Give the gift of time to improve workforce financial wellbeing

Employers may not recognise the power they have to support their workforce to improve their financial wellbeing beyond the obvious pay and benefits package, so Society Matters is on a mission to change that.

We all know and understand the phrase ‘time is money’ and as someone responsible for leading or managing people you’ve no doubt used it more than once! But how about we switch that phrase on its head – do you think you could provide your staff the time, impetus and resources during the working day to improve their personal financial situation, with minimal cost or disruption to you?

What we already know is that when staff are worried about making ends meet (and let’s face it there are few people who aren’t at the moment) that can have a detrimental effect on every aspect of their lives, including their work. Distraction and anxiety can lead to reduced motivation and productivity, and having to find the time to deal with financial affairs can lead to absenteeism, so ditto the point about productivity. To be fair if you’ve ever tried to call a helpline or a government department such as DWP you’ll know that the call queue can be an hour or more, so trying to fit that into your lunchbreak (because much of the available support isn’t available outside of work hours) is just not feasible.

There’s another good reason to give your workforce some time to improve their financial wellbeing during the working day. It will provide them a focal point to take action and, depending on how you handle it, some accountability for making changes that will make a difference. When it comes to getting help with financial challenges in particular, the Money Advice and Pensions Service (MaPS) through their UK Strategy for Financial Wellbeing 2010-20 shine a light on the fact that poor financial wellbeing is affecting tens of millions of people, and that employers are a community that can really make a difference with a key potential role to play in reversing the trend for people not to seek advice when they need it. MaPS evidence suggests that nearly two thirds of people have not sought financial advice, guidance or talked to someone about their finances, with those on the lowest incomes being much less likely to discuss financial matters than those on higher incomes.

Here’s why the gift of time in the workplace can make a difference.

When it comes to managing our personal financial affairs, let’s face it, we all have a few skeletons in the closet – those things you just haven’t got round to doing although they won’t really take long to do, but once they’re eventually done you wonder why you didn’t do it sooner. With sometimes just a few hours’ effort (often less …) not only did it clear your conscience, but it also made a positive impact on your life in some way shape or form, whether that’s been a boost to your bank balance or just managing to get your partner off your back!

So, what are the skeletons that are in your closet right now? Just stop for 2 minutes and make a mental list – they may not be things that are necessarily keeping you awake at night, but they are definitely in the ‘wish it was sorted’ category. Maybe it’s that subscription you know you should cancel but keeps coming round every month when you’re just too late to do something about it. Or switching your bank or insurance because you know you’ll get a better deal elsewhere. Maybe selling those old clothes or books that are cluttering your home to raise money for charity – or to improve your own bank balance this month. If you haven’t thought of anything give yourself a pat on the back, and then ask someone you know the same question – they’re sure to come up with something!

Then ask (yourself) … so what’s stopping you?   The answer is probably going to be in the realms of “I just haven’t found the time”. Fair enough, when you’re outside of work running your busy life it’s so easy to let these things slip, but really it’s probably more than that. It can also be about finding the brain space and, probably, having a lack of accountability for getting it done. Sometimes it can simply be about knowing how to do it, or even how to get started.

If you then apply this notion to your employees, it might be reasonable to assume that at least some of them could already have a list of things they really need to do that would improve their personal financial situation but they too haven’t had the time, brain space, accountability or know-how. This isn’t going to be the answer in isolation, but every pound helps so I’d encourage you to consider supporting staff to tackle money issues during their work time as part of your financial wellbeing strategy (more on how below).

So, what can you do to help?

There’s a lot (talk to Society Matters about the Employer Support Programme they’re running that’s funded by the North of Tyne Combined Authority), but one very simple action you could take is to launch a ‘Time is Money 2023 Campaign’ amongst your staff, in the knowledge that giving your staff the gift of time to focus on matters associated with their financial wellbeing during the working day could be good for their pocket, as well as improving their productivity, performance and attendance – so it’s definitely a win win. How?

10 steps plan for your Time is Money 2023 campaign

Applying the principle of keeping it simple, here’s how you might approach your Time is Money campaign.

1. Come up with a list of actions that staff could take to improve their financial wellbeing. It really doesn’t matter what it is, as long as it has some kind of impact on their income or expenditure, so that might include
   • doing something they’ve been putting off (that mobile phone supplier switch they’ve been meaning to tackle);
   • accessing training (either online or in the workplace – talk to Society Matters for options);
   • using web resources for cost-cutting or budgeting;
   • making calls to DWP, Citizens Advice or a debt helpline;
   • uploading stuff to sell on ebay, facebook or Money Magpie;
   • taking a good look at the bank statement for subscriptions they’re no longer using – and doing something about it;
   • checking eligibility for social tariffs from utilities companies;
   • checking benefits entitlements on entitledto;
   • making a tax claim for homeworking or uniform purchases;
   • telling the broadband supplier they’re leaving and get a reduced rate (works most of the time!);
   • shopping around for the best price for an energy saving gadget;
   • investigating one of the 60+ ways to make money on Martin Lewis’s website;
   • participate in an online Money Talk session with Society Matters;
   • get access to the budgeting tools on the MaPs MoneyHelper
2. Identify some staff champions to lead the Time is Money campaign to give it a positive spin.
3. Ask staff to make a personal pledge to participate in the campaign, setting out actions that they will take in the time provided during work time (this can be as generous as you like, but even a minimal time investment of only one hour a week over four weeks will start to make a difference).
4. Encourage participation in the campaign with an incentive such as shopping vouchers (try and spread across as many employees as possible and keep them under the limit that would class as a taxable benefit).
5. Provide some resources, information, training, staff champions to access any help needed with whatever they’re planning to tackle. Talk to Society Matters cic for some ideas about what will make a difference if you aren’t sure where to start.
6. Monitor both participation and impact – look for success stories – maybe they could be the focal point of your voucher incentive – who saved the most, made the most, tackled the biggest challenge, shared their story with the most people.
7. Share the success stories to build the momentum.
8. Ask the question – would you have done this anyway or has this campaign given you the time, impetus and resources to do something you couldn’t/wouldn’t have done otherwise?
9. Pat yourself on the back for using the power and influence at your disposal as an employer by giving the gift of time to improve workforce financial wellbeing.
10. 10. Repeat.

Good luck!

Jayne Graham MBE FIEP

This article is brought to you by Society Matters cic with the support of the North of Tyne Combined Authority as part of the implementation of Pillar 3 of the Child Poverty Prevention Programme which aims to alleviate in-work poverty for employers across the North of Tyne area.