Wealthbit

In January, a lot of your people will start looking for new jobs. Most leaders won't realise until March. This pattern repeats every year. What feels like a sudden resignation in autumn usually began as quiet financial strain months earlier. A moment where people start asking whether their current setup is actually sustainable. The gap between perception and reality is wide. Most leaders estimate that 20-30% of their teams are under financial pressure. The real number is closer to 80%. And one finding keeps coming back. In our survey, 7 in 10 people said financial stress had made them think about leaving their jobs. That’s the blind spot. I'll be talking more about this in a short online session in January. If you’re exploring how financial stress affects your team and how leaders can respond, you’re welcome to join. https://lnkd.in/dbezfxFY

You can’t build a high-performing company on financially stressed teams. 4 in 5 employees worry about money all the time. Most leaders only find out when it’s too late. Our Financial Stress Report reveals what’s costing you more than you think.

I’ve been sitting with something since reading the results of our recent Financial Stress Survey. 78% of South Africans say they feel financial stress. Over 80% say it’s affecting their focus and energy at work. 7 in 10 say it’s making them think more often about leaving their jobs. That’s most people, in most teams. And the thing is, this kind of stress doesn’t usually come up in 1:1s. It shows up as someone being distracted. Quietly overwhelmed. Picking up side jobs to ease the pressure. It made me think about how often we, as leaders, miss what’s really going on. Not because we don’t care, but because money is still something people feel embarrassed to talk about. Knowing that this is still the reality for so many makes me even more hopeful about the impact we’re seeing through Wealthbit’s Financial Freedom Programme. Most people had no idea what their financial health score looked like, or as Anne Gonschorek puts it, their “don’t die old and poor” score. The moment someone sees visually where their current setup is taking them, and what small changes could unlock a better future… it’s powerful. Sometimes awareness really is the unlock. You can download our financial stress report here: https://lnkd.in/dcS2_YqV

“What of this is worth the money we’re spending? Is any of this actually helping our people?” These two questions sit behind every benefits renewal. They’re surprisingly hard to answer. Each provider reports on its own piece: calls and top issues from the mental health line, claims and risk trends from medical aid, participation in the wellness app. What’s usually missing is whether anyone is better off over time. Even low use is hard to read: it could mean people are fine, don’t know the benefit exists, or don’t trust it’s confidential. The pressure your team is under is hard to see too. Some of it is the work environment itself: the workload, unclear roles, a difficult manager. A lot comes from the rest of life: a parent who needs care, anxiety that won’t switch off, mounting debt, a long and unsafe commute. People carry all of it, all the time. Very little actually shows up in engagement surveys, partly, again, because not everyone trusts they’re really anonymous. Now imagine you could see what your people are actually dealing with. Where does the pressure sit? Are your benefits shifting it over time, or is it stuck? What else could you do about it? You could act throughout the year, and go into each renewal knowing what’s working. Financial health is where we started. We’ve been building a view of it for the employers we work with, and our best conversations now start from what it shows: where the pressure sits, how it’s changed and what to act on first. Here’s a quick walkthrough: https://lnkd.in/dtDRKDJs How well do you know what your team is carrying right now?

Medical aid and retirement funds weren’t built to ease day-to-day money stress, and it shows up in productivity, morale and who stays. Information isn’t enough. People need a practical way to feel more in control of their money. The Financial Freedom Programme® gives your people that, and supports your existing benefits.

Employees who feel in control of their money are more engaged, productive and present. They also stay longer. The Financial Freedom Programme® gives your people a practical way to get more in control of their money, and shows you how your team is progressing.