Personalized Support: The Sensible Cost-Effective Way of Promoting Financial Wellbeing

Maria Luisa Inofre, Chief Corporate Services Officer, Aboitiz Power Corporation Thermal BG

Financial fitness is one of the least talked about issues in the workplace in the Philippines, yet it is one of the most pressing concerns for many Filipino workers. In the Philippines, 80 percent of workers experience varying levels of financial stress, with nearly a third experiencing overwhelming strain with their financial situations.

Organizations with excellent mental, career, and physical wellness programs might overlook the importance of financial well-being among their employees. The lack of financial fitness among employees is a significant reason for workers to leave their companies.

But it’s a challenge for Human Resources to craft policies that genuinely reflect what employees need most regarding financial well-being, considering people's different problems with money. Even for the most empathic managers, the problem is compounded more by the fact that Filipinos don’t often talk about money with other people. What more with their employers?

Financial Wellbeing: Industry Trends

Pre-pandemic, it would have been deemed acceptable for organizations to provide just healthcare and some financial benefits to employees. Post-pandemic, the trend has geared toward a holistic approach. On top of providing broader access to medical benefits, companies have started offering more comprehensive benefits such as mental health support and coaching sessions. More organizations realized that career well-being is affected by a host of factors: social (presence of meaningful relationships around you), financial (how you manage your finances well), community (the livability of your community), and physical well-being (having a healthy body and mind).

“As a response, Human Resources has been more agile in providing more choices and flexibility according to the employees’ needs.”

It’s crucial to address these needs simultaneously, but we learned that financial well-being affects everything else if not appropriately addressed. Financial stress forces employees to make bad decisions.

It’s imperative to address employees’ financial well-being because of the intensified needs of new persisting stress factors even after the pandemic. For example, pump prices of gasoline have not decreased significantly since their increase in 2022, creating a domino effect on inflation rates.

As a response, Human Resources has been more agile in providing more choices and flexibility according to the employees’ needs. One of the most valuable trends post-pandemic is personalized and customized support.

We realized that although people have similar problems regarding financial well-being, creating personalized support to address a common issue about money positively impacts employees’ happiness and engagement.

For example, in 2021, we rolled out a flexible benefit program called iFlex on top of a core benefit that allows employees to build a benefit package from a list of total reward options from their allotted benefit credits. These flexible benefits that employees could mix and match include electricity bill benefits, internet allowances, optical needs benefits, fitness and workout equipment allowances, and financial benefits that satisfy the hybrid work setup. Ninety-six percent of our employees agreed they could structure and optimize their benefits and appreciate their reward packages, while 94 percent reported they were delighted with the flexible benefits program. Today, we are on our iFlex version 4 as we keep enhancing the program, meeting employees' diverse preferences and recommendations from the secured through employee listening.

As a template, providing customized financial support and flexibility on various employees’ needs allows companies to respond to emerging needs at a neutral cost.

It is truly a win-win solution for the employees and the organization. 

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