Wagestream's panel of experts share how you can attract and retain talent by focussing on financial wellbeing
This article was written in partnership with Wagestream.
Why do we work? One of the main reasons is to provide for our loved ones and ourselves. So that we can afford food, shelter, energy and other necessities, now and in the future.
But are we being sufficiently supported by our employers in terms of our financial wellbeing?
The answer, currently, is no.
Employees in Australia are enduring rising costs in almost every aspect of their lives. In June 2022 headline inflation in Australia reached its highest level in more than two decades at 6.1% and financial stress has doubled in the past two years. Rising costs have compounded the impact of the pandemic which, for some, had severe adverse financial consequences.
This means financial wellbeing support is more important to employees than ever before.
However, a new report from Wagestream, featuring research and analysis from Good Shepherd, has found there is a glaring disconnect between the HR professionals and employees. While the majority of HR professionals believe their organisation offers financial wellbeing support, a much smaller number of employees believe they receive them.
The reasons are that employers are often of the misguided belief that Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) are a financial wellbeing benefit. Or, within other companies, the specific needs of employees have never been sufficiently investigated. Moreover, it can be an unfortunate case of poor communication surrounding the topic in general.
Gone are the days where a sparsely attended superannuation seminar will provide sufficient feelings of security.
When it comes to bridging this gap, HR professionals need to understand the needs of their employees and get buy-in from senior leaders in their organisation.
Speakers at the upcoming Wagestream Webinar, State of Employee Financial Wellbeing: An opportunity for HR, will be enlightening the Human Resources industry as to how we can make this happen.
The webinar will explore areas where employees are struggling, analysing by age groups, income brackets and genders, also asking employees what kind of benefits they’re looking for.
The panel will also explain how to implement an effective financial wellbeing program, ranging from building a business case to evaluating financial wellbeing offerings and then monitoring impact over time.
The expert panel will include:
- Josh Vernon, CEO And Co-Founder @Wagestream
- Michael Joyce, Acting Head of Financial Inclusion Action Plan @Good Shepherd
- Amy Watts, Vice President of Talent & Culture @Accor
Josh founded Wagestream Australia and over the past four years, it has grown to become the mission-led responsible centre for financial wellbeing, providing innovative solutions to solve the number one concern of employees – financial stress.
Michael leads the team supporting Financial Inclusion Action Plans across Australia. As part of this program, over 50 organisations have united with Good Shepherd to launch and implement public commitments to improve financial wellbeing across many sectors.
Amy oversees the people experience for over 130 hotels and over 5,000 team members across Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii; including 28 properties based on the Gold Coast.
This panel, discussing the first ever publication of the State of Employee Financial Wellbeing in Australia, will share critical insight to help HR professionals improve talent acquisition and retention and knowledge of how financial wellbeing should be delivered.
Financial stress is the number one stressor for our employees. Discover how to make financial wellbeing a reality for your talent in 2023.
