Even before Labour assumed office on July 5th, there were growing concerns about a sizeable black hole in the UK’s finances. Following Labour’s move into Number 10, this financial gap has been quantified as £22bn. We’ve now heard repeated warnings that when Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivers the Autumn Budget on October 30th, we should brace ourselves for a ‘painful’ announcement.
Naturally, there has been wide speculation about who might feel the pain. While the new Prime Minister reassured the public that Income Tax, National Insurance, and VAT would not increase, speculation is rife that changes could be made to Stamp Duty, Capital Gains, Inheritance Tax, and Pension Tax Relief. There could also be changes we can’t predict which would be on top of stagnant income tax thresholds, high energy prices, high inflation and high borrowing rates.
So, what does this mean for employers and employees? Invariably, this brings a sense of unease, and your workforce may feel anxious and vulnerable about the prospect of yet more financial challenges ahead. Employers are being asked once again to lead from the front and bring a sense of calm to their workforce.
Helping employees navigate a painful budget will require empathy and strategic planning, but it should reap rewards in terms of attraction, retention, productivity, and job satisfaction.
Key Steps to Support Your People
1) Communicate Clearly
Get ahead of the game: The Budget may well contain a host of changes to the tax regime, at home, and at work, but not everyone will be following the news closely. This is a good opportunity to provide reliable and engaging financial education that cuts through the noise and makes it very clear:
- what the changes are;
- how they might impact individuals;
- and importantly highlights any action that may need to be taken.
2) Show Empathy and Understanding
Acknowledge the emotional impact: cuts and strained household budgets can cause stress, anxiety, uncertainty, and frustration. Acknowledge these feelings and encourage open conversations.
This can be a good time to either refresh and review your employee benefits offering or remind employees about support already available via counselling services or Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs) designed to help employees cope with change.
3) Involve Employees in Building Your Wellbeing Strategy
Ask for Input: Do you understand what the needs of your people are and how they may differ between different demographic groups?
Before building or reviewing your financial wellbeing strategy, you may wish to survey your employees. Being open to feedback will allow employees to express their concerns, identify gaps, and establish priorities.
4) Prioritise Resources Strategically
Focus on key priorities: Identify the most critical needs highlighted by your survey findings or what might be coming out of employee forums, before taking the necessary action to meet those needs.
This step is vital; your people want to feel heard and importantly this will help to avoid unnecessary spending on employee benefits or employee wellbeing strategies that don’t quite hit the mark.
5) Ensure Your Solutions Are Visible
Once you have the right mix of benefits and financial education to support your employees throughout this turbulent time, it’s important to consider the ease of access to it.
Technology platforms are an increasingly popular way to streamline an overwhelming volume of information for employees. Using technology to implement financial wellbeing support can be very effective in delivering a holistic wellbeing strategy.
At Broadstone, we work with employers to support their employees’ wellbeing and are experts in constructing financial (and broader) wellbeing programmes which reflect the demographic, values and budget of your organisation.
In addition, we can help design a communication strategy that reveals the hidden value of those benefits for employees, improves financial literacy, and gives them confidence to take practical actions to secure their financial future.
Contact us for more information on how to support your employee’s wellbeing.
