK supermarkets, and offer a mortgage advice service. Neither of these measures should increase an organisation’s benefits costs but both will immediately put more money into employees’ pockets.

Second, provide a financial wellbeing programme that is multi-channel and delivers education across the whole range of workplace benefits and all areas of personal finance. Financial education delivered in silos by individual providers leads to gaps and won’t equip employees to understand the whole picture or to make comparative decisions between different benefits or products. People access information in different ways, so if, for instance, resources are online only and you have no one-to-one support, you will not reach the whole workforce.

Third, benefits must remain useful and relevant in today’s world. Offer flexibility so that individual employees can choose benefits most suited to their own needs at any given time. And keep benefits under review to assess employee understanding, take-up and relevance and to keep pace with employee needs.

In a changing world, and with employees’ financial health still under pressure, the guide offers practical tips for every organisation, no matter your starting point or budget.