Employers Making an Extra Effort

If anything, the rising inflation several quarters ago underlined the importance of financial wellbeing. Some parts of society are hit more severely than others. Several employers have made efforts to soften the blow for their employees with one-off payments, pay rises well ahead of the planned annual review of pay and other emoluments. We believe this is the right thing to do.

Not only because it will keep the minds of your staff off worrying to make ends meet, but also because the staff will often discuss the behavior of their employer with their colleagues and friends. Because of this, the news will spread that you are “doing the right thing” and caring for your staff. This will strengthen the relationship between you and your staff and will attract new and skilled workers that you need to strengthen your business case and strategy. In short: this is not only showing compassion, but also functions as a sound investment in your brand.

Many employers support measures to promote financial awareness. Scientific research has shown that people with financial problems show a decrease in performance. This may result in making professional mistakes. The reverse is also true, people without financial worries perform better.

The before mentioned measures vary from meetings or webinars discussing the most important impacts on financial lives (e.g. recent changes in law, or taxation) to individual advice in special circumstances (e.g. loss of spouse, approaching unemployment because of company reorganization, desire to work less).

For most people financial matters are something one is not familiar with. Professional advice can provide the overview one is looking for quickly and better than “self help on the internet”. Better decisions and quicker results are the result.

Making financial planning available for employees can be valuable for a company. However, the degree of support of employers varies. On the one extreme we see employer funded workshops and the employees fund the financial plans themselves. On the other extreme employers fund the financial plans (as part of the process of reorganizations resulting in the loss of jobs). And there is a lot in-between.

Have you started supporting financial planning for employees?