Financial wellbeing as a form of employee retention
60% of employees say financial matters are their main source of stress, a cause that can make employees four times more likely to be clinically depressed
by Paul Cocks
According to a PwC financial wellness survey, 60% of employees say financial matters are their main source of stress, a cause that can make employees four times more likely to be clinically depressed. Additionally, when employees are financially stressed, they are more likely to leave, in fact, 73% of employees would be attracted to another employer that cared more about their financial wellbeing.
“Unfortunately, personal finance is not a subject that is taught in schools and the concept of financial wellbeing, and the idea of a money coach are frequently met with scepticism. My vision is for more people to appreciate the importance of being financially literate,” says Luca Caruana.
A certified Money Coach, Caruana recently founded Monipal in line with his belief in personal financial well-being and inspired by his personal experience on the importance of fluency in personal finance.
Caruana explains how his coaching sessions, initially aimed at individuals, quickly gained attention from the corporate world and more businesses started seeking his workshops, recognising the impact of financial wellness on employee productivity and overall company health.
“Eventually, I decided to take it a step further by digitising my work through Monipal, a financial wellbeing app that acts as a personalised source of finance news, acts as a budgeting tool, and offers financial education through various mediums.”
Caruana explains that financial well-being should be everyone’s concern, and this is why the platform has been designed for both the general public and workplace employees.
“Firms can make Monipal a key component of their employees’ wellbeing plans to offer their workforce impartial financial wellness through personalised, timely financial education to help them improve their financial health and increase the uptake of employee benefits. This, in turn, helps to enhance employee satisfaction at work who benefit from reduced financial stress.”
“Effectively, we are talking about the psychology of money, where money meets mental well-being. Few appreciate this link so a daily guide can guide them towards their goals.”
Recently, Caruana spoke about how even high earners still struggle to manage their funds claiming that a reason for this can also be a lack of financial literacy.
“Through this platform, professionals too now can track their personal finances and build their personal finance goals on Monipal. This is not about replacing one-to-one coaching but bout making it easier and more effective for professionals to manage, maintain, and keep their money aligned with their current life goals,” said Caruana.
Larger institutions can do more to boost financial literacy.
For years, financial literacy was left on the backburner. The Eurobarometer’s first-ever survey on Financial literacy was published in July 2023 and showed that only 18% of EU citizens have a high level of financial literacy, 64% - a medium level, and the remaining 18% - a low level.
In only four Member States, more than 25% of people score highly in financial literacy (the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Slovenia).
The results also point to the need for financial education to target particular groups including women, younger people, and people with lower incomes.
“Financial literacy can be introduced as a subject in schools to help instil good financial habits from a young age. But financial literacy is more than just budgeting, saving, and investing but also about building financial goals and fostering a healthy relationship with money.”
“However, the private sector can do a lot because financial wellbeing platforms like Monipal have been successfully implemented by companies worldwide, helping thousands of employees achieve financial wellbeing.”
Caruana notes how according to several statistics, over 90% of users of such platforms feel confident in managing their finances and over 60% of users agree that the provision of such benefits makes them more committed to their employer.
“In fact, a 97% retention rate has been reported by several companies using financial wellbeing platforms.”
“It’s all about bringing more positive change in the workplace by relieving employees from unnecessary financial stress and Monipal can be the solution,” Caruana concluded.
More information is available at www.monipal.com
