Presents, chocolate, spending time with the family – just some of the things many people will be looking forward to over the festive season. But this time of year also presents opportunities for employers to build their business resilience – and spread goodwill to their employees – by developing their financial wellbeing plans.

The winter holidays can often prove to be an expensive and stressful time for your workers, who may be struggling to juggle the financial expectations of the season with other money worries, such as the ongoing cost of living crisis.

And with an estimated 2 million people expected to be affected by seasonal affective disorder this year^[1] as the dark nights draw in, this looks certain to create fresh challenges for employers around retaining a happy and productive workforce. A study from employment agency Reed found nearly 75% of UK workers were job hunting in January 2023^[2] to beat the post-Christmas blues with a New Year career move.

As shown in our previous article on the subject, investing in wellbeing measures to improve workers’ mental health is adding real value for employers – an average return of £5.30 for every £1 spent.^[3] And by shoring up your company’s wellbeing strategy around the festive season, you can help your employees feel more stable during this financially turbulent period and, in turn, help you attract and retain a more content and productive workforce.

Get winter ready with our financial wellbeing hub

To support your wellbeing plans and alleviate some of the seasonal stress for your employees, why not take advantage of the free resources available on our financial wellbeing hub? The articles, guides, videos and other tools available on our wellbeing hub can help grow your employees’ understanding of important money matters and get them feeling more financially confident.

For example, our money essentials webpage features a budget planner and tips on money management – a good starting point for workers who have concerns about their winter spending. We also have a section covering key life moments, helping people to handle their mental and financial wellbeing during unexpected events and important milestones – such as becoming a parent or preparing for retirement.   

These resources can bring further benefits to your organisation. They can open up new conversations between you and your employees and show you care about improving their financial wellbeing. And we know employees who receive this guidance directly from you – their employer – are more likely to engage with their pension and take a positive view of your company, encouraging them to stay with you.

Helping workers feel financially secure can also help reduce stress-related absence and support your business goals around improving productivity. And using this guidance to bolster your employee reward programme can attract and retain new talent at your business.

We’re evolving to meet your business needs

Our financial wellbeing hub forms part of our ongoing ambition to support the broader needs of you and your employees, as we continue to move from the auto-enrolment sector to become a leading workplace pension provider.

We’re continuing to build our proposition with new developments to bring greater financial security to our members – including a new set of retirement planning tools and a member app – so watch this space for more details in the near future.

In the meantime, our existing links and Communications Toolkit are available to support your staff engagement plans, and our expert team is on hand to help with management of your workplace pension scheme. Contact us on 01293 205556 or by following the link here.