Global recruitment organisation Hays recognises the importance of supporting staff with their financial concerns, and addresses this as one of its key pillars of wellbeing.
Hays’ financial wellbeing strategy covers a range of issues, including debt consolidation and everyday savings. As part of this, Hays promotes its employee assistance programme (EAP) as a vital means of support for financial concerns and offers a loan scheme, provided by Salary Finance, to help employees manage their debt.
Rosemary Lemon, group head of reward at Hays, says: “We have a very wide demographic, but the majority of our employees are aged between 25 and 35, and we felt that this might be a way for people to get a loan at a decent rate, which they may not be able to get from a bank because they haven’t had a chance to build up their credit rating.”
Using anonymised data from the loan scheme, the organisation has found that many employees need help with rental deposits, while at least half have used the service to consolidate debt.
“[It’s] very pleasing that employees have done that because those sorts of things can attract high interest rates, and so anything they can do to reduce that sort of financial debt and concern is good,” says Lemon.
The organisation offers further financial wellbeing support through a property letting scheme with Get Living, a rental management organisation that provides refurbished apartments at the former Olympic Village in East London. Hays employees can access a corporate-let apartment, with two weeks rent-free and no deposit.
Supporting staff financial wellbeing makes good business sense, concludes Lemon: “If employees are worried, particularly about finances, they can’t concentrate at work. It is known to be one of the biggest causes of stress and anxiety.
“We want our employees to be fit and engaged and healthy at work, and if we can do something to help alleviate all those stresses, then that can only be a good thing for everybody.”