{"id":1561,"date":"2024-10-28T02:27:43","date_gmt":"2024-10-28T10:27:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/?p=1561"},"modified":"2024-10-28T02:29:08","modified_gmt":"2024-10-28T10:29:08","slug":"richer-staff-fail-to-spot-the-financial-wellbeing-action-gap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/richer-staff-fail-to-spot-the-financial-wellbeing-action-gap\/","title":{"rendered":"Richer staff fail to spot the financial wellbeing action gap"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Higher earners fail to understand the financial realities of their lower-earning colleagues, preferring to educate staff rather than remove barriers to improved financial wellbeing, research from the financial benefits platform Wagestream suggests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Researchers also found that high-earning decision-makers, when considering strategies to improve financial wellbeing at work, favour boosting financial literacy through training. But most people know the financial actions they should be taking, the report suggests. Instead, there is an action gap, rather than a lack of awareness among employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To address this gap, employers must pivot towards action-focused solutions, suggests Emma Stockdale, research lead for Nest Insight, a public-benefit research body. She said: \u201cAction-oriented and inclusive initiatives, such as automatic enrolment into pensions and emergency savings, are an essential part of building financial resilience and security for all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Emily Trant, Wagestream\u2019s chief impact officer, added: \u201cEmployers can create positive action around financial wellbeing by creating better access to services and support, and by making them as easy as possible to use.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The vast majority (91%) of all (high- and low-earning) respondents to Wagestream\u2019s polls agreed that it\u2019s wise to save a little money, if you can. But less than half (43%) admitted to setting savings goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Similarly, most (87%) agreed with the statement &#8216;you \u2018shouldn\u2019t spend what you don\u2019t have&#8217;. Yet less than half of that proportion (39%) reported having set a monthly budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The report sets out three recommendations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Aim to meet the \u2018living hours\u2019 standard, as set out by the financial wellbeing charity Living Wage Foundation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Implement a payroll savings programme and ideally structure it on an opt-out basis so that employees build up savings by default.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Review workplace financial wellbeing programmes and benefits through the lens of how action-oriented they are, and prioritise providing financial security benefits that are useful and accessible for the whole workforce.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While Martin Parish, regional director of the workplace pensions and employee benefits business Johnson Fleming, described these recommendations as \u201csensible and viable\u201d, Andy Wealthall, chief operating officer for the technology business Lifetime Financial Wellbeing said: \u201cThe recommendations are well-intentioned, but don\u2019t fully address the root causes of financial insecurity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He added: \u201cA simplistic focus on savings and financial literacy overlooks the complex barriers faced by low-income workers. Compelling people to save as a default, without addressing financial education and the cycle of short-term solutions will not yield the desired impact.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wealthall continued: \u201cHR leaders must prioritise holistic financial wellbeing programmes that address both financial education and access to affordable, flexible financial products, guidance and advice, in cases where it is needed. If people don\u2019t know what actions are beneficial to their own financial situation, they are less likely to implement practical solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A combination of approaches is required to plug the financial wellbeing action gap, Wealthall explained: \u201cBy implementing living wage policies, providing comprehensive financial counselling, and partnering with specialists, employers can empower their workforce to achieve long-term financial security that is relevant to their personal circumstances. But only if these measures are inclusive in nature and cover all areas and all employees.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another way that HR leaders can help employers address the financial wellbeing action gap is by linking this focus into existing systems, for example by including questions that are directly linked to financial inclusion in employee surveys, Parish suggested. He added: \u201cDeveloping financial angles to diversity, equity and inclusion strategies might be beneficial, as might expanding robust awareness programmes to include financial inclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFurthermore, HR leaders can be proactive in bringing Wagestream\u2019s and other research to the attention of executives at relevant forums such as people strategy meetings, board meetings or benefit governance events.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Higher earners fail to understand the financial realities of their lower-earning colleagues, preferring to educate staff rather than remove barriers to improved financial wellbeing, research from the financial benefits platform Wagestream suggests. Researchers also found that high-earning decision-makers, when considering strategies to improve financial wellbeing at work, favour boosting financial literacy through training. But most [&hellip;]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1562,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1561"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1561\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1564,"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1561\/revisions\/1564"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}