People are therefore losing an average of 116 hours of work per year, which equates to almost 17 working daysKnowing and understanding your workforce is an essential part of every successful business; in fact, new data from the CIPD has revealed that understanding how your employees think can help to improve your company’s financial wellbeing.
Money worries are affecting work performance
New research from the CIPD has found that one in four employees in the UK believe that their money problems are affecting their ability to do their job properly. This shocking statistic shows that businesses need to address the financial needs of their employees and the CIPD clearly agrees, recently joining UK employees during Financial Capability Week to encourage employers to take more responsibility for the wellbeing of their employees.
Understanding your workforce
The CIPD has now issued guidance to help businesses meet the financial needs of their employees in the form of a financial wellbeing strategy that any organisation can follow to raise awareness and financial capability amongst employees.
The guidance explains that understanding the behaviour of your workforce will help you to create an effective financial wellbeing plan for your employees. If HR professionals can understand how their employees behave in real-life situations, it will be easier for them to understand the triggers that influence their employees when making long-term decisions.
This will make it easier for HR professionals to provide effective information, support and advice for the workforce. To do this, they must encourage their employees to think about their financial status and wellbeing; in addition, they should increase awareness of financial wellbeing programmes that are available to employees. It is also important for HR professionals to challenge financial biases that may affect financial capability.
To date, the CIPD has published various new resources that businesses can use, such as Employee Financial Wellbeing: Behavioural Insights. This programme encourages HR professionals to glean insights about what makes their workforce tick, making it easier for businesses to understand their employees and subsequently increase the overall effectiveness of the workforce.
The guidance is already facing one issue, however. The financial wellbeing programmes are voluntary; therefore, employees must choose to undertake them. This can mean the individuals who need the programme the most may avoid attending.
For this programme to work, HR professionals must also be aware of their employees’ egos. It is important not to patronise employees or talk down to them; instead, useful information and support must be provided.
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