“We needed financial wellbeing to suit a diverse workforce.”

Floqast is a fast-growing accounting software vendor with over 500 employees, based in several offices across the globe. Tanisha Valton, HR Business Partner, is passionate about ensuring the pace of work and innovation at Floqast is matched by the organisation’s commitment to employee wellbeing, and she helped bring in Bippit after financial wellbeing was identified by employees as an area they wanted more support in.

How financial wellbeing became a priority

Floqast asks their employees directly what is most important when it comes to wellbeing. Why? Because the company wants to make sure their wellbeing offering remains reflective of what their people actually need, and of the organisation’s demographic makeup. In 2021, at the height of the pandemic, they sent out a survey asking staff where they should invest in 2022.

Financial wellbeing came out very strongly, unsurprising considering the household income shocks precipitated by Covid-19, but this sentiment was further fuelled internally by the cost-of-living crisis.

“The cost-of-living crisis affected everyone, not just those on lower salaries. Floqast tries to pay as best as it can, but we can’t give raises every year that match inflation as it just wouldn’t be sustainable. We also believe that having money is one part of the puzzle: if you don’t have the correct money management tools in place, salary increases do not always translate to long-term benefit.”

Why Floqast needed support that went above and beyond

Because Floqast is in the accounting industry, many of their employees are probably savvier than the average person when it comes to money management. This meant Tanisha needed a solution that went beyond basic education and provided a high level of support to the employee base, many of whom are looking to buy houses, start families or are facing other big financial decisions.

Tanisha reviewed the market and was drawn to Bippit firstly because the product is suitable for employees making decisions at all life stages. But also because Bippit offers employees access to professional coaches with FCA-recognised qualifications who can provide guidance that is personalised to the individual’s existing knowledge. This meant she knew Floqast’s savvier workforce would get the right level of support. So far, 26% of Floqast employees have interacted with one of Bippit’s expert coaches.

Additionally, Tanisha liked that the Bippit platform features multiple products in one place, making it an all-in-one financial wellbeing solution. Employees only ever need to go to one location when they need support with their money.

“Some of our employees really, really love it. It’s also been popular with our expats. It’s really helpful for them to understand how UK finances work so it can help frame their decision on whether they want to move to the UK for good.”

Building the business case for financial wellbeing

At Bippit we find that aside from the whole-of-workforce benefits that our financial wellbeing platform brings, many organisations use it to engage a particular cohort to achieve a specific goal. Another of our clients, for example, has a regular early-years graduate cohort with underdeveloped money management skills. This allows Bippit to help graduates have the best possible start to working life.

When it came to building the business case for Bippit, Tanisha used the survey results as the main lever. She sold the concept into senior management by showing how Bippit could support total compensation and help employees make the most of their salaries at every stage of their lives.

“Our strategy for comms is based around our wellbeing pillars: health & wealth, work-life balance, and workplace community. That’s how we think about our benefits and wellbeing strategy and it’s also how our employees understand it.”

Keeping employees aware of the support availble

Tanisha is passionate about increasing uptake of benefits, and like many HR professionals that successfully turn the dial on wellbeing, she knows that keeping wellbeing support front-of-mind is critical because you never know when employees might want to take advantage of what’s on offer.

“Employees need quarterly refreshers, webinars, emails – it has to be on their radar,” says Tanisha. “Our highest utilisation and highest engagement is with benefits we send out regular comms and reminders for so they always think about the service. What’s the point of spending the money if no-one is going to use it?”

“Our strategy for comms is based around our wellbeing pillars: health & wealth, work-life balance, and workplace community. That’s how we think about our benefits and wellbeing strategy and it’s also how our employees understand it. We’re aligned on that.”

What’s next for Floqast?

Floqast takes advantage of times when everyone is thinking about wellbeing to flag what support they offer and how it’s applicable to different cohorts.

“So for Mental Health Awareness week, we shouted about all our benefits for mind and body. For Pride month we’ll talk about how diverse our Bupa cover is and how our fertility cover isn’t just for straight couples but for everyone.”

This approach, of letting your comms ride the wave of events and ideas that are already in employees’ minds, is an approach that Bippit recommends. There’s still a taboo around talking about money, and using occasions where people may naturally be thinking and talking about money are good ‘piggyback’ to show how you support your employees to improve their long-term financial wellbeing.

If you want to improve your team’s financial wellbeing, book a free Financial Wellbeing Lunch & Learn for your workplace.