Why Is Financial Wellbeing So Important?

Financial wellbeing is one of the most important elements of general wellbeing. Money stress can lead to a range of negatives, but how can employers help?

Everybody experiences stress in the workplace at one point or another, but when financial worries are a constant factor in your life it can be devastating to your productivity and mental wellbeing.

Employee wellbeing is made up of a range of different factors, but financial wellbeing is particularly important as poor financial wellbeing can lead to the greatest sense of insecurity and unhappiness. With research carried out by Barclays showing that 1 in every 10 employees is silently struggling financially, it’s important for financial wellbeing to be considered more seriously within the workplace.

Although the burden of financial stress can be avoided through sensible budgeting, saving, and living within your means, there’s also a lot that your employer could be doing to improve your financial wellness, reduce your money-related stress, and boost your productivity.

How can bad financial wellbeing affect you?

When you’re suffering from money worries, there can be a number of direct and indirect reactions.

Reduced motivation in the workplace might result from a lack of financial wellbeing, as you can feel undervalued, distracted, and hopeless. Financial wellbeing can also contribute to severe mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, and high-stress levels. Money-related stress can be a trigger for these conditions, all of which can drastically affect your ability to work happily and productively.

At its worst, poor financial wellbeing can affect your physical health as you may struggle to purchase the medication you require, pay for gym memberships, or even pay for food for yourself and your family.

Ways your employer can reduce your money-related stress

With half of the employees in Ireland saying that the workplace negatively affects their wellbeing, its’s time for a change. Employees aren’t the only ones who can benefit from better financial wellbeing in the workplace, management can also see gains through improved productivity and morale in employees who feel secure financially.

Here are some ways that employers can help to minimise your money stress:

• Encourage financial education or guidance as part of a wider wellbeing programme, helping employees to more effectively budget and begin to work towards a state of financial wellbeing.
• Offering a competitive salary that doesn’t underpay employees for their skills and doesn’t take advantage of over-supply of certain vocations.
• Financial benefits included as part of the remuneration package such as, a good private pension scheme and performance incentives in the shape of bonuses.
• A flexible working schedule that means employees can work remotely from home if they need to look after children, avoiding them having to pay high childcare fees.
• Flexibility in terms of permitting advance salary payments in difficult months to help employees feel more secure and to avoid financial wellbeing being worsened by debts.