PROMOTING FINANCIAL WELLNESS
“Poor financial wellbeing is not just bad
for individual employees, it is also bad
for business,” says Makings. “As the
CIPD research shows, poor financial
wellbeing impacts productivity, absence,
presenteeism issues and retention. If
this applies to 25% of a workforce then
improving their financial wellbeing is
likely to have a big impact on overall
business performance. And with an
increasing interest in overall wellbeing in
the workplace, financial wellbeing can’t
be ignored. Without it overall wellbeing
can’t be achieved.”
Staff are, ultimately, still humans and
often require a feeling of stability and
comfort during their most difficult times.
One way to do this is either through
financial education or simply helping
them build the financial acumen that
they require.
Allen agrees: “Organisations can really
help employees by creating a safe
environment for them to access suitable
financial help-be that appropriate ethical
products (loans without extortionate
interest rates), savings vehicles suitable
for all, as well as providing information
and support to those who need
extra help.
“It’s about creating a safe environment
for people to have the conversations
they need to get themselves back
on track.”
COMMUNICATION METHODS
Once an organisation has made the
decision to invest in its employees’
financial wellbeing, it can be difficult to
select what is required and relay this
back to the team. Jonathan Watts Lay,
Director at WEALTH at Work, provides
the checklist for this. He says: “It is
imperative that employers understand
the needs of their employees before
implementing any wellbeing programme.
After all, each employee will have
individual circumstances with different
priorities. For example some will be
looking to buy their first home, whereas
others are preparing for retirement. This
approach can then allow for financial
education programmes and workplace
saving initiatives to be developed which
are tailored to each employee segment.”
18
The key thing organisations need to
understand is that one size doesn’t fit all
and multiple communication channels
will often be required to meet the needs
of the various demographics. Allen
adds: “With today’s multi-generational
workforce, communication has never
been more challenging or more
important than it is today. Messages
need to be delivered in a range of
formats, especially when there is a call
to action. The messages need to have a
purpose and be of benefit to the reader
and communicated in a way that is
easily accessible to the audience.
“Digital messaging is often easiest and
most cost-effective but does it resonate
with every one of your employees? Ask
yourself if your youngest and oldest
employees would both understand,
value and action your request following
your communication. The most effective
communication strategies have purpose,
clear objectives, easy to understand
messages and are delivered in a range
of ways.”
RETURN ON INVESTMENT
Yet the most sought after question
remains, what is the return on
investment? The research is clear in
demonstrating the direct link between
an employee’s financial wellness and
their productivity levels. Providing
employees with clarity and support
will, unsurprisingly, reduce stress levels
and anxiety.
The impact of financial wellbeing is
better overall business performance,
more engaged and productive
employees and higher levels of
employee retention. Measurement
should start with an analysis of where
that organisation is at the start of the
journey, and involve periodic measures
to show improvement, linking to other
key metrics such as engagement,
retention and productivity.
The measures of success, combined
with the benefits to employees and
employers, builds a business case for
financial wellbeing. WEALTH at Work’s
Watts-Lay concludes with the mantra
that, “a relevant and well communicated
financial wellbeing strategy can deliver
on this and is mutually beneficial to both
employers and employees.”
7O%
Struggle with
negative impact of
financial worries
*The Delloite Millenials Survey 2O15
1 in 6 younger
employees have
already defaulted on
debt repayments
*The Delloite Millenials Survey 2O15
£12O.7BN
Cost of financial
stress to the
economy
*Based on the last three Neyber
research studies
17.5m hours were
lost due to absence
from financial stress
*Based on the last three Neyber
research studies