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Financial Wellbeing is a hot topic for individuals and organisations alike.   The cost-of-living crisis shone a light on the day-to-day difficulties us ordinary folk experience, with sky-rocketing food prices, energy price surges that even the Norse God Thor would think about before wielding his hammer to draw electricity from the heavens.   Life became difficult for Brits, pulling millions into poverty or close to it.   Employers have started to recognise and feel the impact of poor financial wellbeing on their people and organisation.   The cost to businesses, putting aside the important personal caring aspects is immense.   In 2023, the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development reported:  On average; 4.9 worker days (per worker) are lost per year because people are dealing with their finances    3.5 days (per worker) are lost because of worrying about money whilst at work, impacting on productivity, safety and performance management time.    The cost to the economy because of poor financial wellbeing is £120 billion, which is staggering compared to £34 billion lost because of mental ill health.    It’s encouraging to see employers recognising the need to support the Financial Wellbeing of their people, it’s good for their people, business and reputation.   Yet when it comes to implementing financial wellbeing initiatives the situation is far from clear, coherent and cohesive.   There seems to be two types of approach organisations use.   The Scatterer   These are the types of comments line managers, wellbeing leads, and HR professionals consistently share with me   “We got occupational health to lead on this”  “Our wellbeing lead can take this on”  “We’ll raise this with HR to look at”    These are typical actions employers take    get someone in to do an (often) ad hoc talk on money; budgeting, pensions and debt    offer a budgeting course     add to our Benefits package, for example; offer low-cost insurance and fringe benefits like gym membership deals   leave financial wellbeing with our mental health first aiders (they are not trained to support with poor financial wellbeing)      leave posters around the building and rest places    give a list of contacts for help and support    put some information on the company’s intranet  have a wellbeing week or even month    talk about this in team meetings    Yes, these are all excellent and are essential components that should form part of the wellbeing mix, yet I cannot help thinking this feels bity, convoluted and rather chaotic. The result, often patchy take-up and engagement by the people the organisation is aiming to help.   Something is missing. Where’s the cohesion, planning, glue that binds this together into something tangible and inspiring which people can safely psychologically engage with in a way that is uplifting.    Where’s the measurements, how do we know it’s working, how do we know it’s making a difference, where are our greatest gains, what’s not working well, how can we improve what when we don’t really know what’s working and isn’t.    Scatterers dive straight in, are generally reactive and do little if any research  They delegate too quickly without understanding the consequences of this approach on their teams and its effectiveness   The Cultivator   What if Senior Leadership created a wellbeing blueprint from the get-go, built from the bottom-up and driven from the top down.   One which seeks to identify the scale of wellbeing issues within the organisation, getting real data to inform, direct strategy, prioritise activities and can be measured over time, correlated to organisational KPI’s such as absenteeism rates, presenteeism, productivity, retention and workplace satisfaction scores?    Consider what a farmer does, when preparing crops, they will plan their campaign, get the fields ready, plough the land to create the best space for seeds to grow, sow them, fertilise, cover, water and attend to them during the course of their growth. This is what I call taking the Cultivator approach.    How could you use the cultivator approach when it comes to supporting the Financial Wellbeing of your people.    Make financial wellbeing a business metric. Put it on the Board’s agenda Have a financial wellbeing policy agreed by the very top in the organisation. This sends a clear message to your people about its importance (the CIPD report of organisations that have a policy, their employees report they feel protected from falling into poverty and are less likely to leave)    Have a Financial Wellbeing strategy, where the Senior Leadership Team lead on Financial Wellbeing    Who will drive the culture of it’s okay to talk about money to help people engage. The strategy could link in to you wider wellbeing strategy.   Know your numbers and feel their impact as if it were happening to you   Could it be that unknowingly employers have people going hungry, cannot heat their homes properly, not sleeping, while others struggle. Spoiler alert even higher income earners have poor financial wellbeing scores. 39% of the UK population are at financial breaking point or close to it unless they get the right support.   A good starting point is to get the Financial Wellbeing Scores of your people. This will tell you quickly and confidentially where the hot spots of need are, what support is needed and direct your focus.    Have an action plan which includes key activities and who is accountable and responsible Share it with your people, let them see what is happening and when. Transparency works. Review it regularly and update the Board just as performance and productivity metrics would be.    Get people on the ground talking about financial wellbeing, include your people   One of the quickest and easiest ways to do this is by upskilling your line managers, supervisors, team leaders, HR team, wellbeing champions and mental health first aiders with Financial Wellbeing First Aider Training.    Keep cultivating from the Top-down, using a bottom-up informed approach    Communication, reviews and story -telling about difficulties and breakthroughs from you and your people encourages a feeling and culture that it’s safe to talk about money, the subject is not taboo and that no one will be judged.   One of the biggest issues I have seen in my decade of helping people who were struggling is the lost sleep, the time it took to get help and the worsening of their situation because of Fear of talking to someone for help.   The result; lost homes, lost families, lost lives. You have the power that could very well stop that.   Money Beam has created tools and resources to support employers to assess, measure and tangibly improve the Financial Wellbeing of their people.    Find out more about how to use the Financial Wellbeing Score to measure the Financial Wellbeing of your people. Click on here.     Find out more about Training your line managers, wellbeing leads, mental health first aiders and HR teams to be Financial Wellbeing First Aiders. Click on here .   Saleem Shafi, founder of Money Beam is the former Deputy CEO of award- winning financial wellbeing charity-Money Buddies. He is passionate about wellbeing, equity of opportunity and people recognising they have much to offer themselves and the world. He has guest spoken on national media including BBC, GMBTV and Sky on Financial wellbeing, debt and money guidance.

There’s no question since the cost-of-living crisis broke out employers are recognising the financial wellbeing of their people is important. The impact on organisations is not only financial. Reputation, attraction and retention suffers; some 76% of employees would be attracted to an employer who they perceive cares about their financial wellbeing. (Chartered Institute for Personnel Development). Yet there is little understanding of what factors affect their people’s financial wellbeing and how to effectively support them. Spoiler alert it’s not always about pay levels, though this is important. One factor is Financial phobia A recent poll of UK based HR professionals when asked if Financial phobia is impacting on the wellbeing of their people and their organisation shows: 56% responded - Yes 5% - No 17% - Didn’t know 22% - were not aware of what Financial phobia is Financial Phobia is not a new phenomenon, it has been recognised for over two decades, and has been summarised by Psychologists researching Financial Anxiety as: “a syndrome where people have an uneasy and unhealthy attitude toward engaging with and administering their finances in an effective way.” (Burchell, 2003). Put it another way It is the fear of dealing with money matters The impact it has on individuals, their families, their work and on the workplace are serious and significant. Individuals and families are impacted Stress, debt and mental ill health issues result ·       We saw this first hand at the charity where I was Deputy CEO; 90% of people we helped who had problem debt, reported a mental ill health condition, an aversion to; filling in forms, opening letters, speaking to someone for help, poor financial literacy and lack of understanding of financial products.   ·       People lost homes, jobs, assets and devastatingly their family life connection   ·       In 2023  the CIPD reported over 100,000 people every year  attempted to take their own life while struggling with problem debt . Employers suffer Absenteeism  related to financial worries and dealing with money matters is costly with 4.9 worker days lost each year because people took time off to deal with (emergency) financial issues. Presenteeism  is a major concern, people send 3.5 working days a year worrying about money whilst at work. The impact on productivity, performance and latterly the risk to health and safety, through loss of concentration could be catastrophic Then there is the impact on line managers and HR teams dealing (often unaware of personal issues of their people) with performance issues, often going down the Performance Improvement Plan route, which is time costly, demoralising for employees and pulls on stretched management resources. The cost to organisations The estimated financial cost to UK business productivity is £120 billion which dwarves the £34.9 billion as a result of mental ill-health. Causes of Financial Phobia The London School of Economics and University of Cambridge (Shapiro and Burchell, 2012) identified Financial Anxiety Scores correlated with implicit measures; meaning the causes of Financial phobia are being driven subconsciously. For example; negative thoughts and feelings of low self-esteem, poor financial literacy and negative thoughts about money as well as their ability to manage it. Subconscious triggers as a result of financial anxiety are often a result of an emotional experience around money formed early in life, usually by the age of seven; for example, parents often arguing over money, money scarcity, modelling parents financial behaviour, poor financial literacy and an inability to manage emotions and impulses, particularly when stressed. Poor numeracy is an issue Plain numbers charity report 80% of people have the numeracy level of a school leaver, whilst 49% of people have a numeracy level of a primary school child. Without fundamental numeracy skills people struggle to engage with financial basics and products.   How Financial phobia manifests Aversion and distraction strategies are common It wasn’t a surprise to my teams that people at breaking point or even worse turned up with carrier bags full of unopened letters from creditors which included notice of eviction, home repossession, bailiff turning up to remove goods and energy disconnection notices. Another aversion strategy is putting off checking bank accounts, paying bills and not tracking accounts is common practise, often hoping for the best when withdrawing money at the cashpoint. Poor financial wellbeing in the workplace shows up typically as a behaviour change, For example, regular lateness, poor quality of work, reduction in productivity, persistent requests for overtime, regular requests for pay advances, not eating a proper lunch, sudden mood changes and no longer contributing to meetings. Spotting and supporting the signs of poor financial wellbeing driven by financial phobia The key is to watch out for a behaviour change in colleagues with staff trained in how to approach, discuss and support colleagues with their financial wellbeing. Five steps to safeguarding Financial Wellbeing and help people overcome Financial phobia A pay rise is always helpful, yet alone it is unlikely to prevent poor financial wellbeing issues from re-occurring. So, what else helps: 1.      At the highest level set out your stall with a Financial Wellbeing policy, this sets the tone and shows your people you value this, it helps people feel you’re on their side. Employees report they feel their employer will protect them from poverty as a result of just having a policy.   2.      Create a culture, led by leaders being vulnerable about their financial wellbeing, by being open and sharing stories. Create a culture driven down from the top which makes it feel okay to “talk about money.”   3.      Review your wellbeing strategy to include financial wellbeing as a key component, again this sends a signal to your people, that you recognise the importance of supporting people’s financial wellbeing journey.   4.     What's your people’s Financial Wellbeing Score? Do you have a handle on which parts of your workforce are in a Financial Emergency, are struggling to make ends meet or are comfortable. What if you knew those numbers. You could use this data to avoid issues further up the pipeline and measure tangible improvements in financial wellbeing against organisational KPI’s.   5.      Upskill your line managers, HR team, mental health first aiders and wellbeing champions to be Financial Wellbeing First Aiders ; with the skills to support people whether they are in an emergency, struggling or want to improve their own financial wellbeing. Financial Wellbeing First Aiders are trained to spot the signs of poor financial wellbeing, help people feel safe to talk about money, promote financial wellbeing in the workplace, have access to tools and resources that prevent poor financial wellbeing, help people overcome financial phobia and help prevent debt and money worries resulting in greater loss and pain.   To arrange a "find out more call" about improving Financial Wellbeing in your workplace or more about the Financial Wellbeing Score™ and Financial Wellbeing First Aider Training click here to go to the Money Beam website.   Saleem Shafi is founder of Money Beam and former Deputy CEO of award- winning financial wellbeing charity-Money Buddies. He is passionate about wellbeing, equity of opportunity and people recognising they have much to offer themselves and the world. He has guest spoken on national media including BBC, GMBTV and Sky on Financial wellbeing, debt and money guidance.

Since Covid-19 and the cost -of-living crisis, the wellbeing of employees has risen on management and executive board agendas, there’s been greater focus on improving employee benefits and uptake of mental health first aider training. Our research shows that 83% of organisations surveyed have mental health first aiders. This is excellent news and definitely heading in the right direction. Yet something is missing There is a banana skin, something that could be holding back the success of organisations and improvements in their people’s mental health and sense of workplace wellbeing. 92% of organisations who responded to our poll stated they did not know the Financial Wellbeing Score of their people. 12% had not heard of it. Here’s the problem Not knowing the Financial Wellbeing Score of your people is likely to be costing the organisation, financially, strategically and reputationally. What is the Financial Wellbeing Score It is a measure of a person’s individual financial wellbeing at any moment in time, as it considers a person’s current financial situation, aspirations, attitude, behaviour, thoughts and feelings towards money. The Financial Wellbeing Score identifies people who are experiencing: Financial emergency or crisis Struggling or just about getting by (Surviving) Comfortable Employees with money worries and debt are three times more likely to suffer with mental ill health compared to those who don’t have debt and or money worries (Money and Mental Health Policy Institute). This has a direct impact on, absenteeism, presenteeism and productivity, which costs organisations £120 billion a year. In 2023 the Chartered Institute For Personnel Development reported the following impacts: Attendance 10% of full-time and part-time employees have missed days at work because of financial worries,  with an average of 4.9 worker days lost each year . Productivity On average, employees spend  3.5 working days a year managing their money (whilst at work) Mental health Some 34% of employees say that financial stress/money worries in the past year have  had a severe or major impact on their mental health . Retention Over three-quarters of employees (76%) state they would be attracted to another company that they  perceive cares more about their financial wellbeing . Couple those impacts with time line managers and HR professionals spend on performance management issues, staff complaints and potentially, a rise in spurious grievances, the impact of poor financial wellbeing can have far reaching consequences on employers. By knowing which category your people are in, directs focus to where it is most needed. It informs the organisation’s wellbeing policy, strategy and wellbeing programme, saving precious time, resources and money. How the Financial Wellbeing Score benefits organisations Identify the proportion of their people in crisis, surviving or comfortable Recognise the scale of emergency, crisis and surviving issues It provides guidance, recommendations, tools and resources to help staff improve their financial wellbeing scores regardless of whichever category they are in For staff in emergency or crisis, it engages and empowers people to get the immediate support they need to avoid their situation from getting worse, which reduces impacts on employers It reveals underlying or hidden issues which could be affecting productivity, performance and importantly the wellbeing of their people It identifies areas that require immediate attention and allows for prioritisation of issues to maximise resources and areas of greatest impact Further demonstrates a commitment to the wellbeing of their people, which improves loyalty, retention and operational success To find out more about how measuring the Financial Wellbeing Score can help, click on here,  update your best contact e-mail or number and we’ll get right back to you.

The Financial Times reported earlier this year that over half of British employees are embarrassed about their Financial Literacy. 68% of HR professionals say they have received requests for financial education initiatives from their employees. The report also finds that three in four teachers say most students leave school or college without key financial skills. This is no surprise given the level of financial literacy education in the UK is as good as non -existent. If so then it is reasonable to surmise that this has been the case for decades with millions of people in the same boat when they left school, having to learn how to navigate life's financial maze themselves. I remember opening my first bank account, it was nerve wracking. As I trundled along after graduating, getting into the REAL world of work … I had no idea what the right account was, what was the right savings plan for me, what I should do to save for a mortgage, what APR meant on a loan, what the dangers of maxing a credit card were and the chaotic consequences of a debt spiral caused by paying the minimum amount each month would result in. I didn’t understand the important differences between priority and non-priority debts and how not addressing this would hit me hard for years to come when it came to getting a mobile phone contract, never mind car finance or a mortgage. Then there were Pensions! Woah a whole new level of jargon. Basing my decision on what my Dad told me to do even though I didn’t have the foggiest …other than I was giving some of my wage away. Never paying attention to it over the years because I was told it was a good one, so I trusted to that. Tax codes. Tax what! I didn’t have a clue. "Like many others, I stumbled, I learned as I went along, but I didn’t know what I didn’t know." It’s all okay until something happens. Yet when the proverbial hits the fan, then it falls apart … quickly. County Court Judgements (CCJs), Insolvency, red letters, court letters, the panic sets in, can’t think, can’t act. Just hide away, head under blanket, letters pilling up. Eating to soothe my pains. Thank goodness it wasn't booze or hard drugs. The misery, the anger, the guilt, eats away at your being. The weight of it all, the embarrassment, the feeling of worthlessness mixed with just how stupid one could be. It's easy to take it out on yourself and others around you. The cost-of-living crisis has pushed Thrivers into Survivors, Survivors into Crisis, and those in Crisis into deeper poverty. This could be the reality for your people too. Would you know if it was? The lack of money knowledge, money skills and money mindset affects our psychological wellbeing. It could manifest into what might seem obscure or even non-related matters, such as how we view; ourselves as people of value or worth, our ability to progress in life, the decisions we make (or rather don’t) because of our lack of knowledge, nervousness or apprehension to seek guidance and support out of fear of embarrassment, judgement or I’ll leave it to another day because …” This often plays out in a myriad of ways including limits we place on ourselves, our abilities and earning potential, not managing our financial priorities, not understanding financial products or services, not planning effectively for the future and not seeking timely advice and support when difficulties arise. Today’s reality 75% of people surveyed have money worries at least once a month, putting people’s mental health at risk. People in debt are 3 times more likely to have a mental health issue than those who are not in debt. "When people are worried about money, stress levels increase, it is harder to focus on any given task, manage work/personal boundaries and feel positive." This impacts on work. People’s worries don’t conveniently stop at home. Why this matters to employers Employers suffer, with increased absenteeism, presenteeism and leavism issues for fear of loss of work, income or credibility. Employees stress levels rise and if unchecked can lead to chronic mental ill health issues and the downward spiral extends into living hell. Productivity, performance and ultimately profitability are all negatively impacted. It's costly for managers and HR time as resources are pulled into dealing with performance and productivity issues. Grievances and personnel issues are at risk of arising making tribunal threat a greater risk to the organisation. Can anything be done to mitigate risk and contribute to a flourishing work environment? In short yes. Create it's a good to talk money, Financial Wellbeing Culture. A Five point- plan to support your employees financial wellbeing and safeguard business outcomes. 1.      Have a Financial Wellbeing Policy. It's there, cast in print and followed up by action. It sends a clear message to your people, that YOU are serious about their financial wellbeing. This should come from the team at the top. 2.      Have a Financial Wellbeing Strategy with a senior leader accountable for it. Include progress as fixed agenda item for senior leadership or Board meetings. This means there is focus, drive and commitment. Measure and review. 3.      Train and empower middle management, team leaders and supervisors to have meaningful, empathic and supportive conversations with their teams where they have the confidence to provide guidance and at the very least be confident in signposting to organisations who can help. This links employees throughout the organisation and helps develop an empowering Financial Wellbeing Culture that makes it easier and psychologically safe to talk money. 4.      Create an Employee Financial Wellbeing Programme, which is built from the bottom up, based on the circumstances and needs of your people, driven from the top down. This should include at a minimum three elements (i) Data on your staff in how many are in CRISIS, SURVIVAL and THRIVING mode (ii) Financial Literacy educational training, from; budgeting, money management, income maximisation, debt to future financial planning and (iii) access to practical support. 5.      Your own Financial Wellbeing First Aiders who have practical skills to help people navigate the tools and resources depending on your employee’s needs. Think of your Financial First Aiders like Mental Health First Aiders. Empowerment is knowledge applied Saleem Shafi is founder of Money Beam and former Deputy CEO of award- winning financial wellness charity-Money Buddies. He has guest spoken on national media including BBC, GMBTV and Sky on Financial wellbeing, debt and money guidance. Want to see more on how to get the Five-point plan into place for your organisation? Contact saleem@moneybeam.uk #workplacewellbeing #financialwellbeing #talkmoney #financialwellbeingfirstaid

Mental ill health knows no boundaries. Whether it stems from personal or work-related pressures, it hits the workplace hard. In 2022-2023 of the 35.2 million working days in the UK lost to absence, a staggering 24 million working days were lost as a result of anxiety, stress and depression. The impact on employers does not stop there. Presenteeism, retention and performance issues hit bottom and top lines. Costs, profit and sustainability suffer. There is encouraging news. Two- thirds of senior leaders are reported to be embracing workplace wellbeing. Then the news dims. There is a disconnect between top tier management and the workforce. It is not always being reached by the people who need to deliver and those that could be helped to receive it. The CIPD say “lack of line manager skills and confidence is the top challenge for employee wellbeing and ‘management style’ remains among the top causes of stress-related absence.” They go on to report … “Organisations need to understand the causes – including any underlying health or workplace issues – for sickness absence and develop effective strategies for optimising employee health and attendance.” The good news Mental health wellbeing support is on the rise. We are seeing sizeable increases in employers training their line managers, supervisors and team leaders as Mental Health First Aiders. There are mental health awareness events, counselling available through Employee Assistance Programmes and wellbeing spaces for people to have a confidential chat. The not so good news Something is missing, which disproportionately, adversely affects mental health. A pillar of workplace wellbeing that is not as well understood nor recognised compared to mental health support. Employee Financial Wellbeing. I’m not just talking higher pay (though that helps). Financial education and wellbeing are inextricably linked. Financial education and financial wellbeing are not just about financial numeracy, budgeting and money management. It includes who, how, when and where to get help from. What to do when faced with a debt issue or financial emergency (crisis), coping with destructive negative thinking, thoughts and poor money habits. It’s about being empowered, to be resilient, in control and safe during the tough times. And make better financial decisions for the good times too. Why low employee financial wellbeing is a problem for employers Money worries are a major cause of stress in the workplace. People in problem debt (can’t pay their debt) or with money worries are 3 x more likely compared to those who are not to have mental ill health issue. With close to 24 million working days lost to anxiety, stress and depression, financial worries account for a serious amount of work time lost. Large swathes of the population are in financial crisis or just about surviving month to month, a pay-check away or an unexpected repair such as a boiler breakdown, from financial meltdown. Do you know, what proportion of your people are: -      In financial crisis (using food banks, about to lose their home, energy supply, waiting for the bailiff to knock on their door or feeling suicidal because of their finances) -      Just about surviving -      Or thriving? It goes without saying, though I will, people’s mental state affects their work productivity, performance and attitudes, which impacts organisations, financially, strategically and operationally. Moving forward, the CIPD wants organisations to focus on the wider dimensions of wellbeing, including financial wellbeing. What if you had; -      A structured Employee Financial Wellbeing Programme -      Financial Wellbeing First Aiders -      Managers, Team leaders and Supervisors who are trained, empowered and upskilled to support your people, saving time, performance and HR issues from escalating and disrupting your operations Could having a Financial wellbeing pillar as part of your wider wellbeing programme be good for your people and organisation? To see how an employee financial wellbeing programme could help you, click here

90 days ago ... I finished at Money Buddies where I had been Deputy CEO helping develop a one centre, local office in a deprived area of Leeds, into arguably the UK’s largest face-to-face Financial Wellbeing service. When we started there was nothing like it in the UK Council leaders, Senior politicians from opposing political parties and Think Tanks, including Iain Duncan -Smith’s Centre for Social Justice and our now Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves applauded the work we’d done in alleviating poverty and debt, empowering people with the knowledge and skill set to manage life’s financial ups and downs. Our work reduced the return rate for advice and support by over 83% in its first year alone. We’d been mentioned in Parliamentary debates, committees and been invited onto Martin Lewis’s show. Leaving something that I’d been heavily invested in, built with a wonderful team and CEO was a wrench.  My stomach churned, my heart wanted to burst through my chest.  It still aches if I’m being honest. You see, funding for smaller charities has been really tough, even the ones doing remarkable things. So tough decisions were made for the wellbeing of the charity, which is in decent shape now, whilst many others still risk closure. Millions are suffering in silence Yet, there is so much to be done in financial wellness as millions of people constantly struggle with money worries; -           Lack of it -           Worry about paying their rent or mortgage -           Stress of earning it in a volatile world where work security is at its lowest in a generation Not enough to enjoy life -          What if the boiler, the washing machine or car breaks down -          Living constantly in an overdraft -          Credit cards maxed out - Even Fish and chips for a family of four has become a luxury, it's close to half a day's work ( National Living Wage) Self-respect spirals downwards -          Who, where and how to go for help -          Planning for life’s ups and downs now and in the future Then there’s their own psychological relationship with money. Super-glued at the hip to their life story about who they are, limiting their self -belief and capabilities. Questioning their purpose, value, self-esteem, personal relationships and decisions. Worry knows no boundary ALL these worries don’t stop at home. They seep into all aspects of their life, including at work. Usually playing out in increased: - Absenteeism - Presenteeism (physically at work but their mind is elsewhere, worrying) - Pay advance requests - Mental ill health, anxiety, stress and burnout Posing risks to other employees and employers   With … - Lower productivity - Increased retention issues, churning of staff and a regular cycle of inductions, new recruits, loss of expertise and experience - Health and safety issues - Pressure on managers and HR teams to manage performance We're waking up Employers have woken up to wellness at work, especially mental health wellness, yet financial wellness is low on the agenda if at all. To put it bluntly, if you don’t have a meaningful financial wellness focus for your staff, then your business, operation and core values are more likely to be at serious risk. The CIPD identified 57% of organisations have a focus on Mental Health, while only 11% have any sort of financial wellness initiative. -          People with Money worries and debt are x 3 more likely to suffer with Mental Ill Health compared to others (Money and Mental Health) -          Only 13% of employees have (according to BUPA) have consistent positive thoughts. What about the other 87%? For this reason, I’m not leaving the financial wellness space, I can't. Being financially well improves our sense of wellbeing Much MORE needs to be done to improve financial wellness in our world.  We know financial wellness impacts mental wellness, which impacts the fundamental question we ask ourselves almost every day …  "How satisfied am I with my life" Why is this question important? Research shows the answer is an accurate predictor of mortality rates in the next EIGHT years. If your staff are not high in satisfaction how can that be good for your organisation? The Government through the King’s Speech want to foster employer involvement in building Britain.  A good place to do that is with the wellness of your staff. As Sir Richard Branson said;  "Look after your employees and they will take care of your business." #financialwellness #financialwellbeing #financialwellnessintheworkplace #workplacewellness