Even before the cost of living crisis, most employers understood that money worries affected how their people performed and that this had an impact on productivity — yet relatively few took action. Financial wellbeing was seen as less important than physical, mental and social wellbeing in engaging and supporting employees. 

The soaring cost of living combined with job shortages in many sectors has been a wake-up call. Employees want help with their finances — and to hold on to and attract the best people, organisations are under pressure to pay them more money.

Our Inside Employees’ Minds study shows that:

• Financial concerns are the biggest worry for employees across all age groups.
• Covering monthly expenses is people’s largest cause of stress — financial or otherwise.
• Two in five employees are seriously considering leaving their job — and pay is the biggest factor.

Whether it means getting the best from your employees day to day or holding on to talented workers, financial wellbeing is a core business concern as employers seek to support, engage and retain their people. However, few organisations can afford to award their people pay increases that keep pace with inflation that has been in double digits. And more pay often isn’t a sufficient answer for people who have lost control of their finances.

Therefore as an employer, you need to remind your employees about the benefits you provide and make sure they understand and make the most of these benefits. Your people are looking to you for help to manage short-term money worries and become more financially resilient. 

At Mercer, we have worked with employers to support their people’s wellbeing for many years, and we understand how financial wellbeing interacts with an individual’s mental, physical and social wellbeing.

We also understand that individuals need different levels of support on a range of topics. The financial wellbeing support we provide is a blended approach of in-person and online assistance that spans education, guidance and advice. 

With our support, you can provide targeted solutions to get your employees on the right track quickly and let them know you’re on their side. 

If you need help constructing a financial wellbeing programme and putting it into practice, we can show you how to build on what you already have to achieve the best value for you and your people — on a budget to suit you. 

Developing a financial wellbeing strategy doesn’t have to require deep pockets and more benefits. Most organisations already offer benefits that support their employees’ financial wellbeing — they just haven’t communicated them that way. The hidden value of traditional benefits such as life assurance and income protection has long been overlooked and is rarely understood by employees. 

We encounter employers who are paying for financial wellbeing services that have little impact because their employees don’t know about them. And the people in most urgent need often lack the confidence to seek help or don't know who to ask. Assessing and reordering what you already do with a better understanding and intention is a great start. 

Once we’ve helped you understand the challenges you and your workforce are facing, we can help you build a holistic strategy that covers:

• The right solutions and interventions to support your employees — either by identifying and re-marketing existing solutions and services and/or deploying new solutions or benefits depending on your employees’ needs and your budget.

• How you communicate and signpost these to help your employees understand their needs and how the solutions can support them.

• How you measure impact and evolve your strategy to meet the changing needs of your workforce and the world around us.

We can then support you in building the business case for budget, advise on selecting the right partners and services from a crowded market, and support implementation, communication to employees and continuing governance oversight. As well as improving employee financial wellbeing, this strategy will help to maximise the value you obtain from the money you spend on benefits.

To ensure that your programme is making a difference and adding value to your people strategy, you need to keep measuring usage and impact. 

How does coverage and usage fit with needs and your diversity, equity and inclusion values? Who is accessing and using the benefits? What is employee behaviour telling you? Are the people most in need accessing the support you provide? Do you need a more targeted engagement approach?

We have the tools and expertise available to help you navigate these issues, measuring impact and ensuring you are delivering against your business commitments to continue to build a better programme.