More concerningly, financial worries have been shown to lead to high stress levels and general ill health, and it is therefore imperative that employers take action to support their employees. Not only does poor financial wellbeing negatively impact employees, but it is fundamentally bad for business; 36% of millennials cite financial stress as a key factor which negatively impacts their overall job performance.

As a result, employers must come to understand that keeping both their employees, and in turn their business, healthy and happy in the current economic climate is heavily dependent on their provision of adequate financial wellbeing support.

Of equal importance, however, is the quality and relevance of that support. Applying an ill-considered, blanket financial wellbeing support policy is simply a perfunctory box-ticking exercise which will do little to provide useful aid. Instead, support must be bespoke, carefully tailored to the individual needs of each and every employee.

Opening a dialogue to customise support

Employers self-determining that certain forms of support are required for an employee, based only on their age or background, can be a harmful assumption to make. While different financial ambitions and goals are commonly associated with different stages of life, this is increasingly often not the case. Everyone’s financial situation is entirely unique, and so their financial support must be flexible and tailored to individual needs.

When building a support strategy, the first hurdle is determining these precise needs by starting a dialogue between employer and employee. Undoubtedly, in British office culture, discussing financial wellbeing can often be a difficult and taboo subject – making it even more vital that employers take steps to encourage and normalise open discussion. For instance, employers could arrange one-on-one conversations between HR personnel and staff for them to gain a deeper understanding of the employee’s current financial concerns. This discussion alone may alleviate some level of stress; research has even demonstrated that simply vocalising financial worries can improve mental wellbeing.

An alternative solution, which may potentially cause less distress for those who are still uncomfortable discussing their financial affairs, would be an online survey to determine where to target financial support for that individual.

Once these requirements are accurately identified for each member of staff, employers can implement highly relevant, targeted support. With the current economic climate taken into consideration, targeting support in this way also allows employees to avoid providing information that is potentially insensitive. An employee struggling to make ends meet may feel distressed and unsupported by receiving information about retirement and long-term savings that is currently not useful to them. On the other hand, an employee receiving high quality, bespoke support will be more likely to feel heard and appreciated, an important factor in employee satisfaction and retention.

Filling gaps in financial education

Developing a solid financial understanding is often overlooked in the UK education system, and it is therefore essential to consider that employees may not have had equal exposure or access to financial education. It is no wonder that, as a result, many adults then feel ill-equipped to confidently manage their finances during economic turmoil.

With this in mind, employers could use these one-on-one conversations with HR and surveys to gain insight on the overall financial literacy of their staff, providing their staff with the specific resources required to fill the gaps in their understanding. Armed with this higher level of financial literacy, they will subsequently have the knowledge to make stronger financial decisions, and in turn improve their financial wellbeing.

Online wellbeing platforms could be the solution

The rise of the digital age has led to the development of tools that can be enormously useful enabling employees to get a grip of their finances, both in terms of immediate financial obligations and their long-term plans.

The emergence of financial wellbeing platforms, such as Mintago, offer employees a straightforward and holistic approach to managing their finances and financial wellbeing. As well as educational materials, savings benefits and pension tracing tools, all an employee’s existing savings and investments are collated via a dashboard which gives them a crystal-clear view of their present financial situation. Equipped with a sound knowledge of their financial assets, employees are far better positioned to face immediate financial challenges like the cost-of-living crisis as they arise.

These platforms even have the capacity to connect staff with financial advisers and coaches who can provide tailored advice to tackle their individual money issues. Such resources and the opportunity to develop a relationship with a trusted expert can often be otherwise inaccessible to employees, making these platforms a great solution.

In times of acute economic hardship, employers have a responsibility towards their employees to ensure that they’ve done whatever they can to boost financial wellbeing- which in turn has fantastic benefits for their business. Open, taboo-busting discussions about finances, as well as thoughtful, customised support are the key to steering employees towards success.