Supporting your team through financial education & engagement

Ensuring Business as Usual: Nathan Munt, Lucas Fettes Financial Planning

Questioning 2,000 employees, Aviva’s 2019 study* highlighted three reasons why employees do not engage with the benefits offered to them. These were a lack of interest, the benefit not being relevant to them, and a shortage of information.

So, from this, we can deduce that offering a comprehensive suite of benefits, and promoting advantages effectively, could help you to nurture your team and enhance your workplace culture.

Understanding what your employees value

A range of options are available, but you must understand what your employees value before you decide on the support you provide. And, it is important to stay up to date with industry trends, the needs of your workforce, and to regularly review what you have on offer.

Aviva’s study indicated that financial incentives were high on the list of priorities with 40% of respondents saying they have remained in their role due to their salary, 41% actively wanting a workplace pension and 48% saying they would accept a wellness allowance of £400-£1,200.

The current economic climate has led many employers to provide attractive financial benefits. Yet conversations with our clients indicate that many are now also increasing their wellness budgets, dedicated to supporting employees’ emotional, physical, and financial wellbeing.

We have also experienced an increase in demand for financial education and wellbeing support, particularly around workplace pension engagement. Typically, this is delivered via group presentations and one-to-one consultations, which aim to educate employees about their financial position and the options available to them.

Given poor financial wellbeing is linked to reductions in workplace motivation and productivity, as well as increases in absenteeism, allocating resources in this area can prove worthwhile.

How can we support your employees’ financial wellbeing?

We understand that financial education and wellbeing requirements differ with every workforce. So, our expert team take the time to fully understand the needs of both clients and employees, before working with them to provide cost-effective solutions.

• Group presentations – We present on a range of financial topics. Typically, employers want us to provide updates on the workplace pension scheme, or to deliver sessions on financial wellbeing. The latter can be a general overview on the essentials or refined to life stage specific considerations.
• One-to-ones – An opportunity for employees to receive personalised financial guidance and to review and discuss their workplace pension scheme.

Importantly, after each session, employee feedback is collected, meaning employers better understand the needs of their team.

Lucas Fettes Financial Planning® is a registered trading name of Lucas Fettes & Partners (Financial Services) Limited and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

* https://www.aviva.co.uk/business/business-perspectives/featured-articles-hub/employee-benefits-survey/