Financial wellbeing benefits and support are starting to gain traction amongst businesses and their employees. However, the subject is still not a high priority on every organisation’s boardroom agenda. Many are taking time to be convinced that offering a financial wellbeing program will have a positive impact on the bottom line and help its workers.
Financial wellbeing strategies: The starting point should be with employees. We need to understand the overall financial wellness position within the workforce; what help do they need? Why do they need it? Determining the need for financial wellness starts with understanding the impact financial woes have on a worker and ultimately, the company itself.
In the UK, based on extensive evidence and analysis, the Money Advice Service developed the ‘financial capability framework’, which captures the main elements of financial capability – the behaviours underpinning financial capability and the factors impacting it.
According to PwC’s 9th annual Employee Financial Wellness survey (2020) more than half (58%) of employees admit they’re stressed about their finances with 47% distracted by their money worries at work.
The Financial Capability Survey looks at current levels of financial capability based on this framework and in turn, the findings of the survey have been used to identify where the Strategy needs to focus its efforts in improving financial capability.
In the UK:
- 39% of adults (20.3 million) don’t feel confident managing their money
- 5 million have less than £100 in savings
- Nearly nine million of us are in serious debt, and only around a third receive help.
- Money worries cost the UK economy up to £51bn a year.
The pandemic has rapidly increased the adoption of digital working practices and is driving significant changes to business models, and this is expected to be the new normal post-covid. It’s imperative that designing the right employee financial wellbeing strategy and embedding it into workforce data, can help companies reduce turnover, lower absenteeism, and improve productivity.
Survey your employees!
Conducting an assessment through an anonymous survey in-house gives companies the ability to pinpoint the issues affecting their employee population, and subsequently, the need for increased financial literacy, education, and overall well-being. The Float Financial Wellbeing Survey is designed to allow employers to focus on the financial issues that cause their employees the most stress in their lives. By adopting a financial wellbeing strategy, they can start to build stronger relationships with staff and improve retention rates.
Money worries take up such a large part of all our lives, it’s no wonder that they can transfer into and impact the workplace. Float’s Financial Wellbeing Survey has been designed to make the process easy for employers to gather the information from their workforce. The survey is quick and easy to complete, and all responses are anonymous and cannot be traced back to any individual employee.
A report is produced summarising results, analysing your employees’ wellbeing, and highlighting any concerns or areas that may need addressing. The report can be kept and be used to develop a financial wellbeing strategy, or even measure the impact of one that’s already in place.
What does the future look like?
Investing in an employee financial wellbeing strategy will benefit both employees and organisations. If employees feel more financial stability, this can improve the ROI on staffing costs by reducing their financial stress, increasing productivity, and reducing absenteeism. It can also act as a powerful tool for recruiting and retaining staff, as employees are likely to place a high value on opportunities to improve their financial stability, health, and overall wellness. Improving employee financial wellbeing should be a top priority for organisations as they navigate through the current crisis to build a stronger, more resilient workforce for the future.
REQUEST THE FLOAT FINANCIAL WELLBEING SURVEY HERE
—
