Cost of living crisis: how can businesses help their employees? 

With 9 in 10 adults recently reporting that they’d been affected by the increase in the cost of living, more businesses are looking to help their teams manage their money effectively over the next few months. So what action can you take to help your employees feel more secure in their finances and happy at work?

Set clear salary expectations 

Though offering your employees the national living wage or above where possible is the most obvious way to help your team keep on top of their finances, it's not always viable for the business to do so. However, communicating clearly with your team about how the pay structure in your business operates, any bonuses they can expect or even why you’re unable to offer them a raise will help them feel reassured and more understanding of your position.

Alternatively, not addressing the cost of living crisis your team are facing or being unclear about how you will try to help if possible will leave them feeling demotivated and disrespected as well as making them more likely to try and find work elsewhere.

Consider additional benefits

Whether you already offer benefits to your team or not, offering extra assistance or communicating the packages you already provide so everyone’s clear about what they can access will help teams feel supported in these difficult times. If you’ve not yet put together a set of benefits for your employees, then consider working with a provider to offer support such as:

• Private health or life insurance.
• Health screenings, including subsidised dental appointments or eye care vouchers.
• An Employee Assistance Programme to offer extra mental health and wellbeing support.
• Occupational sick pay and childcare support.
• Flexible working and enhanced leave options, such as career breaks or extra holidays.

Where possible, it's important to ask your employees for feedback on the benefits offered and consider if they’re actually being used or not. For example, if you’ve had no uptake of the eye care vouchers, ask your teams why this is, check they know about all the options available and be clear about how they can access this or if they’d prefer to have an alternative benefit.

Offer extra support

Even if you already offer a significant benefits package, these tough times will require a bit of extra support, particularly in terms of financial and mental wellbeing. Working with an independent partner to offer your team independent advice will show how seriously you take your team’s welfare without putting them under pressure to share any information about their personal finances or feelings with work.

If you can’t afford to bring a partner in to run sessions or provide an advice helpline, then consider training mental health first aiders within your team or running an information campaign pointing your team to further support services. This will give them access to the help they need without eating too much into your business’s bottom line.

Take a flexible approach

There’s considerable uncertainty about how the cost of living crisis will affect people, how long it will last and how it will impact the wider economy. As such, it won’t be enough just to send out one update or set of information to your teams. Instead, being ready to act in an agile way in response to your employees’ needs, as well as any changes in your business, will help your team feel reassured and confident in your support.

Some of the more flexible options you can offer employees to help them feel the benefit of extra cash in their pockets are:

• Income streaming: this allows employees to withdraw some of the money they’ve earned before payday, meaning they can manage their finances more flexibly across the month. Looking into options such as fastP.A.Y.E will help employees stay out of the debt cycle while helping you stay in control of payroll.
• Salary sacrifice: while the national insurance payments have gone up for everyone, giving your team the option of tax-free benefits will help them feel like they’re getting more back for their monthly earnings. Cycle to work, childcare vouchers and a company car are all non-cash benefits available through salary sacrifice.
• Discounts or vouchers: from 2-for-1 cinema vouchers to restaurant deals and shopping discounts, one-off perks are great ways to keep employees motivated while helping their money go further.

Enable open conversations

Though many people will be experiencing difficulties over the next few months, there is still significant stigma over talking about debt or personal financial challenges. By being honest about the company’s position, the problems it might face and how it will affect your colleagues, you can start building a culture of honesty and openness that will ultimately benefit your team.

Holding coffee mornings with advisors, placing mental health first aiders in your team or partnering up with a provider to offer an independent helpline are all ways you can encourage colleagues to speak out about their challenges and support them through the cost of living crisis.