Having a workplace wellness program that helps to improve employee health and vitality is fast becoming standard practice here in Australia, with more and more businesses adopting programs every year.
Most of these offerings include some fantastic initiatives around health, meditation, yoga, mindfulness, nutritional fruit boxes and support for those experiencing mental health issues. The new norm and the future of workplaces is surely nurturing employees as a whole being and helping them to bring balance to their work lives.
But here’s an idea you may not have considered: your employees’ financial wellness. And here are three reasons why you probably should consider implementing a program for your team.
Financial stress impacts workplace behaviour.
What do we mean by financial stress? For some, it’s when you aren’t able readily to meet your bills when they come in, don’t have sufficient savings to cover a financial emergency or lack the financial literacy to make sound decisions on your financial future. For others, perhaps you’re spending all of your salaries just to live in the ‘right’ suburb and drive the ‘right’ car or don’t have enough in your superannuation to support yourself in retirement.
When people are experiencing financial stress (and it’s estimated anywhere from 24-64% of Aussies are feeling stressed about their finances) they are distracted, miss work hours, experience physical and emotional health problems and often suffer from ‘presenteeism’ – that is they’re at work physically but they’re not ‘at’ work mentally or completing any meaningful work whilst there.
Financial wellbeing improves happiness and motivation.
Conversely, those employees who have savings, feel confident about their finances and are on track to achieving financial goals such as buying a home or having an investment plan are more likely to be happy and motivated.
Completing meaningful work becomes more important when they feel secure about their living circumstances, home environment, and financial wellbeing. And completing that work helps to further their financial goals because they’re getting paid to engage in something that is meaningful to them. Win-win.
People want to know you care about them.
Money can often be a taboo topic. Particularly in the workplace where often salaries are confidential and what people spend them on can sometimes be disconnected from what they should be spending on.
Providing your team with education and benefits outside of just their salary package is key – especially if it helps them to manage their money and take steps to improve their standard of living.
A team that receives ongoing education, development, and resources is going to be more engaged (around 38% more engaged if you care about stats) and are more likely to stay with the business longer than those who are largely left to their own devices.
No matter what life stage your team is at, whether they are just starting out or edging toward retirement, everyone can benefit from a little support and education on how to improve their financial well-being and reduce the stress in their lives.
Ask us about our Financial Wellness Workshops for workplaces:
