One of the advantages of lockdown has been the reluctant but unavoidable catch up of home admin.
A long way down the list of jobs was sewing. Specifically, sewing my daughters more recent swimming and gymnastics badges onto her badge-rug which proudly displays her achievements at the end of her bed.
Once I’d finished the new badges, I switched my focus to some of the badges that were already on there. Keen to take the rug back to her bed, my daughter asked, “what are you doing daddy, they’re already done?” to which I told her that a stitch in time saves nine.
Rather predictably, she looked to me curiously so I explained that it’s better to address problems, or potential problems, immediately rather than waiting for things to get worse and then having something that will take longer to fix.
A few hours later with my daughter tucked up under said-rug, it occurred to me how relevant this is right now for employers who have a unique opportunity to intervene and improve the financial literacy of their people.
We knew that people weren’t resourced to weather a financial shock (inadequate savings, too reliant on debt, spending out of control etc) but it is only in the last couple of months that the proverbial chicken has come home to roost. A world that was already chaotic just took a turn for the worse.
We’re looking at a long and very dark financial shadow that, as furloughs become redundancies, is going to impact more and more of us. On 29th April, CIPD warned furlough could prove to be a ’waiting room for unemployment’. Even if you’re not one of the 52% of employers planning to furlough, chances are, your employees’ partners’ employers are which is going to impact your people.
To survive, people need to be in control of their money and as we passionately lay out in our manifesto, when people are in control of their money, they’re in control of their lives and can build lighter, brighter, more joyful financial futures.
Independent financial education to develop lifelong skills and knowledge plays a critical role in helping people to take control.
A statement that is well and truly backed up by insights from our platform where our community demonstrate through using nudge they save more, budget more effectively and ultimately show lower financial stress.
Whether you’re someone who makes decisions on support for employees based on data and ROI or are driven by the moral responsibility, helping your people better understand their money NOW will help prevent much bigger problems later on.
Find out how you can start to support your people today in our latest guide.