With the cost-of-living crisis starting to take hold, financial wellbeing and education are more important than ever. It should no longer be seen as a nice-to-have employee benefit but a priority for all employers to embrace.
We’re curious to see how companies are approaching financial wellbeing and education right now, so we went to Employee Benefits Live last week. We loved hearing what The AA, Claranet and IPSOS have been busy doing in the financial education space and felt inspired to share our takeaways with you.
Follow these steps to up your game with financial education:
Step 1: Assess engagement and strategise
Start by reviewing what’s currently in place, and analyse your data and levels of engagement. Create a strategy from your findings and concentrate on some quick wins whilst mapping 3-5 long-term goals. Underpin this with a clear purpose to help focus your resourcing and priorities.
Step 2: Activate the quick wins to drive change
Talk to your current suppliers and draw on available resources, webinars and tools. Ask to collaborate and hold engaging employee sessions that complement your strategy and activities. Analyse any post-event data and encourage employee feedback. Use these insights to determine your next steps.
Step 3: Communicate and re-engage
Most employee understanding and engagement gaps are due to poor communication and education. A central information hub should sit at the heart of your financial wellbeing and education communications plan. Use regular, short, simple and targeted messaging along with various channels; signpost employees to relevant information housed in your hub.
– The human factor
Face-to-face communication underpins all other communication activities. Holding 1-2-1 clinics and training people managers to effectively cascade information and support conversations will have positive results.
– Collaborate and coordinate
Take a joined-up approach to your communications and content strategy by working collaboratively with your wellbeing, internal communications and talent acquisition teams. This will help you solidify your key messages. Coordinate with and take inspiration from the industry wellbeing calendar too.
Step 4: Take stock and devise the next steps
Financial wellbeing is a journey, so this process needs to be constantly assessed. It’s not about adding more tools; it’s about ensuring employees know what’s already in place and then plug any gaps. Communication and education that empowers employees to build better financial habits must be an ongoing commitment.
To wrap things up, this statement resonated with us:
“The key thing about financial wellbeing is you can’t simply tick it off your to-do list and move on – it requires consistent data monitoring and for you to communicate accordingly with consistency.”
To see this proactive approach at Employee Benefits Live was motivating and encouraging. If you’d like help communicating your financial wellbeing and education strategy, reach out for a chat.
