chance to make workplaces more productive, supportive, and agile, says Janice Burns, Chief People Officer at learning platform Degreed, an edtech/HRtech company with 600+ global workers and employees based in the U.S, Canada, UK, LATAM, APAC, Europe, and Australia. “In a time of great change, workplaces don’t just


consist of permanent, in-office employees but numerous different workstyles in a hybrid set-up,” she says. “This is even more the case for companies with employees based globally, the internal efforts need to reflect the different opportunities, challenges, and perspectives of all regions.” She argues that employees should be given the


freedom to fit their work schedules around family, care, and learning commitments, and tailor their work environment to fit their needs and make the company a great place to work. This should be the case no matter the location, while protecting work/life balance and being mindful of different time zones and cultures. “Increasingly, employers are going beyond managing


the employee experience to supporting their entire life experience and understanding employees as holistic individuals, with families, hobbies, and other personal lives, will pay off in higher performance, loyalty and retention,” she adds. To reflect the importance of physical and mental


health and global wellbeing in the workplace, Degreed’s People team has introduced a monthly wellness benefit of $75 a month (or country equivalent amount). Employees have a wide range of options and can spend the money as they wish on wellbeing services.


WHAT ARE THE DEEPER ISSUES AROUND FINANCIAL WELLBEING? While this sounds good in theory, not all businesses have the inclination or expertise to put it into practice. “Rather than tackling the root causes of the


major existing problems, which is unpleasant and requires effort to change processes and systems in the organisation, many employers are swayed by quirky wellbeing providers to implement feel-good initiatives that polishes their brand but are often low-effort and low-impact,” says Chris Priebe, CEO, Zelt, a people management company. “Employees also often don’t understand workplace


pensions,” he says. “The result of this is usually that employees end up on pension plans which have bad returns or a return profile not suitable for their age or lifestyle. “The solution for this is to implement better software


that integrates pension into the employee system, so employees can see what they are contributing, how they can access it and make choices.”


HOW IMPLEMENTING PERSONAL FINANCE EDUCATION AND TRAINING CAN REDUCE WORKPLACE STRESS A recent survey conducted by CIPHR on stress in the workplace found that one in five people in the UK feel stressed more days each month than they don’t. A large amount of this stress can be underpinned by


issues surrounding financial illiteracy. While employers may not necessarily be responsible for their staff’s personal finance management, educating employees on best practices can be mutually beneficial.


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“ Increasingly, employers are going beyond managing the employee experience to supporting their entire life experience and understanding employees as holistic individuals, with families, hobbies, and other personal lives, will pay off in higher performance, loyalty and retention” JANICE BURNS, DEGREED


“Stress and poor mental health resulting from stress


accounts for an increasing amount of absenteeism, so there is a clear benefit for business leaders to integrate financial education in workplace wellness strategies,” says Nick Gold, Managing Director of international speaking bureau, Speakers’ Corner. “Not only will it reduce stress among employees making


them more focussed and reliable, but the budgeting and management skills gained from financial literacy can be applied and exercised across many roles.”


THINK GLOBAL PEOPLE WELLBEING


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