Introduction to Financial Wellness (2024)

Helping employees get the most from what they have now, while saving enough for the future

Our latest research indicates that financial stress takes a toll on workers worldwide and that financially stressed employees may be less likely to be physically or mentally present at work, with clear implications for productivity.

Question: You identified the following as causing you stress. How much do you agree or disagree that each of these have impacted your ability to concentrate at work?
Source: The Fidelity Global Sentiment Survey 2023.

To decrease the impact of financial stress in the workplace, Fidelity encourages all employers to consider the benefits of deeply understanding the financial state of their employees and supplying the solutions they need to build financial confidence.

As the needs of employees evolve so must the benefits offered by employers, which may encourage employers to consider new ways to support employee engagement.

Our research has found that companies who take more responsibility for the financial well-being of their workforce fare better themselves with higher employee satisfaction.

Question: On average, how satisfied are employees working at your firm?
Question: To what degree does your company feel responsible for taking steps to support employees’ financial wellness?
Source: The Fidelity Global Employer Survey 2023.

Fidelity believes that Financial Wellness is holistic and multifaceted: objectively, it is an individual’s total financial situation; subjectively, it is how the person feels about their financial situation.

We’ve identified four common domains of Financial Wellness, wherever your employees are located across the globe:

To better support their workforce, employers may consider reviewing and expanding their definition of financial wellness to incorporate both quantitative (i.e. how much does a worker have or save) and qualitative (i.e. how does a worker feel about their financial situation) elements.

Equally important, employers may consider aligning how they define financial wellness to support their employees.

As outlined in the chart below, some attributes of financial wellness may be descriptive of how someone is feeling about their financial situation.

Question to Employers: In your company’s view, what does it mean for employees to be “financially well”?
Question to Employees: In your view, what does it mean for you to be “financially well”?
Source: The Fidelity Global Employer Survey 2023 (1,000 respondents) and The Fidelity Global Sentiment Survey 2023 (26,000 respondents).

At Fidelity, we want you to feel good about the future of your workforce, and give you tools to help your employees feel confident about their finances.

Experience how we bring financial wellness to life with a personalised tool that captures the objective/subjective picture of financial wellness.

From proprietary research to relevant insights and products, to ongoing support to exciting ways to engage your employees, you’ll benefit from all of this and more with us.

To learn more about how you can use financial wellness in your workplace, reach out to your Fidelity representative or email Fidelity Workplace Consulting.

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