As many struggle to make ends meet, your employees won’t be immune to the effects of the cost-of-living crisis, but why is this your problem, as an employer? Here we look at how ensuring your employees’ have good financial wellbeing goes beyond your duty of care to your staff, and substantially benefits your business directly, improving employee engagement in the workplace and boosting productivity.
If you are a responsible employer, you will no doubt want to ensure your employees’ financial wellbeing is taken care of, from an ethical perspective. However, on a purely business level, you might ask ‘Why is your employees’ financial wellbeing your problem?’ Well, by making sure that your staff are happy and secure, it will also have very positive benefits for your business. If your workers are stressed and worried, they can’t give their best in the workplace. So, ensuring that your people have good financial wellbeing will turbocharge your team to drive the success of your business.
Why your employees’ financial wellbeing is your problem
In fact, according to recent research, financial stress and concerns among employees are costing UK businesses up to £6.2bn alone in sick days and lack of productivity. Mintago research in 2023 also found that 58% of employees say that money and finances are their leading source of stress, and 49% say that stress and anxiety have a negative impact on their performance at work.
In addition, a recent study has revealed that financial stress is causing a quarter of employees to experience brain fog and make mistakes, while our own research in 2022 found that 32% of UK adults surveyed struggled with day-to-day tasks due to financial concerns. So, this is why your employees’ financial wellbeing is your problem, when work suffers as a result of such stress. And doing all you can to boost their financial wellbeing is a wise business decision, to ensure your company succeeds.
Better sleep equals better work
Moreover, if you don’t provide the good financial wellbeing support needed, your workers could suffer from sleep loss, which can also be a big problem for your business. In fact, a Mintago survey in 2022 found that 43% of UK adults had lost sleep as a result of financial concerns. This alone can have a serious impact on productivity, as a lack of sleep will inevitably affect the performance of your team in the workplace. Indeed, according to recent research, sleep deprivation is believed to cost the UK economy £37 billion a year in lost productivity, with poor sleepers having difficulty concentrating, reduced reaction times and an increased likelihood of making costly mistakes or having accidents. In addition, this research found that chronically disrupted sleep increased the risk of work absence by 171%.
So, this is another reason why your employees’ financial wellbeing is your problem. In essence, if your staff are suffering sleepless nights, from money worries, their poorer quality work can impact your customer satisfaction levels, reflecting badly on your company’s reputation. It is therefore vital to help your workers sleep better at night, by reducing these worries, and a straightforward way to do this is by providing them with access to a high-quality financial wellbeing platform, such as Mintago. Put simply, easing the financial pressure on your employees can enable them to worry less and get the seven to nine hours of sleep per night, recommended by the NHS.
Retain star staff and attract top talent
Furthermore, providing good financial wellbeing support for your employees can not only improve productivity, but also help you retain your star staff and attract top talent. In fact, if you don’t help your team in this way, you could risk having a high turnover of workers, as our research in 2023 found that 44% of employees would leave their current jobs to work for an employer that provides better financial wellbeing support. So, failing to supply this could be a false economy, as constantly recruiting and training replacement employees can come at a considerable cost. In addition, with top-quality financial wellbeing support in place, you could ensure that you are the employer of choice for the best job applicants.
However, unfortunately, there are still many organisations that don’t prioritise employee financial wellbeing, as according to our research in 2023, 64% of employees said that their employer did not have initiatives in place to improve financial wellbeing, and only 32% of employees said that they believed their employer cared about their financial wellbeing. So, it seems that there is still some way to go for all employees to get the support they need.
Putting pounds in pockets
Understandably, a big reason many businesses may fail to provide the financial wellbeing support their employees need could be if they are on a tight budget and have concerns about the expense of providing this. However, good solutions can be far more economical than you might think. Supplying access to a financial wellbeing platform like Mintago can be very cost-effective indeed and pay for itself by directly helping to boost your business’ productivity, with happier, more motivated and loyal employees. Providing a wide range of tools and services to help your staff take control of their finances, Mintago can empower them to navigate their way through the cost-of-living crisis better and reduce their money worries.
We can also enable you to offer your staff a suite of budget-friendly employee benefits, that can help them save money on a range of invaluable products and services. For example, our innovative grocery salary sacrifice scheme offers a budget-friendly way for you to put more than a few pounds in the pockets of your people, without raising salaries. This fantastic benefit allows your employees to save up to 12% on their groceries, through National Insurance savings. As this is a benefit that cuts the cost of everyday essentials, it can help you improve the financial wellbeing of all your employees and, most likely, boost their loyalty to your company too.
A straightforward solution
So, while it is true to say that your employees’ financial wellbeing is your problem, there really is no need to let this be an issue. By providing your staff with all the support they require, with a straightforward financial wellbeing solution like Mintago, you can ensure there is no problem at all, for your employees or your business.
To discover more about how Mintago can help you boost your employees’ financial wellbeing, get in touch today.