The University of Essex  (Institute of Social and Economic research) found that investing in financial wellbeing was more effective than an additional £12k a year to employees in terms of their general health score.

As we plough our way through another year of uncertainty and turmoil – can we even call it a cost of living crisis if is simply now the norm? – our employees need support from their employers more than ever when it comes to financial health and wellness.

But times are hard, companies don’t have spare cash, how can your employees reach that magical £1000 savings goal?

Financial Wellbeing – the key that unlocks your employees happiness

As an employer you will be spending around 30% of your paybill on benefits – that’s pensions, healthcare, insurances, platforms, discount schemes and wellbeing – and are probably weary of seeing engagement scores  for reward remain stubbornly low. You’ll naturally think that more cash is the answer and try and allocate as much as you can afford into base salaries – if this years numbers are anything to go by that’s around 3-4% - but still you spend 10 times that on things that your employees are failing to understand, engage with or appreciate.

The one thing you should be investing in is financial wellbeing – we are not talking independent financial advisors here, nor indeed wage advance schemes or loan companies for the majority of your people, no its simpler than that. All you need to do is make your employees understand those lines on their payslip, the choices on their benefits platform, the cost of them using or not using the schemes you provide for them and encourage them to make informed and proactive choices.

Talking about money is still something most people shy away from – it’s the last taboo, yet financial concerns damage the productivity of employees, your organisation and the general economy. The Barclays report ‘financial wellbeing the last taboo’ estimate that employers lose 4% of their pay bill due to poor financial wellbeing of their employees.

As far back as 2008 Dame Carol Black outlined in her review of ‘the health of the working age population of the UK’ that the benefits of investing in wellbeing were increased productivity, reduced absence and turnover, skill retention and increased engagement – as well as better commercial and financial performance. So why are we ignoring the one part of wellbeing that costs us so much? 35% of employees have said that worrying about money prevents them from performing at their best. Even governments have looked at financial resilience with a report from Baroness Drake in 2019 – yet more than half a decade on why is there no clear, national, easy to access strategy on personal finance?

Thankfully where governments have failed society has provided - April is financial wellbeing month – a collaboration of financial wellbeing and mental health organisations coming together to provide events, information, support and insights into the benefits of positive financial wellness. Employers are encouraged to sign up – its totally free – to support the initiative, and in return have access to a wealth of resources around employee financial wellbeing and mental health

The event was showcased at the recent Health & Wellbeing at Work show in Birmingham (March 2025) which saw more than 250 organisations sign up – with 200 (and counting) more signing up in the weeks since. The event also saw those involved in wellbeing, reward and mental health exploring the themes around finances, health and education and hearing from academics and professionals in these areas.

Financial Wellbeing Month #FWM provides a great starting point for the conversation about financial wellbeing in the workplace and allows Employers to ‘test the water’ and discover what their organisation needs to do to provide better wellness and engagement – remembering that no two employees are the same here’s a starter for ten of ideas to start promoting better financial health in your employees

• Sign up for financial wellbeing month at www.financialwellbeingmonth.com and use the free resources to start planning your financial wellbeing strategy
• Look at your benefits package and promote the content – even using a shopping discount scheme can save an employee upwards of £500 per year without having to change their spending habits
• Look at your benefits providers – what additional value can they add to your people through information, sessions or offers
• If you don’t already, look at salary sacrifice arrangements for your pension – saving both you and your employees national insurance contributions
• Educate your employees around money, did you know an extra 1% into pensions in your 20’s gets you a 25% bigger pension pot?
• Look to your community for answers and resources – credit unions are a great way to provide access to savings and loans with organisations that aren’t there to make a profit from your employees.
• Target financial wellness in the same way you might physical or mental health – MHFA are a partner in #FWM and FinWELL provide training to financial wellbeing champions
• Introduce a savings benefit if you don’t already have one – encourage employees to save, even just a small amount towards a goal and incentivise them to do so if you can afford it
• Be an accredited Living Wage Foundation employer – demonstrating to your people that your stance on pay isn’t one of obligation by regulation.
• Encourage your employees to share their stories and discoveries – be that money saving tips, offers and vouchers or insights into peoples financial journeys – we all learn from people like us. Be proactive or else your employees will get information from less safe sources and be open to scams and bad advice!

Jane Vivier is an Independent reward consultant working with companies across all sectors to introduce great pay strategies and compelling employee value propositions. She is also a FinWELL Champion and Instructor and supports FinWELL with thought leadership and industry insights. You can connect with Jane via LinkedIn or jane@finwell.UK.