Health Care Resourcing Group (HCRG) Care Group offers employees a diverse range of measures to support their financial wellbeing and to meet their evolving needs.
The UK health and care services provider employs more than 5,000 members of staff, including nurses, carers and head office desk workers.
In response to the cost-of-living crisis, the group launched a comprehensive support package of tools and initiatives in 2022, designed to meet the needs of its entire workforce, particularly the carers and nurses who visit homes, schools and prisons, and also work in urgent care centres. This included implementing a financial benefits platform, provided by Wagestream, which offers free financial coaching, access to flexible pay, the ability to track spending, and automated rainy day pots that automatically receive a 5% top up each month.
Paul Lundbeck, people services director at HCRG Care Group, says: “We also launched an HRT prescription reimbursement scheme, a one-off payment for high-mileage staff such as community nurses, season ticket loans and a bikes-for-work scheme."
The group ensured that it supports its employees financially while staying within its budget by looking at its workforce demographics and working closely with them to determine the types of financial benefits they would like. It carefully selected initiatives that it believed would deliver the highest value for its employees, at a manageable cost.
“Budgets are tight at the best of times in the health and care sector, so we had limited funding available for this work, especially at a time when costs and inflation were through the roof," says Lundbeck. “The co-design of the package with our employees really helped with engagement, and we’ve seen great results so far. We are also always seeking to introduce new initiatives.”
The organisation recognises it is important to support employees financially, regardless of how much of a budget an employer has.
“Taking the healthcare industry as an example, we want to ensure high quality and continuity of care for our clients, and this will only be achieved if our staff are mentally, physically and financially well. It’s the right thing to do for employees, and with research showing improved financial wellbeing can impact core business metrics like recruitment, retention and shift update, it makes business sense too,” Lundbeck concludes.
