Insider Threat Week 2024: Why financial wellbeing is critical for employees and organisations

Investing in wellbeing at work is underpinned by a belief that human performance is improved when people are healthier and happier. Organisations invest in financial wellbeing because improving employee financial wellbeing can have dramatic positive impacts on both human performance and areas considered important to organisational success. Let’s look at some of these. 

Reducing the risk profile of the insider threat 

Significant stigma around money remains, with under half (48%) of employees comfortable talking about money at work. When employees don’t feel comfortable sharing, they’re more likely to suffer in silence and become desperate, which elevates the risk to your business.  

As Cifas references in this blog too, individuals who have the opportunity, motivation and/or rationalisation to resort to dishonest acts can add to the insider threat – a type of fraud that continues to grow across organisations large and small. Therefore, engaging with employees about financial wellbeing has never been more important. 

Investing in the right financial wellbeing solutions, such as professional financial coaching at work, provides staff with a confidential, secure, proven pathway to seek independent help. It can also help organisations proactively manage risk, because forward-thinking providers of financial wellbeing solutions will give clients anonymous usage analytics so they can track employee sentiment over time. 

Improving retention rates 

It’s not surprising that employees with poor financial health that don’t feel supported at work will look for a new job. In fact, employees that are severely affected by money worries are more than twice as likely to be looking for a new job.  

The costs of recruiting for new talent are considerable, not only direct costs but also the loss of tacit knowledge among leavers and the ramp up period for new hires to become effective. It’s much more cost-effective to retain key talent, and with financial stress a core driver of attrition, investing in financial wellbeing can insulate your organisation against regrettable employee turnover. 

Bolstering diversity and inclusion 

We are all financial creatures and whether we like it or not, money plays a significant role in the course of our lives. The way we interact with money and the position we find ourselves in can have an outsized impact on how we feel about ourselves and our overall satisfaction with life. Investing in financial wellbeing solutions that anyone can access for free is very important in ensuring that everyone, no matter their background, can take control of a fundamental part of their lives. 

But it’s also important to note that certain groups will have had disadvantages when it comes to their financial lives and may be particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of poor financial health at work. Investing in financial wellbeing solutions that are empowering, not prescriptive, allows these groups to access support in a way that works for them. By democratising access to support, you can help the maximum number of people. 

Reducing absenteeism and presenteeism 

Recent research suggests that the costs of presenteeism to UK businesses from financial ill health stands at £6.6bn, a significant hike on the £3.7bn seen in 2021. Presenteeism, when employees are physically present but highly distracted, carries risks for businesses, including a greater chance of mistakes being made. 

Employees suffering from financial ill health are more likely to ruminate, do admin work in company time, be less efficient due to the increased cortisol and mental load and ultimately bring less cognitive ability to bear on their work. But it’s not just presenteeism that hikes with poor financial wellbeing: the costs of absenteeism from financial ill health were found to be £3.7 billion in 2023 – up from £2.5 billion in 2021. 

Thank you to Bippit, the UK’s leading provider of professional financial coaching, for this blog created as part of the Cifas Insider Threat Week (4-8 March 2024) – an event dedicated to helping members understand and identify the growing concern of insider threat.