How can financial firms support employee wellbeing in the new year?

By Juliane Sterzl, VP UK & Ireland at CoachHub

After an extended period of turbulence across all sectors of our economy, owing to the events of the Covid-19 pandemic, a brighter outlook is ahead as we enter the new year. New statistics show that only 4% of learning and development (L&D) experts working in financial services foresee reduced growth in 2022, meaning that businesses can expect to expand. As a result of this expansion, leaders are likely to have more capacity for internal development, with a vast majority (93%) of HR leaders in financial services planning to increase their training and development budgets next year.

But more funding does not necessarily translate immediately to an improved offer. In a period of colossal workplace change for financial employees, whether that be increasingly working in a hybrid fashion, or needing to get to grips with new technology fast, leaders must provide a development programme which is comprehensive and competitive to avoid losing employees.

An insufficient approach to learning and development

At present, almost two-thirds (63%) of professionals in charge of L&D in their financial services firms believe that employee training and development is sufficiently discussed in the company. However, employees see a different picture. Over three-quarters (77%) of L&D leaders in the industry have employees complaining that they do not receive enough training and development. These statistics show a clear disconnect between the quality of L&D programmes as perceived by those who implement them, and the reality experienced by employees. As a result, training initiatives are unlikely to be fulfilling the needs of staff, a phenomenon which is unlikely to change whilst leaders continue to believe they are discussing L&D sufficiently.

The quality of employee training programmes can be measured by their content, and whether this content is deemed relevant and timely by employees. The finance sector has repeatedly been criticised for its high workload and aggressive company culture, leading to reports of widespread employee burnout. Some employees posit that this has worsened over the course of the pandemic, driven by a rise in remote working making working longer hours more convenient than ever.

Despite a veritable crisis in the sector, less than half (39%) of L&D professionals offered extra training on coping with burnout, with the statistics for training that targets feelings of uncertainty even lower (14%). These trends bolster employees’ claims that they do not receive enough training and development from their employers; not only is the amount of training insufficient, but it is not appropriately targeting employee needs.

Taking steps towards lasting change in 2022

These statistics signal that it is time for the financial services sector to change the tides when it comes to the support they offer to employees. Issues like burnout not only provoke great personal turmoil for those who experience them, but they directly affect employee performance, in turn harming the business’ bottom line. Starting a new year off on the right foot, by taking time to reassess and adapt your company’s learning and development strategies, will pay significant dividends in the long run.

It is not always easy to take that first step and set priorities. Especially in larger companies, with a vast number of employees, each with varying job responsibilities and unique personal circumstances, designing a programme that truly works for everyone can seem like a huge task. But it certainly doesn’t have to be.

Personalisation is extremely important, as it helps to patch the insufficiencies that employees have reported when it comes to the development programmes currently on offer within their organisations. Whilst it is impossible for L&D leaders to connect with each individual employee on a day-to-day, or even week-to-week basis, having a dedicated point of contact with whom employees can concentrate on their personal growth is essential to beginning to resolve issues of burnout and wellbeing, and even to stimulating employee productivity. One increasingly popular approach is workplace coaching, a one-to-one experience between an employee and their coach aiming to help the employee grow personally and professionally. 9 out of 10 people find increased meaning in their work after a coaching session, which benefits both an employee’s professional output, and their personal wellbeing through a boost to their sense of self.

Financial leaders must consider individualised approaches to L&D, such as workplace coaching, in 2022, to begin to repair the sector’s issues with employee wellbeing which have been worsened in the last two years. Personalised L&D programmes also offer a well-needed uplift to employee productivity, allowing organisations to set the agenda for growth as we move out of the most severe phase of the pandemic, and into economic stability.