The value of financial wellbeing in your EVP

Supporting people and organisations to thrive | 6 minute read

Money shapes almost every part of life. When people feel secure and informed, it can help them perform better, worry less and trust their employer more. Financial wellbeing creates this stability and strengthens the overall employee experience.

Key takeaways

1. Strong financial wellbeing support helps people feel secure, confident and better able to focus at work.

2. When employers offer simple, practical financial guidance, it improves performance, trust and overall employee experience.

3. Financial wellbeing support is a long‑term investment that strengthens both people and the business, not a cost to avoid.

Why this matters

Financial worries affect how people work, feel and plan for the future. A strong approach to financial wellbeing helps employees feel supported, valued and confident.

35%

The number of households that reported mental health impacts related to their finances.¹

34%

The number of UK adults that expect their household situation to worsen in the next year.²

Why financial wellbeing support matters

Money touches almost every part of our lives. Yet in many organisations, financial wellbeing still sits quietly on the sidelines of the employee experience - mentioned occasionally, but rarely treated as a strategic priority. That’s increasingly difficult to justify.

Financial pressure doesn’t stay at home when employees start their working day. It shows up in concentration, decision-making, confidence and long-term career choices. When people are worrying about their finances, they’re not just distracted - they’re less able to perform, plan and contribute fully.

And right now, those pressures are rising. Around 35% of households report mental health impacts related to their finances, while 34% of UK adults expect their financial situation to worsen over the coming year.

The question for employers isn’t simply whether financial wellbeing matters, but whether organisations are prepared to treat it as a core part of their Employee Value Proposition (EVP), or leave it as an underused benefit hidden in the background.

In our guide to the future state of EVP we say...

"…benefits that support financial confidence and future security show you value people as whole individuals. Clear financial wellbeing guidance and strong pension provision - underpinned by good governance and understandable communication - help colleagues feel secure today and prepared for tomorrow, making your EVP credible and durable."

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Financial wellbeing is more than just a benefit

Most organisations already offer a range of financial benefits: pensions, insurance, discounts, savings schemes and guidance services. But employees rarely experience these as a coherent system.

Too often, financial support exists as a list of benefits, not as a joined-up experience. Information is scattered across platforms. Communications are dense or overly technical. And the guidance people need rarely arrives at the moment they actually need it.

The result? Employees underestimate the support available to them - and employers underestimate the value they’re already providing. Financial wellbeing becomes powerful when it moves beyond a catalogue of benefits and becomes something employees can understand, navigate and use with confidence.

EVP isn’t what you say - it’s what people experience

Organisations often invest heavily in defining their EVP - carefully crafting messaging about culture, growth and rewards. But employees judge an EVP through lived experience, not statements on a careers page.

When people feel supported during financially significant life moments (buying a home, starting a family, managing debt, preparing for retirement), something powerful happens. Trust builds, and trust is what transforms an EVP from a promise into a relationship.

Employees who feel their employer genuinely supports their long-term wellbeing are more likely to stay, grow and advocate for the organisation. Not because of slogans, but because of experience.

Timing matters more than volume

A big misconception about financial wellbeing support is that it needs to be complex or expensive. In reality, the most impactful support can be the simplest.

Clear guidance
Practical tools
Well-timed conversations

Financial support is valuable when it meets people at the moment it matters - during key career stages and life events. For example, early-career employees may need help understanding pay and budgeting. Mid-career employees may be navigating mortgages, childcare or savings goals. Later-career employees are thinking about long-term security and retirement planning.

When support is aligned with these moments, financial wellbeing stops feeling like a programme and starts feeling like genuine support.

"Pensions become a visible demonstration of long-term commitment"

Take pensions as an example. For many employees, pensions are one of the most valuable benefits their employer provides. Yet they’re also one of the least understood. When pension communications are buried in technical language or disconnected from everyday financial decisions, employees disengage. However, pensions become a visible demonstration of long-term commitment when organisations explain them clearly and show:

How contributions grow
What they mean for future choices
How employees can take simple steps today

Martin Parish
Head of Retirement

Financial wellbeing is a strategic advantage

In an increasingly competitive labour market, EVP is often discussed in terms of attraction and retention. But financial wellbeing plays a deeper role.

It shapes how employees feel about their stability, their future and their relationship with their employer. When people feel financially supported, they’re more likely to focus, engage and invest their energy back into the organisation.

In that sense, financial wellbeing isn’t simply an employee benefit. It’s a foundation for performance, trust and long-term organisational resilience.

The question leaders should be asking

Most organisations already provide financial benefits. The more important question is this: Do employees actually feel financially supported - or simply financially informed?

Because the difference between those two experiences may be the difference between an EVP that exists on paper and one that truly shapes how people experience work.

NFP’s guide to repositioning the EVP as a shared responsibility

Employee expectations have evolved quickly - not only because people want more, but because many employers have raised their game in meaningful ways. Traditional EVPs can no longer keep pace with what today’s workforce values most, especially around long‑term security and financial wellbeing.

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This insights article is not intended to address any specific situation or to provide legal, regulatory, financial, or other advice. While care has been taken in the production of this article, NFP does not warrant, represent or guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, completeness or fitness for any purpose of the article or any part of it and can accept no liability for any loss incurred in any way by any person who may rely on it. Any recipient shall be responsible for the use to which it puts this article. This article has been compiled using information available to us up to its date of publication.

NFP contributors

Steve Foulger
Director of Organisational Change and HR Services

References