What sorts of responsibilities do employers have to support their employees through times of great financial stress?
And, what can, and should, organisations be doing to support their employees?
In our latest podcast, Francis Goss, Director of People Experience Consulting at Gallagher, tells James Marsh about assisting employees with their financial wellbeing.
A staggering 67 percent of respondents in a survey conducted by Gallagher say that they are currently concerned about their finances. This number goes right up when you look at the 18-54 year-old sector. Clearly, there is a huge concern about personal finances.
Financial wellbeing should now be a top priority
The current cost-of-living crisis has brought financial wellbeing into sharp focus. Francis outlines the depth and impact of this issue on employees and organisations alike, and looks at some recent research conducted by Gallagher and others on people’s attitudes towards their financial wellbeing.
Francis highlights some of the options available to organisations, how they can best assist their staff, what key considerations to keep in mind, and also what tools and resources to deploy.
When is the crisis going to end?
When you know there is an end to the crisis, psychologically, it helps you through it outlines Francis.
“IF WE LOOK AT SOME OF THE OTHER DRIVERS OF INFLATION, THERE ARE SOME GLIMMERS OF HOPE.”
– Francis Goss
For example, commodity prices have been falling. They rose significantly after the initial invasion of Ukraine.
There has been no time to recover
This financial crisis is coming off the back of years of struggling with Covid-19.
“WE CAN’T UNDERSTAND THE IMPACT THAT COVID DID HAVE ON PERSONAL WELLBEING. SO, WHILST IT IS OUT OF THE NEWS, WE CANNOT FORGET WHAT WE HAVE BEEN THROUGH NOT ONLY AS A NATION, BUT GLOBALLY TOO.”
– Francis Goss
There is now greater pressure to return to the office. We cannot underestimate the financial pressure this is contributing to, perhaps adding a £200 monthly commute costs to people’s bills.
Francis outlines how we therefore have inflation, and also have costs going up. In this way, Covid-19 is to some extent still having an impact on people’s financial wellbeing.
What are employers doing now to support their employees?
Every employer has to have a pension in place for their workers. But employers also offer a rich array of benefits, a lot of which are money-saving for their employees. These include things like the cycle-to-work scheme, which is a tax-efficient way of buying a bike.
However, the challenge is often how well these benefits are communicated to their employees.
“THERE IS ALWAYS A COHORT WHICH IS DIFFICULT TO ENGAGE WITH. ACCESSIBILITY OF BENEFITS IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS THE RICHNESS OF THEM.”
– Francis Goss
Listen to the free podcast now to discover the gaps in what employers are offering, and how organisations can improve their financial wellbeing support!
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN NOW.
Amelia Brand is the Editor for HRreview, and host of the HR in Review podcast series. With a Master’s degree in Legal and Political Theory, her particular interests within HR include employment law, DE&I, and wellbeing within the workplace. Prior to working with HRreview, Amelia was Sub-Editor of a magazine, and Editor of the Environmental Justice Project at University College London, writing and overseeing articles into UCL’s weekly newsletter. Her previous academic work has focused on philosophy, politics and law, with a special focus on how artificial intelligence will feature in the future.
