3 steps to build a living, breathing financial wellbeing strategy

Tim Perkins

Co-founder

Navigating the range of financial wellbeing solutions to build a strategy that is clear, cohesive and inclusive of all employees is tough.

Which is why there’s sometimes a tendency to present employees with a range of ‘financial products’, rather than developing a strategy that recognises financial wellbeing as a living breathing thing.

Your people’s financial wellbeing needs aren’t static, so your programme shouldn’t be either. Here are the three steps to get started on your financial wellbeing strategy.

Step 1: Set your vision

How do you define ‘financial wellbeing’? What impact do you want from your financial wellbeing programme?

Just two of the questions you need to answer as part of your strategy creation. If, like us and the CIPD, you agree that financial wellbeing is about having the skills and capabilities to better manage an income, it’s important to recognise that an evolving solution is needed.

Hosting a one-off wellbeing week or introducing a standalone benefit won’t improve financial wellbeing. To move the needle requires a continued focus. There are so many frequently changing variables that affect an individual’s financial environment: demographics, personal life events or economic, social or political events.

People experience changing needs and financial stress in different ways and at different times so your vision for a financial wellbeing solution, and ongoing commitment to deliver it, needs to recognise this.

Step 2: Have a target

The most successful strategies are those that are focused on an indisputable target.

Through the process of setting a vision, setting a target should come pretty easily. If it doesn’t, make sure you work with an experienced partner who:

Has worked with organisations like yours so can lead your thinking.
Is aligned with your vision rather than pushing their own agenda.

For nudge clients, objectives and therefore targets, have included:

Increasing: pension contributions, ISA savings, flex benefit selections and EAP usage
Reducing: PMI claims, payroll loan take-up, staff turnover and employee absence.

In order to set a target, you’ll need to know where you’re at now so make sure you record your starting point for future reference and ultimately, to demonstrate the impact and return from your financial wellbeing strategy.

Step 3: Create a joined-up user experience

Helping your people better understand and manage their money is not only a lifechanging benefit, it’ll help them better appreciate and utilise other benefits on offer.

Consistent branding, single sign on, shared targets and combined reporting will all help create a joined-up user experience that achieves maximum engagement.

A joined-up strategy will see individual benefits referencing and promoting one another to make your reward strategy greater than the sum of its parts.

Some examples of how nudge clients have done this include:

Prompting an update of beneficiary forms as an extension to education about free wills month
Gender specific promotion of share save plans based on attitudes to risk
Promoting provision of a season ticket loan at the time someone moves home.

With this in mind, it’s important you choose a financial wellbeing partner who understands reward and benefits.

Do you want to get started with your 2020 financial wellbeing strategy?