Resilience reality check: How does your business measure up?

It's easy to assume you're doing enough, but there's often a disconnect between what employers think they're offering and what employees actually want and need. So, how do you know if your business is genuinely building financial resilience, or simply ticking the box?

This is why we’ve built the financial resilience calculator, where you can see how your benefits measure up for your workforce.

Beyond the Basics

Many companies are making an effort, with 93% having some form of financial wellbeing support in place. Great news. However, a big challenge remains: employees often don't find this support effective. Too often, it's inconsistent, relies too heavily on financial education (which, on its own, isn't enough), and fails to provide the practical tools employees need.  

To truly move the needle, businesses need to implement comprehensive financial wellbeing toolkits that address the diverse needs of their workforce. This means going beyond generic advice and offering tangible support for short, medium, and long-term financial goals.  

Key areas to focus on:

• Financial inclusion: Traditional financial products often exclude a large portion of the workforce. Only 4% of employees have credit scores that qualify them for traditional lending. This pushes people towards high-cost debt and further financial exclusion. Businesses need to offer inclusive solutions like fair, affordable credit and tools that help employees build their credit profiles.  
• Savings habits: A regular savings habit is strongly linked to financial satisfaction, but many employees, especially lower earners, struggle to save. Employers can play a crucial role by offering workplace savings schemes, ideally with an opt-out option to boost participation. See how the Co-op used this method to boost employee savings participation from 16% to 71%, all by flipping the default to an opt-out approach.
• Income volatility: For those with flexible work arrangements, unpredictable hours can create financial fluctuation. Employers should strive for standards like the Living Wage Foundation's ‘Living Hours,’ which promote predictable hours and pay - a game-changer for employees who have regular bills and expenses to marry up with their often unpredictable pay packets. 
• Practical toolkits: Move beyond financial education and provide employees with tangible tools. This could include budgeting support, savings schemes, flexible pay options, and even access to money coaching. The aim of the game is variety - you would never offer just one form of health treatment, or a singular discount, workers’ needs vary in the financial space as much as any other, and they need a range of tools that they can make work for their financial lives. 

Assess > Guess

Financial resilience is a tough metric to measure, you want your employees to open up, but don't want to pressure them for information they’re not prepared to give. To truly understand how your business stacks up in supporting financial resilience, you need data.

Start measuring the impact of your benefits and initiatives, with our workforce financial resilience calculator.