More than half of employees in small and medium-sized companies face financial struggles and three quarters report a lack of advice in the workplace, research finds.



More than half of employees in small and medium-sized companies face financial struggles and three quarters report a lack of advice in the workplace, research finds.



Some 73 per cent of employees say that their organisation offers them no form of financial support or advice to help them better understand and manage their finances, according to a report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

Despite the rising pressure on employee living standards, with 59 per cent of employees reporting some financial struggles, employers are missing a trick by failing to offer even basic financial education, says the lobbying group.



To help employers provide more work-based financial education programmes for their employees, the CIPD has launched a guide on workplace financial education, calling on employers to offer financial education at work, to combat the danger of stress and anxiety-related underperformance associated with employee debt.

With stress identified as the number one cause of long-term sickness absence, there is a real incentive for employers to tackle financial related stress in the workplace, adds the organisation.


The guide also highlights the risks surrounding a financially ill-educated workforce, saying that the resources organisations invest in their reward packages end up being wasted as employees do not appreciate the value of what is on offer to them.

Charles Cotton, reward adviser at CIPD, says, ‘Employers may think that the financial savvyness of their employees is not their responsibility. But the impact of not providing financial education can mean a workforce pre-occupied or overwhelmed by their own financial worries, and unable to appreciate the value of their organisation's pay, benefits and pensions package.

  

'A little financial education can go a long way. It can improve performance by giving employees the means to alleviate stress and pressure they're under because of financial difficulties.’

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