After December’s overspending and a new year’s financial commitments, how can we show our employees the love as we head into February?
After December’s overspending and a new year’s financial commitments, how can we show our employees the love as we head into February?
Happy PAY-YAY! Are you glad that the longest week of the year is done? Sadly, you’re not alone. In fact, it’s no secret that Januworry is often one of the most stressful months for employees, but have you considered its impact on their productivity, and as a result, your company?
"What we see time and time again is how much more productive employees become when they’re not losing sleep and spending their work hours trying to sort out their finances," says Hayley Parry, co-founder of Worth, South Africa’s leading financial education company, "And unless given the right tools, Januworry doesn’t disappear in February."
The 2022 PwC Employee Financial Wellness Survey revealed the impact of financial stress on employees: productivity is down, attendance is impacted and everyone is losing sleep as a result. Similarly, Sanlam’s most recent Savings survey showed 78 percent of respondents feel anxious and depressed as a result of their financial stress.
Worryingly, the outlook ahead doesn’t look any better with the Reserve Bank having just passed its 8th consecutive interest rate increase last week. This will further erode the purchasing power of employees’ take-home pay as more money goes towards servicing debt, according to Parry.
"When your employees’ salary and your month end don’t meet up anymore, it’s bad for them, and its bad for your business," says Lethabo Phahlane, Worth’s Key Relationship Manager.
"And although times are tough, it does create an incredible opportunity for HR professionals to use this time to really focus on financial wellness within their workforce. In fact, it’s why we specifically created a short, high impact Cash Crunch webinar designed to help employees figure out their next step, now," he adds.
