How employers can measure the impact of your financial wellbeing strategy

In recent years, financial wellbeing has become a core part of workplace wellbeing strategies - and for good reason. Money worries are one of the biggest causes of stress, anxiety, and reduced performance at work. Employers are increasingly recognising that supporting financial health isn't just good for employees; it’s good for business too.

But how can you measure whether your financial wellbeing strategy is actually making a difference?

At Money First Aid, we believe that tracking the impact of your financial wellbeing initiatives is essential to ensuring your investment is driving real, meaningful change. With the release of our latest Money First Aid Impact Survey results just around the corner, we're excited to share practical advice on how organisations can approach this.

Why measuring impact matters

Financial wellbeing initiatives, like any other workplace wellbeing programme, should be accountable. Measuring the impact helps you:

• Prove ROI: demonstrate to leadership that your investment is yielding returns in productivity, engagement, and retention

• Identify gaps: understand where further support or different resources are needed

• Celebrate success: highlight the positive changes your organisation is making

• Refine and grow: build a stronger, more effective strategy over time

Without measurement, it's easy for financial wellbeing programmes to become a ‘tick-box’ exercise rather than a transformative force for employees.

However, it’s important to acknowledge that measuring the direct return on investment (ROI) for wellbeing initiatives — including financial wellbeing — isn’t straightforward. Sometimes the most important benefits, like reduced stress, improved morale, and a stronger sense of belonging, are harder to quantify.

Many organisations strike a balance: while they track what they can, they also recognise that supporting employee wellbeing is simply the right thing to do, particularly when they know certain wellbeing challenges are affecting their workforce. They weigh the practicalities of budget management alongside a genuine duty of care for their people.

What should you be measuring?

The first step is deciding what you want to measure. Some common areas include:

• Employee knowledge and confidence around money management

• Behavioural changes such as increased savings, reduced reliance on credit, or greater use of financial benefits

• Financial stress levels and how they change over time

• Engagement with the financial wellbeing resources and services you offer

• Business outcomes like absenteeism, productivity, and staff turnover

The key is to combine employee-focused measures (how your people are feeling and behaving) with business-focused measures (how your organisation is performing).

How to measure it

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach, but here are some tried-and-tested methods:

1. Pre- and post-surveys

Surveys are one of the most powerful tools you can use. Running surveys before and after your financial wellbeing initiatives allows you to track changes over time.

Keep surveys short and easy to complete, and reassure employees that their responses are anonymous and confidential.

2. Employee feedback

Beyond surveys, open-ended feedback can provide rich insights. Create opportunities for employees to share:

• How the support made them feel

• What actions they’ve taken as a result

• What additional support they’d find valuable

This qualitative data helps you understand the real-world impact behind the numbers. Give employees multiple opportunities to share their stories in a way they feel comfortable doing. Leverage groups like Employee Resource Groups or Wellbeing Committees for the best ways to do this in your organisation.

3. Usage data

Track engagement with your financial wellbeing offerings. This might include:

• Attendance at webinars or workshops

• Completion rates of e-learning courses

• Access rates for Money First Aiders, financial coaching, EAP or advice services

• Uptake of financial benefits like salary advance schemes, savings programmes, or debt support

High engagement often correlates with higher impact. It can also reveal what formats or topics resonate best with your people.

Work with your financial wellbeing benefit providers to understand what data they can measure and share with you too.

4. Business metrics

Where possible, connect your financial wellbeing strategy to broader business KPIs. For example:

• Reduction in absenteeism linked to financial stress

• Improvements in employee satisfaction or engagement scores

• Lower turnover rates among employees accessing financial wellbeing support

• Increased participation in retirement or savings plans

While it’s rarely possible to draw a straight line between a single initiative and a business outcome, tracking trends can help you tell a compelling story.

Setting yourself up for success

To get the most from your measurement efforts, consider the following:

• Start with clear objectives: know what you’re aiming to achieve. Is it reduced financial stress? Increased knowledge? Behaviour change?

• Communicate why it matters: let employees know why you’re collecting data and how it will help them.

• Prioritise confidentiality: ensure anonymity wherever possible to encourage honest feedback.

• Measure consistently: Regular tracking (e.g., every 6 or 12 months) will show whether improvements are sustained. At Money First Aid we are measuring our impact quarterly.

• Be realistic: Cultural and behavioural change takes time. Look for trends over time rather than expecting instant transformation.

Even when the data isn’t perfect or directly tied to a financial outcome, the impact on your people’s wellbeing is valuable in itself.

Sharing the results

When you do measure impact, make sure to share the results with both leadership and employees.

• For leadership, focus on ROI, engagement, and business metrics

• For employees, highlight the positive changes and how their feedback is shaping future support

This creates a virtuous cycle where people feel heard, valued, and motivated to engage even more.

Our Money First Aid Impact Survey

We practice what we preach. Next week, we'll be releasing the results from our first Money First Aid Impact Survey.

We’ll be sharing insights into how our Money First Aider training is working for employers, the challenges that people are discussing, the resources that are being shared, what more we can do to support our growing community, and how the training is helping to drive positive change within organisations.

These results are vital not only for showing the immediate impact, but for helping us, and our partners, continue to build a stronger culture of financial wellbeing across the workforce.

Need help measuring the impact of your financial wellbeing strategy?

If you’d like to find out how Money First Aid can help you build, deliver, and track effective financial wellbeing support for your employees, get in touch today. We’d love to chat: support@moneyfirstaid.net