HR professionals have an important role in supporting their colleagues and the business through the cost of living crisis. Many employees will be experiencing finances which are tighter than ever – especially younger workers who will be experiencing their first major recession or challenging economic time in their working lives.

Many businesses we work with are currently looking at how they can help staff to cope with rising inflation, some businesses are offering a one off cost of living payment and others are looking at general pay rises which, as well as easing current pressures, can help to support staff retention.

As well as financial concerns, as a business owner or someone with responsibility for people in the business you also need to take account of the resultant mental health ramifications – not only from a welfare perspective, but also as a business practicality, as you may find you are seeing much higher levels of absence in your business.

It’s a well known fact that anxious and stressed employees are not as productive as happy and healthy employees with recent figures suggesting that 36% of millennials find their performance is impacted by money worries (CMI, 2022) – so there is certainly a business case for offering emotional and wellbeing support. This can be achieved by offering an Employee Assistance Program, or EAP as they are more commonly referred to, or by creating a culture in which talking about challenges and finances is enabled and resources are provided to help employees to access practical financial advice.

This is a life skill that employees will benefit from well beyond the current situation and could support both financial and psychological wellbeing longer term.

How can we help?

As with all of these questions, every case in every HR situation is slightly different, so if you have a problem or just a question you need answering, then do get in touch so that we can answer your question for your situation hello@merakihr.com or you can book your FREE 15 minute consultation with a member of the Meraki HR team here.