How you can support your small business’ employee financial wellness
When operating a small business, you know how valuable the overall financial health of your team members is. Financial health impacts your employees’ engagement, productivity, and motivation at work. Beyond that, 92% of employee counsellors say that financial wellness positively impacts overall health and workplace productivity. Small businesses, especially recently, are well aware of how impactful the financial health and wellness of their employees is. Supporting your employees’ financial health goes well beyond salary and encapsulates savings, investments, and spending, too. As the employer, you can support your employees’ financial wellness in all areas of their lives.
Financial stress weighs heavily on an individual and impacts their performance, happiness, and workplace satisfaction. 81% of employees define financial wellness as freedom from financial stress. In order to offer this to your employees, you need to understand their needs as well as be able to predict them. Access to financial data can provide insights into spending and income patterns, the ability to predict future needs, and to personalize solutions for your employees that in turn will empower your small business to succeed. Whether you automate your access to your employees’ financial data or you manually inquire with your employees, you will find that there are gaps in knowledge about budgeting, investing, and how your team can be set up for financial wellness success. Let’s explore some ways your small business can easily support your team members towards financial health and growth.
Empower your employees to learn about investment opportunities
Investing can be challenging, especially for the younger demographic. Your small business can support your employees through educating them about investing in their retirement, the market, or exploring wealth management. Education on opportunities in investing can be taken virtually and is something you can participate in as a team.
Beyond that, you can offer a matching program that encourages saving for retirement. As per Manulife, 40% of Canadians who were surveyed are financially unwell and this can equate to thousands of dollars of lost productivity each year. If your business participates in an employee-match program for investments or savings, you can encourage your employees to feel more financially secure in the present and for their future.
Provide access to tools to help employees manage budgets, taxes, and more
There are many tools available to support personal budgeting, support during tax season, and other components of financial management and planning. Knowing which tools are the most effective and easy-to-use can empower your employees to access services they will rely on.
According to the Canadian government, budgeters demonstrate more effective management of their monthly cash flow: they are less likely to spend more than their monthly income. Find the tools that can support your employees and invest in them as a business, allowing your employees to use these tools for free. Alternatively, reach out to these services and see if they are willing to offer a discount for your team members to sign up on them.
Support your employees’ financial wellness for a more productive workforce
Access to financial data is key to understanding your employees, supporting them towards their financial milestones, and ensuring your employees are motivated and excited for your small business to succeed. As a small business, you can gather financial data on your employees automatically or simply by talking to your employees about the importance of financial wellness and health. With your employees feeling set up for financial success, your business will experience a motivated, engaged, and productive team. Whether you focus on educating, financially supporting, or providing tools to your employees to help manage their financial wellness, your active participation and interest in helping your employees achieve their financial goals will have a lasting impact.
👋 Want to learn more about how to support your employees’ financial wellness? Check out Financial Wellness for Small Business Owners.
Author Bio
Samantha Lloyd, Director of Marketing
Samantha Lloyd is the Director of Marketing at Railz, the Accounting Data-as-a-Service™ API. We're building the largest financial data network to support the future of finance. Samantha has a decade of experience building organic growth, brand, and digital marketing for startups and technology companies. She hosts the Float or Founder podcast. In her free time, you can find her SCUBA diving, snorkeling, paddleboarding, and jet skiing (when it’s warm out!).