Virgin Money has introduced a financial wellbeing portal to help employees think differently about their relationship with their own money, including retirement savings.
In March 2017, the Financial Advice Working Group produced a report for HM Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority on financial wellbeing in the workplace.
The employer has a fundamental role in supporting the employees’ financial wellbeing – and they get something out of it in return
Kate Smith, Aegon
The report said: “Many employees are struggling with their finances: they face increasing personal debt, demanding financial commitments, and a limited ability to save for the future.”
Applying behavioural science to support employees
Virgin Money’s new portal, called Virgin Money Minded, is able to provide personal insights into the psychology of managing money.
It features guidance on common money issues, such as improving credit scores and dealing with debt. The site also provides tips and guidance with links to the company’s benefits.
The portal’s content is designed to help the company’s 3,250 UK employees learn more about their saving and spending behaviours. This is done through an interactive quiz, which aims to make personal finance more interesting – adding a sense of fun to a topic that can be complex and emotive.
Glen Rudd, pensions manager at Virgin Money, said the new facility was introduced as a financial wellness resource for employees.
He said: “Importantly, it needed to be appropriate for Virgin’s culture, independent of any product or wealth management service, and also very sensitive to the need for employee data confidentiality.”
Rudd added that the company “wanted to support employees with highly personalised information – not just focused on their age group and circumstances, but on who they are as real individuals”.
He said: “In keeping with our company values, we also wanted to bring something inventive and fun to our wellbeing programme. The quiz and persona elements are novel and engaging and have certainly got people talking.”
Persona tests and communications
The persona test asks employees about their spending habits and attitudes towards money. This includes how much they feel in control, how their mood affects the way they spend, and how well they budget.
Their relationship with money is then analysed and categorised according to the strength of relationship. Categories include ‘love me and leave me’, ‘just good friends’, ‘going steady’ and ‘soulmates’.
Through a personal finance news section, employees are kept up to date on latest developments on tax, savings and interest rates.
The portal was created by employee communications specialists Like Minds. Virgin Money and Like Minds will be updating the facility with relevant internal and external news, supported by a regular email campaign, with a view to increasing ongoing employee engagement with the site.
New content will also be added based on analytics from the site and communications will be targeted at relevant groups depending on their approach to money.
Employers play important role in boosting financial wellbeing
Judith Groves, managing director of Like Minds, said: “By giving people an insight into the positives and negatives of how they handle their own money, we can see they are more open to the different financial options and help available to them.”
She praised Virgin Money “for thinking about financial wellbeing in a less conventional and more imaginative way”, adding that the engagement tool “will set a new standard in the industry”.
The FAWG’s report on financial wellbeing said: “The workplace offers one opportunity – out of many – to engage and guide people on how to manage their finances. It is a place where people already engage with money through wages and pensions.”
How trustees and employers can support member decisions
Podcast: How can trustees and employers provide support on members’ financial decisions without being subject to regulation? Kate Smith, head of pensions at provider Aegon, and Mike Crowe, trustee representative at Dalriada Trustees, discuss the Financial Conduct Authority’s employer and trustee factsheet and what can be done to improve members’ financial wellbeing.
It stressed that employers have a vested interest in helping employees improve their financial wellbeing, because reducing financial worries among employees could raise staff morale and performance.
Kate Smith, head of pensions at provider Aegon, said that employers “tend to be a trusted source, so the employees will tend to listen to them”.
She added that employers also get something out of it in return, with the potential for increased productivity and less finance-related stress.
Many employers could do more to raise awareness about the types of benefits they offer, such as the notion of “free money” when it comes to employer pension contributions, said Jonathan Watts-Lay, director of Wealth at Work, a provider of financial education, guidance and advice in the workplace.
“The employer is in a great position to help the individual understand the benefits that are being offered,” he said, “but often they don’t”.
Jinesh Patel, senior vice-president of DC at Redington, said: “There are now a lot more tools at an employer’s disposal to help them try and engage their employees and overcome the… problem of apathy.”
He noted that these tools range from traditional personalised communications to robo-advice and artificial intelligence wellness platforms.
“While engagement may not be high on the agenda for some employers, signposting where employees can get additional help and support should be the bare minimum provided,” Patel added.
