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Empowering your employees to better understand and speak about their financial worries boosts trust and decreases stress - helping them live healthier lives and deliver better business outcomes.

What does 鈥榝inancial wellbeing鈥� mean?

Contrary to what some may believe, employee financial wellbeing is not determined by generosity of salaries, and there is no need for the business to know intimate details about how employees use their pay. At heart, financial wellbeing is really about how individual employees feel about their personal financial situation.

Within workplaces, a culture of financial wellbeing (linked to the six key aspects of employee wellbeing) is reflected by the initiatives, visibility and empathy around financial support. Therefore as an employer, it鈥檚 about how you can support your people towards feeling more secure, in control of and even unconstrained by their financial situation.

鈥淢oney really is the last great taboo. Less than half of people are comfortable talking to anyone apart from their partner about their personal finances.鈥�-

鈥淗ow openly can we or do we talk about money here?鈥�

This question is central to building a healthier financial wellbeing culture for your employees. There has never been a more relevant time for reassurance, open communication, sharing of resources and practicing compassionate, active listening to the individual financial concerns of your people.

Employees鈥� sense of financial wellbeing doesn鈥檛 occur in a vacuum. It influences and is influenced by several areas of our wellbeing, most notably mental health. 

Here are 5 key steps towards creating a more open and collaborative culture of financial wellbeing:

Leadership mindset change

A mindset change within leadership is the first critical step and a prerequisite for any financial wellbeing measures 鈥� especially where attitudes have been more aligned with the belief that employers should have nothing to do with their employees鈥� personal finances. This is not the case. Leaders need to embrace employee financial wellbeing as a component of overall workplace wellbeing, acknowledging that the organisation has a valuable role to play here.

Start talking (about money)

Actively invest in a finance-friendly culture where it鈥檚 okay to talk about money (and to feel worried by it). This should be backed by senior leadership and role-modelled by line managers and wellbeing champions within the organisation.

Gauging employees鈥� financial needs

Gauge the financial needs of your workforce 鈥� what level of need do people have? What kind of initiatives, benefits or support would they benefit most from?

Devising your strategy

Devise a financial wellbeing strategy (informed by these needs), linked to your overall wellbeing strategy which will likely touch upon other areas including social, physical and mental wellbeing.

Implementing support measures

Implement financial support measures based on your strategy. This could include financial education on benefits (such as savings and budgeting tools), apps, insurance policies, financial planning services, or salary-linked benefits such as loans. Remember to continuously monitor and measure their effectiveness.

With natural instincts to protect one鈥檚 personal finances during the current economic downturn, organisations have a real opportunity to embrace financial wellbeing measures.

Financial wellbeing is a major contributor to stress and overall wellbeing. There鈥檚 never been a more appropriate time to acknowledge the personal financial issues experienced by your employees.

In doing so, HR and leadership teams will cultivate trust and ultimately develop a better employee experience for all.

Using an employee survey like our Trust Index鈩� will help you understand your employees' needs so you can support their financial wellbeing effectively.