Wise words….

During an in-depth chat with Lifetime, Helen Stocker, director of HR Delivered, fittingly delivered some words of wisdom.

The conversation had centred on what employers need to start looking at when it comes to employee benefits. Namely financial wellbeing!

Helen’s words bear repeating, nay trumpeting – loud and clear!

“Employers often have really good general employee benefits but financial wellbeing benefits can often be overlooked. Employers need to take a holistic approach to wellbeing.

“Financial health can impact other areas of our lives, such as stress. Employers need to look at financial wellbeing from a holistic perspective so that all the elements work together.

“Giving employees the tools to help with their own financial planning helps take the pressure off their daily lives.”

Taking the pressure off. Alleviating stress. That’s some achievement, don’t you think?

Employers can help bring this about for their workforce. Even in the most upbeat company cultures and environments, staff can still get stressed out about their personal finances, especially when they are pondering their money predicament in the so-called safety of their own home.

When employees can’t focus on work due to the financial strain and worry they are under, it is not only they who suffer. Employers pay the price too, particularly when it comes to motivation, concentration and productivity.

Yet companies don’t have to struggle because their employees are currently buried in financial chaos. By establishing a holistic financial wellbeing programme employers can actually flip the narrative. Rather than assuming a worker’s financial situation is too hard to tackle – or not the problem of the company in the first place – an innovative wellbeing initiative can address the subject head on, with sympathy and understanding.

More and more companies, bosses and HR executives are seeing the value of financial wellbeing, which leads on to a happier, healthier and more productive workforce all round.

Financial wellbeing in the workplace can be achieved, for the benefit of both employer and employee.

Tom Banham, the CEO of one of Lifetime’s partners, Hoyland Common Academy Trust, enthused: “Rarely does anyone understand how their employer provided benefits dovetail with their private provision, whether this is their pension, life insurance or any other benefit.

“We appointed Lifetime to help our staff understand, and appreciate, how important their non-salary benefits are, as well as enabling them to make informed financial decisions in the future.”

So you see. Holistic financial wellbeing can work. It can benefit employers. It certainly can benefit employees, helping them fully understand what their finances are all about – and what they can achieve.