C. Hoare & Co. is the UK’s oldest privately-owned bank – it’s been around since 1672. As a family-owned and values-driven business, wellbeing sits at the heart of the company’s proposition to its 500 employees.
After embedding a strong mental wellbeing support structure, Lynn Barnett, Head of Reward, was looking for a financial wellbeing solution that fit the ethos of their people-driven business. “People might say ‘you’re a bank, you don’t need to think about financial wellbeing,’” says Lynn. “But we most definitely do. It’s very important to our colleagues and to our leadership team that we can support the financial wellbeing of your colleagues.”
As a financial services business with the highest standards, it took time to find a financial wellbeing solution that had the right approach. “It was something we’ve been looking at for a while, but we struggled to find the right kind of offering,” says Lynn.
Empowering Colleagues
They ultimately chose Octopus Money so that all of their colleagues had access to personalised support with their finances. “One size doesn’t fit all,” Lynn says. “Being able to offer colleagues the opportunity to access coaching and empower themselves to work on a financial plan fit really well with the way we approach wellbeing.”
C. Hoare & Co have been pleasantly surprised at how quickly their colleagues engaged with the benefit. “We spend a lot of time and energy putting benefits into place and sometimes engaging people can be the hardest part. But with Octopus Money, we had over 155 people join our first launch and 40% signed up to meet their coach on the day.”
Speak to our team to learn more about how to increase pension engagement.
Tangible Impact
And now, after over 100 individual sessions, the average review from employees is a remarkable 5 out of 5 stars. One employee said, “My coach has been excellent. He is extremely friendly and approachable, and has really taken the time to gain a thorough understanding of my financial circumstances and goals. The financial plan he built has really opened my eyes to the difference saving effectively, investing, and my pension can make. I am looking forward to continuing to learn from him.”
In addition to the positive reviews from employees, Lynn has been excited to see the tangible financial outcomes coaching is having. Nowhere is this clearer than in employees’ approach to their pensions. “Traditionally, many of our employees have chosen to take a little bit of cash each month rather than take full advantage of our pension contribution offering. Now, their money coaches will say ‘Why are you walking away from free money?’ Even though we’ve been telling employees for years, they take the steer from the financial coach. It’s clearly having a positive impact.”
