Why it pays to enhance employee financial resilience
28 February 2024
We’ve released a brand-new eBook - Money Mastery: Proactive and affordable steps to enhance employee wellbeing. To gather our exclusive data, we interviewed over 2,000 UK employees and over 500 HR professionals to discover the state of employee financial wellbeing. We’ve created a holistic picture of how employers can turn poor employee financial wellbeing around, and why doing so is an investment in the future. During this blog, we’ll use this research to explore why it pays to enhance financial resilience in your workplace.
Are you aware that there’s a link between employee financial health, productivity, and absenteeism?
62% of employees experiencing financial worries believe they are less productive, and 35% told us they were more likely to take sick leave than they were before they were experiencing poor financial wellbeing.
Employees with money worries cost businesses money.
The average rate of absenteeism per employee per year has increased from 5.8 in 2019 to 7.8 in 2023, and this is, in part, due to an increase in financial anxiety and declining mental health.
Your resilience-boosting financial wellbeing strategy
Employee benefits, such as discounts and cashback schemes, provide significant support for employees, especially during the current cost-of-living crisis. Saving money on day-to-day essential products and services goes a long way to improving an employee’s financial situation.
When it comes to financial resilience, your financial wellbeing strategy needs to incorporate more than salary-stretching solutions.
To create a culture of financial resilience, you must ensure employees have the tools they need to face financial challenges in the future. Financial situations can change for many reasons, some unforeseeable and unavoidable.
Financial education + money management tools = reduced employees financial stress and anxiety.
Helping employees make better financial decisions and manage their money today, tomorrow, and beyond is the key to financial resilience.
Our Financial Wellbeing App is a hub for helping employees become and remain financially resilient, and offers employees…
- Financial resources and guidance
- Budgeting tools
- Salary advancement
- Employee loans
- Savings plans
- Debt consolidation solutions.
Knowledge is power… share it!
Our Money Mastery research found that many employees didn’t receive financial support in the workplace. Of those, 57% expressed an interest in their employer providing them with financial education and advice.
Employees can access various resources, tips, and guidance within our Financial Wellbeing App to expand their financial knowledge. We’re not talking stocks and shares tips, but practical and effective ways to help employees manage their money.
Our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) is another valuable source of support, with advice and podcasts available via a mobile-based app. Our trained counsellors can help employees with anything from how to respond to a parking ticket or unexpected energy bill to supporting them with their mental and emotional wellbeing.
Education is an impactful way to enhance employee financial wellbeing, creating financial resilience amongst your workforce.
Mastering money management…
Education is a fantastic starting point. Next, give your employees the tools they need to use their newfound knowledge to create healthy financial habits. Our Financial Wellbeing App links budgeting tools to your employees’ bank accounts to track their spending, allowing them to change their behaviours and set money aside.
Employees can also access their Employee Discounts Platform and Pluxee Cashback Card via their mobile. Seeing the difference they can make encourages employees to continue boosting their financial resilience. Our discount app tracks how much money your employees save by paying for their essentials, treats and experiences with our vast range of discounted eVouchers, and our Pluxee Card app keeps track of their cashback earnings.
Build money-saving and money-management tools into your employee financial wellbeing strategy for optimum financial resilience.
Salary advancement can prevent employees from going into debt!
Employers should avoid allowing employees to use salary advancement regularly. If an employee consistently requests an earlier payday, it’s a sign that they’re facing financial difficulties, and another means of support may be necessary. However, when the unexpected arises or a celebration comes at the end of the month, salary advancement is more cost-effective than a payday loan or credit card.
With our Financial Wellbeing App, employees can access wage withdrawals ahead of payday, track their earnings as they work, build up savings directly from their pay, chat with qualified financial coaches, check their financial health score and more.
Turn debtors into savers!
Employees with poor financial health may struggle to get a competitive loan, leaving them with only high-interest options. Or not… As an employer, you could fund an employee loan, repaid through salary deductions, providing them with a manageable and safe way to afford the things they need.
Once they’ve repaid their loan, you can encourage employees to continue to deduct the repayment amount from their salary and set it aside on their behalf, giving them a nest egg when needed.
Manageable debts = less stress + more financial resilience
Debt is a cycle – one often leads to another, and before we know it, we have multiple creditors chasing for payments we can’t meet. You can help your employees combine their debts into manageable payments by offering a Debt Consolidation solution.
Ready to enhance employee financial resilience in your workplace? Request a call today.
