Better health, better business

01 September 2018

Better health, better business

Jayson Forrest

Jayson Forrest is the managing editor of Money & Life Magazine.

Seven planners answer the following question: What have you seen and adapted from other sectors or businesses that is helping you improve the health and wellbeing of your staff and/or clients?

Phillip Richards AFP®
Director and Financial Adviser, Endorphin Wealth Management

Licensee: Lifespan Financial Planning

One of the most significant shifts we have seen in the area of health and wellbeing in recent years has been the increased emphasis on mental health. It’s hard to pinpoint a particular industry that has driven this; perhaps psychology, though you could argue that mental health improvement is now an industry in itself.

At Endorphin Wealth we see ourselves as being in the business of providing financial clarity to our clients, which in turn contributes to their mental health. Many people come to us with genuine concerns – even fear – that they won’t be able to pay off their mortgage, or with real stress about what their retirement is going to look like financially.

We gain great satisfaction from working with our clients and providing them a clearer way ahead. In fact, we can visibly see the tension released from their faces as they start to see their financial future with newfound clarity. Ongoing reviews ensure this clarity is not a passing phase.

Within our business we also see the mental health of our team as critical. This is particularly reflected in our company values of ‘Reliable Team’, in which we commit to ‘look out for each other, share ideas and not let each other down’.

Enjoying each other’s company and having a bit of fun doesn’t go astray either!

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Nathalie Bunge-Krueger

Chief Administration Officer, Elston

Licensee: EP Financial Services

Health and wellbeing have always been an important focus at Elston, as we recognise that our ability to attract and retain quality team members is at the core of what drives us as a business.

Over the years, we have drawn on the experiences and successes of other firms, creating initiatives that promote a healthy, balanced lifestyle and provide an avenue to engage with colleagues – such as subsidised group training, free flu vaccinations and the provision of healthy snacks.
One of our most successful initiatives has been ‘Elston Clubs’.

Every year, we contribute to a selection of internally-managed clubs on behalf of each employee, and provide an additional three days leave to participate. Over the last 12 months, members have ventured to the Three Capes, Tasmania (Outdoor Club), enjoyed a mystery trip to Queenstown, New Zealand (Travel Club) and taken multiple trips out on the water (Fishing Club), to name a few.

A core component of these initiatives is our flexibility to adapt to the ever-changing needs of our team, while fostering a productive and motivated environment.

As lifestyles become increasingly stressful and demanding, investing in these measures is critical to ensuring the wellbeing of our organisation as a whole.

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James McGregor CFP®

Managing Director, Apt Wealth Partners

Licensee: Apt Wealth Partners

We believe that employees with a healthy work/life balance are happier and perform better. We understand the impact lifestyle can have on physical and mental health, so we have tried to create a culture at Apt that promotes healthy practises and an active lifestyle.

We want to attract and keep the best talent in our space, and a comprehensive health and wellbeing program gives us an advantage over our competitors.

To ensure the business was putting together an exceptional program, I toured the U.S., visiting organisations such as LinkedIn, Apple, NASA and IBM to see firsthand how the world’s leading firms ran their programs. This provided a strong foundation for developing our AptVantages program.

We didn’t want to offer a program that only provided information about health and wellbeing, we wanted to provide practical ways for our employees to enjoy an active lifestyle. Our policy provides up to $500 annually for staff to use on health and wellbeing activities of their choice. We’ve had staff use this for gym memberships, yoga classes, Fitbits, treadmills and nutritionists.

Our program looks beyond just health and wellbeing to include enabling staff to continue their personal and professional development, and participate in community programs. As a financial planning firm, we also offer every staff member a free financial plan through one of our advisers.

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Shayne Sommer CFP® LRS®
Private Client Adviser, Shadforth Financial Group
Licensee: IOOF

The ancient proverb of ‘give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach a man to fish, and you’ll feed him for a lifetime’ applies to the approach we, at Shadforth Financial Group, are taking with our financial wellbeing offering.

Employers are increasingly aware that financial issues are the leading cause of stress for one in two Australians[1]. It’s now no longer a case of simply providing employees with their salary but rather equipping them with the right financial knowledge to make good decisions with their money that will help them throughout their lifetime.

The education sessions we hold not only aim to enhance participants’ understanding of a range of financial concepts but also reference cognitive biases present in human behaviour that make us all susceptible to handling our finances in a less than optimal manner.

For example, marketers utilise many cognitive biases in their product placement and pricing, which can impact our spending behaviour. Financial literacy programs focusing only on ‘the numbers’ are no match for the barrage of biases begging us to spend our money. Analysis of our buying behaviour is important in our efforts to make the most of our cash flow.

Assisting our clients to understand their money habits and decision-making processes around their finances provides an innovative approach to achieving financial wellbeing.

1. Stress and Wellbeing in Australia Survey, 2014, Australian Psychological Society.

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Adrian Hanrahan CFP®
Senior Financial Adviser, Australian Unity
Licensee: Australian Unity

Too often, the word ‘wellbeing’ is associated with happiness, however, wellbeing is more of a stable state of being well, feeling satisfied and content.

In 2001, Australian Unity, in partnership with the Australian Centre on Quality of Life at Deakin University, launched the Wellbeing Index to measure how satisfied Australians were with their own lives and with life in Australia. While this was created to measure national wellbeing, the application works just as well for individuals.

I recently introduced a similar benchmarking process at an individual level with my own clients. Focusing on satisfaction with health, personal relationships, personal safety, standard of living, what they are achieving in life, how connected they feel with the community, and their future security.

The results, while not a diagnosis of anything in isolation, are most useful when overlaid with traditional benchmarking against financial objectives. This makes for deeper and more fruitful conversations with clients, their purpose and reasons for working, and prioritising some objectives over others.

Recently, one client acknowledged what they were most looking forward to in retirement was spending quality time with their elderly father. Financial independence was achieved long ago and so, the client’s retirement was finally brought forward. Those months, before he later passed, provided invaluable time and satisfaction that could not otherwise be measured in a traditional retirement projection.

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Rebecca Fergusson CFP®
Principal and Private Client Adviser, Main Street Financial Solutions

Licensee: Integrity Financial Planners

Having a healthy and happy workforce is the key to a profitable and successful business. As small business owners, we endeavour to provide an environment that allows our employees to thrive and reach their full potential, and part of that is improving their health and wellbeing.
We are constantly trying to improve our office environment and some initiatives that we have adopted include:

  • Participating in healthy community activities, such as the Point to Pinnacle Event;
  • Providing a flexible workplace where staff can work hours conducive to their lives, such as making appointments during the day, providing their work is completed as and when required;
  • Have regular feedback sessions with staff to ensure the workplace meets their personal, professional and lifestyle objectives;
  • Accepting feedback and adopting innovative strategies, such as having a daily ‘stair walk’ in the adjoining building which is 15 stories high!
  • Adding lifestyle discussions to the agenda for both employees and clients.

To achieve a happy and healthy organisation, we aim to:

  • hire happy personalities;
  • be community-minded (for example, we lease an office to Camp Quality and last Christmas we spent time as a group wrapping presents for those less privileged);
  • try to break the work routine from time to time (this includes eating out together, watching the Melbourne Cup, celebrating birthdays and so forth);
  • show that we care about our employees;
  • focus on the positives; and
  • try to give back to our employees (Easter, Christmas, birthday events and showing random acts of kindness in the office).

***

Casey Shaw CFP®
Financial Adviser, Blueprint Wealth
Licensee: AMP Financial Planning

Blueprint Wealth invests considerable time into the health and wellbeing of our workplace. We have focused on a number of practical ways to encourage our team to become healthier, happier and more productive.

Over the past several years, we’ve introduced activities to improve alertness and concentration, as well as build a strong workplace culture. This includes daily lunchtime walks, providing fruit bowls each week, registering workplace teams in local (physical) fundraising events and community volunteering with Cancer Council Western Australia. From time to time, we have had yoga classes, meditation sessions and hosted group walking challenges.

Blueprint Wealth has implemented a workplace Flexibility Policy, supporting employees to be able to achieve an effective balance between their work and outside commitments. Employees are given consideration to a range of flexible working arrangements, leave entitlements and other forms of assistance, such as working from home, variable starting and finishing times, and part-time work after resuming from parental leave.

In 2017, Blueprint Wealth registered with Healthier Workplace WA. We now have a staff champion who promotes the program throughout the practice.

Our Healthier Workplace champion provides educational information and tips that encourage healthier attitudes and behaviour (e.g. articles in our monthly staff newsletter, recipes/tips in the staff kitchen).

We are currently working towards becoming a Gold Recognised Healthy Workplace.

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