The Work Clinic

The initiative hopes to encourage employees to use their time more constructively in planning their monthly budgets, exploring cheaper credit card deals and researching better savings options, rather than browsing the net for their next holiday.

As a heavily indebted graduate, who has only added to her financial ruin by opting to take a post-degree gap year, I often find myself in a conundrum when I contemplate my finances: not only do I have mounting student loans and overdrafts to pay back, but there’s also the soaring costs of living in London, the tax deductions from my pay package, as well as the questionable cost of public transport in town.

The problem is I find it hard to motivate myself to sort anything out. I habitually refuse to check my bank balance in fear of facing the harsh reality of being well and truly stuck into my over-draft. Even the prospect of being able to afford the latest Chloë hand bag doesn’t seem to do the trick in driving me to do something about it.

Proactive encouragement from a potential employer certainly has the possibility of acting as a stimulus for many young graduates in the same boat. If employers were pushing the importance of financial planning as a workplace issue, it would not only communicate to me that they were concerned about my wellbeing, but it would also address a serious issue that is facing many graduates today.

You hear of the usual benefit packages: health-care cover, pension schemes, subsidised gym memberships…so why not financial management guidance? A recent poll by Natwest revealed that graduates owed on average £12,363 this year, and this figure is expected to rise for new graduates with the introduction of the top-up fees.

When you consider this, it is certainly something employers need to deliberate when recruiting new talent to prevent the future workforce from being propelled into the debt problem that exists in the UK.

Pat Brady, head of learning and development at AXA:

“We all have to start taking greater responsibility for the financial state of the nation and employers can play a really important role. With employees already spending some time on non-work related activities, giving them official time to take part needn’t result in a hit on productivity. In fact, we have seen through our pilot, that employees are actually more motivated as a result of this initiative.

A lack of motivation to deal with financial matters is arguably at the heart of our country’s enormous personal debt problem. If employers can help people to recognise the value of spending time reviewing their finances it could go some way to addressing this.”

Research has revealed that spending just one hour a month on reviewing your money can improve finances and reduce stress levels dramatically and as such AXA is asking employers to help their employees kick start the programme by allowing employees to spend an hour a month at work learning how to budget. The initiative is being supported by the CBI and the UK’s largest union, Unite, and AXA has pledged to its 12,000 UK employees that they can devote a small part of their working day (an hour a month) to sort out their financial troubles.

It's a win-win situation. Get the best out of your potential employees by getting involved with the scheme: bright graduates - financial stress = a happy and productive workforce