How Much Is Poor Financial Wellbeing At Work Costing You?

Poor financial wellbeing at work is costing UK businesses billions of pounds every year, yet half of companies do not currently offer extra financial support to their staff. By not providing such support through employee benefits and value-add services like Employee Assistance Programmes, organisations are literally leaving money on the table.

[Related reading: Financial Stress Impacts Employee Performance – Study]

Poor Financial Wellbeing At Work Costing UK Organisations £6bn A Year

A staggering £6bn a year is lost by UK organisations as a result of poor financial wellbeing at work, a new report reveals.

According to the whitepaper from Aegon UK, businesses are losing this revenue because so many of their employees are either absent or distracted from their work because they are worrying about money.

Aegon UK says employees are feeling particularly pressured when it comes to finances at the moment due to spiralling prices and the cost of living squeeze. As a result, many are less optimistic about the future. Indeed, Aegon’s research found that 49% of workers believe their current pension provision will provide them with a good standard of living when they retire.

For many others, retirement isn’t their most pressing concern – surviving financially right now is. As many as four in 10 people say they have less than £100 left at the end of each month, a reality, Aegon says, is impacting their mental wellbeing.

Aegon managing director Linda Whorlow said: “Giving employees a sense of financial security has never been more important. Since March 2020, the mental and physical wellbeing of employees has been in sharp focus, and there is a growing need to consider financial wellbeing too.”

Half Of Employers Haven’t Introduced Extra Financial Support

Meanwhile, separate research shows that despite the enormous financial impact of not doing so, half of employers have not introduced extra support to help their employees’ through the current cost of living crisis. Perhaps more alarming is that these same employers also said they do not plan to introduce any additional support in the future.

The online poll by Employee Benefits Magazine found that just 12% of businesses have introduced extra financial help to support their employees through these challenging times. A further 38% indicated they were considering doing so.

As our Managing Director Stephen Hough highlighted in his Cost Of Living Crisis: The Role Of Financial Wellbeing In The Workplace article in March, research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) shows that just under a fifth (19%) of workers believe they do not get enough financial wellbeing support from their employers. In other words, a clear opportunity exists for organisations to better support their employees and reap associated benefits.

One of those benefits is improved employee advocacy. As the aforementioned CIPD research found, 60% of workers at organisations with financial wellbeing policies agreed their employer does enough to support their financial wellbeing. In comparison, just 28% of employees at organisations that do not have such policies said the same.

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By providing financial wellbeing at work support, you can not only help your employees through the current challenging times, but also promote yourself as an organisation that cares. Let’s also not forget the billions of pounds that are lost each year as a result of poor employee financial wellbeing.

Contact us today to find out how you can start offering the right employee benefits and show your staff just how much you care.