Financial wellbeing in the workplace ideas. 7 ways to boost workplace wellbeing.
Financial wellbeing in the workplace is one of the most important aspects to consider when talking about mental health.
Financial wellbeing is how people feel about their control over their financial future and their relationship with money.
Financial stress can contribute to other issues, including anxiety and depression.
When people are financially healthy, they have more time for hobbies and family while also taking care of their basic needs. It can also reduce stress and increase productivity.
Financial wellbeing in the workplace is key to ensuring a healthier work setting for everyone.
Financial wellbeing affects everyone – it can reduce stress, increase productivity, and make your company a better place to work.
This article will cover some of the basic concepts and ideas that employers can take to support their staff in money and wellbeing.
What is financial wellbeing in the workplace?
Financial wellbeing is how people feel about their control over their financial future and their relationship with money.
Financial wellness means that your employees can support themselves financially today, prepare for the future, manage daily finances without too much stress, and reduce debt.
Money wellbeing is essential for younger employees because of student loan debt, but it’s also important for older employees who may be saving for retirement or helping to support their family
In the workplace this means you’re supporting your employees with information and tools for financial wellness; it also means responding to company issues like compensation and benefits in a way that doesn’t cause financial stress.
What are the benefits of Financial wellbeing in the workplace?
Helping your employees stay financially healthy can benefit your company (and its bottom line) by keeping them at your company and helping them reduce stress which leads to more productivity
Financial wellbeing in the workplace is good for everyone:
- it can reduce employee stress,
- increase productivity,
- and make a company a more attractive place to work.
Employees with greater money wellness would feel that they:
-Have control over their day-to-day finances
– Have enough cushion to handle most financial emergencies
– Are out of debt and able to manage their expenses without swiping a credit card
– Are on track to meet their savings and retirement goals
Financial wellbeing in the workplace means you’re supporting your employees with information and tools for financial wellness; it also means responding to company issues like compensation and benefits in a way that doesn’t cause financial stress.
How can employers support financial wellbeing?
Staff often know they have a pension or life insurance through work but may have limited idea’s what this mean’s for them and their financial planning now and for later.
So they have a pension, but there is limited guidance or education to help them make decisions or understand how much they need to save for retirement.
Employers can support their employees with financial education and planning tools like:
- Integrating financial wellness as an integral part of an overall workplace health and wellbeing initiative through education and guidance.
- Financial coaching or counselling providing guidance and support
- Workshops covering financial planning and education – providing guidance but not advising on or selling products
- Giving clear guidance on financial incentives in the workplace like salary sacrifice and making sure people understand what they are and how to access them.
- Clear information on the financial assistance available in the workplace for travel costs, insurance, childcare and other financial needs.
- Providing or signposting financial tools for employees to track spending habits like apps or spreadsheets.
- Offering financial wellness check-ups for employees looking at the core areas of financial wellbeing.
The challenge is that often information is provided in workplaces, but this doesn’t necessarily lead to understanding.
Understanding your financial options leads to better financial habits and behaviours.
What areas of financial wellbeing should employers look at?
Financial literacy is an important skill that isn’t taught in school, so many people don’t have it.
Financial education can help people manage their money better, making them healthier physically, mentally and emotionally.
That’s why employers should offer classes or workshops on financial topics such as:
– Financial planning and goal setting
– Credit management and debt elimination or reduction
– Financial products, investment options and savings strategies
– Spending plans for different types of expenses — e.g., household vs unexpected
Financial education also addresses financial stress among staff members struggling to pay off debt or are just getting by paycheck to paycheck.
Financial stress has been linked to physical problems like
- heart disease,
- high blood pressure and asthma;
- mental health issues like anxiety and depression;
- relationship problems;
- substance abuse;
- low productivity,
- absenteeism
- job loss;
Employers should also offer financial support services directly or as a referral service to employees who need help dealing with financial challenges.
For example, some employers offer an employee assistance program that provides referrals and counselling for financial issues and substance abuse problems.
Employers can also offer financial wellness incentives such as an awards program for employees who complete classes or workshops on financial topics.
Offering Financial Wellness programs and resources:
– brings financial wellness into the workplace, which means employees get the health and safety benefits of work and home life.
– can help reduce turnover, absenteeism and presenteeism (when an employee is physically present but working at a reduced capacity or disengaged)
Do you want to support your employees wellbeing?
Supporting the financial wellbeing of your employees is good for them and your business.
You can help improve employees’ financial wellbeing by providing access to tools that will help them better manage their finances, such as a budgeting app or an online retirement calculator.
And if you offer benefits like health insurance, make sure it’s easy for employees to understand what they are getting from these programs, so they know exactly what they need to do to get the most out of them.
If you don’t already provide this kind of support, consider offering it soon!
It’s not only good for morale but also a great way to attract top talent who value this type of support when looking at potential employers
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You can also set up an appointment to talk about supporting your staff with financial planning and education support.
Conclusion: Financial wellbeing in the workplace ideas
Financial wellbeing is critical to your employee’s wellbeing, but it’s also important for you as an employer or manager.
Employees who are happy with their financial situation are more likely to be productive and happy at work – which goes right back to your bottom line.
The first step toward setting up a company-wide plan for financial wellbeing is for you to get an idea of where your employees feel they stand with money.
You can start by asking employees about their financial goals and challenges, which will help you assess what kind of support they may need.
Then you can make plans for how to give them the tools they need to meet those goals (such as budgeting tools or Financial Wellness Seminars).
Once you have these plans in place, you can encourage employees to participate in workplace Financial Wellness programs by allowing them to sign up for Financial Wellness Seminars or invite Financial Wellness experts to speak during company-wide meetings.
Remember that financial wellbeing is multi-faceted, and it’s important that your Financial Wellness program focuses on all of these facets, including financial goals, debt management, credit score safety and money management.
Financial wellbeing means that your employees have a plan for their future that doesn’t include financial stress or hardship.
When done well, financial wellness programs are a win-win for both you and your employees.
Employees get the information they can use to manage their money better. At the same time, managers gain the tools they need to find out if the people who work for them are financially healthy – before problems start affecting personal and work lives.
