EXCLUSIVE: Financial services comparison organisation Moneysupermarket Group has introduced a financial coaching and planning benefit for its 750 employees, in order to proactively support their financial wellbeing.
The new benefit, provided by Hatch, offers employees a free session with a financial coach; the coach uses a software programme to visualise how employees’ money is forecast to grow and whether staff are on track with their financial goals. The coach will then help employees create a tailored action plan to optimise spending, savings, investments, pensions, mortgages and life insurance arrangements.
Neil Fitzgerald, head of reward at Moneysupermarket Group, which also incorporates MoneySuperMarket, MoneySavingExpert and TravelSupermarket, said: “We wanted a solution that really engaged people and helped them plan for all their goals, whether that’s as short-term as saving for holidays, as long-term as retirement, or anything in between. In so doing, we wanted to help them understand all the different ways our extensive range of benefits can help them maximise their financial wellness.”
Hatch, which is provided as a voluntary benefit, was announced to staff in January 2019, and the first wave of financial coaching took place in February 2019. Within two weeks of launching, 7% of the workforce had undertaken a coaching session. Moneysupermarket Group now plans to integrate the benefit within its wider benefits platform, operated by Benefex.
The financial support benefit was communicated to employees using emails, the organisation’s internal e-magazine and via a drop-in stand.
The introduction of Hatch signals the beginning of Moneysupermarket Group’s financial wellbeing focus.
Fitzgerald explained: “No matter where we work, we can all benefit from investing more in our financial wellbeing. While brands like ours go a long way towards helping people make the most of their money, it still requires a fair degree of knowledge and energy to make sure [staff are] doing all the right things, especially in more complex areas such as pensions, protection and investments.
“Hatch combines access to a financial coach, a real, human expert, available in our offices, with engaging financial planning technology, which helps [employees] see how [their] financial future may unfold and how best to improve the picture. So far, all the employee feedback on Hatch has been very positive.”
