Helping Employees Practice Healthy Financial Habits
Employers have a responsibility towards their employees. Aside from managing them, they are there to guide, inspire and support. When it comes to financial stability, employers should be helping their employees strive for financial fitness by adopting healthy financial habits. Not only will this help employees maintain a stable life, but it will extend to their productivity at work too, as their stress levels will be lower.
Employees who are financially stable have less concerns to spend time on. They know that their costs are covered every month and that they’re striving towards a better future for them and their families.
In 2018, My Treasury published a graphical representation that was based on a comparison of savings trends around the world. Sadly, South Africans came in last as the worst savers. Only 3% of the entire population as a whole were found to be actively involved in saving money, compared to 15% of working South Africans. The findings also stated that South Africa’s saving habits are at their worst since 1990.
Employers can help encourage healthier saving habits, by giving their employees the tools they need to better understand money management. Here are some examples of practices that can be put in place.
Provide Free Financial Planning Workshops
Once a month, host a free financial planning workshop for your employees where you either get speakers to come and talk to them, or plan financial planning talks based on research or personal experience. It could be a sharing event where everyone gets the opportunity to discuss what works for them. The point is to inspire employees to better manage their money once equipped with the knowledge on how to do it.
Show Them How To Audit Their Spending
Auditing expenditure is a great way to see where your money goes, but not many people do it. Every R5, R10 and R20 spent should be accounted for to allow employees to see where they spend the most of their earnings. Often, people spend more than they make, which is quite frightening if they are living in debt or surviving by using credit cards. Small changes can be made when you identify where most of your money is going. You can also be smarter about your spending.
Host workshops or share information that will help employees understand how to audit their expenditure as well as why they should be doing it. Every rand saved can make a positive impact on their financial wellbeing.
Help Them Invest A Percentage Of Their Bonuses
Where bonuses are concerned, many people have already spent the extra money in their minds before they receive it in their bank accounts. Encourage your employees to consider investing a portion of it to kickstart an investment portfolio. Investing is not only something that wealthy people do, and one can start at any time. Help employees see how far they can stretch their money when they invest it.
Offer Garnishee Orders Into Tax-Free Savings Accounts
For those employees who want to to start taking investment seriously, offer garnishee orders that are deducted from salaries before they are paid into their bank accounts. With employee consent, you can help them save a percentage of their salaries every month, which could go towards a new house, car or even tertiary education for their kids.
Open Channels Of Communication
The most important factor is to keep channels of communication open. If employees are struggling with debt, they should know that they are able to talk to their managers. Being in debt can be very scary, and often is causes immense amounts of stress that can affect employee performance. If employees know that management are there for them, they can receive the support and guidance they need to make positive changes in their financial wellbeing.
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