AXA focuses on employee financial wellbeing

Citation

Wolsey-Cooper, S. (2009), "AXA focuses on employee financial wellbeing", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 8 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/shr.2009.37208dab.008

AXA focuses on employee financial wellbeing

Article Type: Rewards From: Strategic HR Review, Volume 8, Issue 4

Short case studies that demonstrate best practice in rewards

Financial security affects us all and its impact is often under-estimated in the workplace. It is one of the biggest causes of stress, which in turn is the single most common cause of employee absence. Currently, one in five people in the UK suffer from workplace stress (Directgov, n.d.), with half a million people reporting that they have become ill as a result.

Employers have a duty to take care of employees’ health and safety when they are at work – and that includes dealing with stress and tackling the causes. Research shows that the biggest cause of stress and depression in the UK is worry about money, which can also lead to heart attacks, high blood pressure, angina and migraines – all of which contribute to absenteeism in the workplace (Divadani Finance, n.d.). In the UK, stress-related illness accounts for almost three quarters of all workplace absence and is believed to cost UK plc around £3.7 billion a year in lost productivity and healthcare costs (HSC, 2004).

Helping employees is particularly relevant at this time, as Britain and the wider international community come to terms with the current economic turbulence and consumers are faced with the implications of the credit crunch. Research tells us that consumers are not motivated to deal with their finances and need strong encouragement and guidance. This is where employers can play a significant role in assisting employees to start managing their finances.

Creating a workplace Budget Day

AXA is a financial services company offering financial products to individuals and businesses, including life and pensions, wealth management, protection, health and general insurance. AXA’s “My Budget Day” initiative is a nationwide call to action for people to spend fifteen minutes a week or one hour a month planning and reviewing their finances. Introduced in 2007, it aims to overcome the financial apathy felt by millions of people who cannot get into the habit of regularly looking after their money. As part of the campaign AXA is calling on employers to offer their employees the first of these hours in the workplace to help kick start the financial planning habit. Through this initiative AXA believes that it can demonstrate the impact of improved financial control on productivity and retention levels. We all know that people already spend working hours paying bills, making appointments and searching for information. My Budget Day is a way to formalize this process and legitimize some of what already happens without losing productivity.

To support employers, AXA developed a human resources tool that enables HR practitioners to gain an insight into the extent to which financial concerns are affecting the performance of their employees. Using a tool on the My Budget Day website, HR professionals can issue a survey to their organization’s employees, which asks them a series of questions about their financial status and how this relates to their performance in a work environment. The survey is completed anonymously, so an HR professional cannot link a response to a particular individual. The results will reveal insights, such as 25 percent of the workforce is stressed about mortgage payments and 17 percent of employees say this often affects their performance. This should in turn help them to understand how they can address these problems.

HR views on offering financial management support

To bring the issue front-of-mind for employers, in October 2008 AXA held an industry roundtable with a series of HR authorities to discuss the extent of the role that employers should play in helping their people manage money issues, especially in the current economic climate. While all attendees agreed that employers should support employees with their financial planning, there were varying opinions on the degree of support that employers should provide.

Attendees who felt employers should take a leading role backed up their argument by saying that it makes good business sense to look after your number one asset – your people – as this will lead to increased productivity and engagement and reduced absenteeism. This group also felt that the workplace is evolving, with employees now looking for prospective employers who go beyond the usual benefit packages and understand the importance of being socially aware.

The other school of thought endorsed more of a supportive role, suggesting that playing a leading role in employees’ financial wellbeing is yet another burden for businesses that already have to cope with many other demands. Professionals in this group believe that it is not the sole responsibility of an employer to help an employee with their finances; rather there are a number of stakeholders that should be responsible for supporting individuals with their finances, such as the government through formal education, the individuals themselves and their families.

AXA and its employees benefit from financial focus

The results from AXA’s own participation in My Budget Day in 2007 highlight the benefits of a financially engaged workforce. My Budget Day aims to deliver benefits to a business in two main areas. Firstly, by improving staff retention levels by encouraging staff to think better of the business as an employer, and secondly, by improving workplace productivity by decreasing stress-related sickness absence levels and by improving the working environment for employees.

In 2007, 8,000 AXA employees took part in My Budget Day by taking the hour offered to them and using the online tools available on the website www.mybudgetday.co.uk. A subsequent survey showed that 70 percent of AXA employees now spend an hour or more per month planning their finances. In terms of performance, it was found that over one in ten of those who took part (11 percent) said that following their involvement in My Budget Day they became less anxious at work and their performance actually improved. A further 37 percent said they became less worried about their finances at work. Eighty-one percent said they are more likely to review their finances because of the current economic climate, while 64 percent now think better of AXA as an employer.

My Budget Day has contributed towards helping AXA to experience genuine business benefits; productivity has increased, staff turnover and reported levels of stress have reduced, and sickness absence levels have come down by 10 percent, comparing 2007 and 2008 figures. Looking to the economic climate of 2009, it is even more important to provide employees with the support they need to plan and manage their finances. AXA will continue its commitment to financial education and its My Budget Day initiative.

Sonia Wolsey-CooperBased at AXA, London, UK.

About the author

Sonia Wolsey-Cooper is group HR director at AXA. For the past 20 years, she has worked in financial services and has held a variety of roles in marketing, customer service and distribution. She took on her current role for AXA UK in November 2006.