Over three quarters (76%) of employers think that employees not knowing where to start when asking for financial help is a barrier to improving financial wellbeing in the workplace.

Research by the Reward & Employee Benefits Association, in association with WEALTH at work, surveyed 236 companies, representing 1.3 million employees, to provide insights on current financial wellbeing provision.

Wealth at Work found that other barriers to financial wellbeing among employees included support not being joined up (72%), lack of communications (69%) and a lack of take up of existing financial wellbeing support (59%).

Furthermore, over two fifths (41%) of employers said that existing support for employee needs is "unsuitable".

The survey found that factors such as ESG affecting attitudes to savings (42%) and the ageing population (41%) are growing drivers of future change, while mental wellbeing (70%) and poor financial literacy (31%) remain key drivers for change.

Director at WEALTH at work, Jonathan Watts-Lay, stressed the importance of employer checks to ensure the suitable financial wellbeing provisions available to staff, with support not only across day-to-day needs, but also longer-term needs.

These include the provisions of savings through workplace ISAs and pension savings.

He stated: "It’s also well known that when employees do not fully understand their finances and how to address current difficulties, it can result in stress. A lack of understanding of finances could also result in poor decision making which can prove very costly, especially at retirement. Helping employees to understand the key financial issues that relate to them is an effective way of overcoming the risks of poor financial literacy."

When looking at how employers are planning to combat these concerns, almost half (49%) plan to make changes to their financial wellbeing offerings in the next two years.

Furthermore, over a third (35%) of respondents said they plan to increase financial wellbeing spending, while more than four in five (82%) are set to offer financial wellbeing programmes in the next two years.

Almost half (47%) of employers said they would use an independent educator to provide these programmes, with 43% planning to use financial coaching, such as one to one guidance, in order to achieve this.

Popular savings and benefits that will be offered by employers within the next couple of years include discount schemes (86%), travel season tickets (63%), debt support (41%), employee share plans (38%) and mortgage broking services (35%). The provision of tax-free saving wrappers including ISAs are also set to more than double from 14% to 30%.

Watts-Lay added: "Financial education is the key element which underpins all financial wellbeing initiatives. After all, financial wellbeing is about being able to make informed choices about your finances, no matter what life event you may be experiencing. So, it’s good news that many will be putting financial wellbeing support in place in the near future to help with a range of needs.

"Offering a range of financial wellbeing benefits which are aligned in strategy should help employees feel financially secure whether they are a new parent managing childcare costs, saving for a first home, or planning for retirement. And ultimately, helping employees become more financially resilient is a win for employers too."

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