“The thought was that we have a strong defined benefit plan, competitive wages and access to sessions offered by HOOPP, and that should be enough,” says Kotanidis, who has since added the role of vice-president of people to his title.
However, his view changed after a 2019 survey of employees revealed high levels of both financial stress and curiosity in financial wellness offerings. “Having a fundamental understanding of debt management, retirement planning, investment planning, savings strategies and household budgeting were all things that we heard staff raise repeatedly. We weren’t anticipating the need that we saw. [In response] we decided to integrate financial wellness into our offering, as a complement to the physical and psychological components.”
Read: RBC educating employees, reducing stigma around money matters through financial wellness hub
How the rising cost of living is impacting Canadians
• Nearly three-quarters (71%) of Canadian workers say the rising cost of living is increasing faster than their income, according to a recent survey by Scotiabank.
• Respondents noted they spend the most time worrying about paying for day-to-day expenses (44%), paying off debt (39%), and saving for emergencies (38%). Overall, a quarter (26%) of respondents said they’re so stressed about their finances that they’re losing sleep, with millennials, generations X and Z significantly more stressed about their finances than baby boomers. As well, women are more stressed about their finances than men (26% compared to 20%).
After starting out with a few lunch-and-learn sessions and intranet resources, the hospital’s financial wellness strategy has since expanded to include a 12-module series on financial literacy developed by Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada.
“Each one has a different theme to it and people can attend the ones that align to their employment timeline or their retirement timeline,” says Kotanidis, noting attendee feedback…
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