Decisiveness is a key quality for any business leader. When you're in charge, you can't afford to second-guess yourself or dither over every decision. Of course, that doesn't mean that you should make rash decisions without considering the consequences. But it does mean that you need to be able to trust your instincts and make quick decisions when necessary.
A good example of decisiveness in action is when former General Electric CEO Jack Welch was faced with the decision to downsize his company during a difficult economic period. Welch didn't hesitate to make the tough call, and it paid off in the long run. Also, when you're decisive, people are more likely to trust and respect you as a leader.
If you want to be a great business leader, it's a good idea to get a master of business administration. An MBA will give you the theoretical knowledge and practical skills that you need to be successful in business. In addition, an MBA from a top school will open doors for you and help you network with other successful leaders. Also, many of these programs offer concentrations in areas like leadership, which can be beneficial.
Moreover, when you have an MBA, people are more likely to take you seriously as a business leader. This means that you'll have more credibility and authority in the business world. Also, an MBA can help you advance your career and earn more money. So if you're serious about becoming a great business leader, getting a degree is a smart move.
As a business leader, it's essential that you're able to communicate effectively with your team. After all, how can you expect to get your point across if you're not articulate? When communicating with your employees, make sure that you're clear and concise. Be respectful, but don't be afraid to give constructive criticism when it's warranted.
It's also important to remember that effective communication is a two-way street. In other words, you should also make an effort to listen to your employees and get their feedback. After all, they're the ones doing the work, so they probably have some good ideas about how things could be improved. By making an effort to communicate effectively, you'll build trust and respect with your team.
Self-awareness is another important quality for any business leader. If you're not aware of your own strengths and weaknesses, it's difficult to make the right decisions and lead your business effectively. To become more self-aware, take some time to reflect on your successes and failures. Also, try to get feedback from others, including your employees.
You should also be aware of the impact that you have on others. This means being able to read other people's emotions and understanding how your words and actions affect them. If you're not sure about something, don't be afraid to ask for advice from someone who's more experienced. The more self-aware you are, the better leader you'll be.
As a business leader, it's important to set clear goals for your employees. This way, they'll know what's expected of them and they can be held accountable if they don't meet your expectations. When setting goals, make sure that they're specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Also, involve your employees in the goal-setting process so that they have a sense of ownership.
In addition, it's important to keep your employees motivated. This means providing them with the resources and support that they need to be successful. Also, make sure that you give them regular feedback so that they know how they're doing. By setting clear goals and keeping your employees motivated, you'll be more likely to achieve success as a business leader.
As a business leader, it's important to be flexible. This means being open to change and willing to adapt to new situations. For example, if your company is facing a difficult situation, you might need to make some changes in order to stay afloat. Also, if you're launching a new product or service, you'll need to be flexible in order to make it a success. To be a successful leader, you need to be able to roll with the punches and adapt to change.
Flexibility also means being open to different points of view. Just because you have a certain opinion doesn't mean that it's the only valid perspective. It's important to listen to others and consider their opinions before making a decision. By being flexible, you'll be able to make better decisions and find creative solutions to problems.
Finally, it's important to lead by example. If you want your employees to be honest, hardworking, and respectful, you need to set the tone for yourself. Also, if you want your team to be successful, you need to show them what it takes to achieve success. By leading by example, you'll earn the respect of your employees and set the stage for a successful business.
If you want to become a better business leader, there's no magic formula. However, by following these tips, you can improve your chances of success. Remember, being a successful leader takes time, effort, and practice. So, don't get discouraged if you don't see results immediately. Just keep working at it and you'll eventually become the leader that you want to be.
There you have it! Becoming a better business leader requires self-awareness, clear goal-setting, flexibility, and leading by example. If you can work on these four areas, you'll be well on your way to success. Just remember the importance of taking things slowly and consistently practising your leadership skills. With time and effort, you can become the leader that you want to be.
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The UK economy grew by a record 15.5% from July to September, according to new figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Thursday, ending a six-month recession induced by the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown measures.
The figures match the ONS’s initial estimate of GDP growth in Q3, though they fall short of economists’ predicted growth of 15.8%. Nevertheless, the July-September growth of 15.5% represents the largest quarterly jump in GDP the ONS has posted since records began in 1955.
UK GDP contracted by a fifth in Q2, the most extreme slump on record – and analysts have warned that the economy is likely to shrink again in the run-up to 2021 as renewed lockdown measures have been imposed across England, set to continue until 2 December.
In its release, the ONS noted that the Q3 recovery was driven in large party by household spending, while business investment remained “much weaker”. Though the recovery since July has been encouraging for investors, the UK economy as a whole remains 10% below 2019 levels.
September-specific data from the ONS revealed that the economy grew by 1.1% during the month, indicating that the pace of the UK’s economic recovery has slowed significantly.
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“Today’s figures show that our economy was recovering over the Summer, but started to slow going into Autumn,” said Chancellor Rishi Sunak in a statement. “The steps we’ve had to take since to halt the spread of the virus mean growth has likely slowed further since then.”
Samuel Tombs, Pantheon Macroeconomics’ chief UK economist, predicted that GDP would shrink by around 0.5% during Q4, with little chance of recovering to September levels until spring of 2021.
New data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed that UK government debt passed £2 trillion for the first time, reaching £2.004 trillion in July -- £227.6 billion more than last year’s figure.
The unprecedented rise in government borrowing in 2020, with the months of April to July each posting the highest levels of borrowing since records began in 1993, can be credited to spending on anti-COVID-19 measures like the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. ONS remarked that this is the first time that government debt has risen above 100% of GDP since the 1960-61.
Ruth Gregory, senior UK economist at Capital Economics, noted that July’s borrowing figure of £150.5 billion “is close to the deficit for the whole of 2009-10 of £158.3bn, which was previously the largest cash deficit in history, reflecting the extraordinary fiscal support the government has put in place to see the economy through the crisis."
Coinciding with the new release on government debt, further data showed that activity in the UK’s private sector grew at its sharpest rate since 2013 during August. The Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) read at 60.3 on Friday, beating analysts’ expectations and easily surpassing July’s figure of 57, indicating accelerated growth across the sector.
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“The combined expansion of UK private sector output was the fastest for almost seven years, following sharp improvements in business and consumer spending from the lows seen in April,” commented Tim Moore, economics director at HIS Markit.
Meanwhile, separate figures from the ONS also revealed that the UK retail sector rebounded faster than expected between June and July, with a 2% increase in sales volume where analysts had predicted only 0.2%.
The quantity and value of total reported also saw an increase of 4.4% from February, beating pre-lockdown figures.
Naturally, innovation is a word that can be used overly freely by businesses to signify virtually any kind of thinking that is slightly different from the usual. In this case, however, we are thinking of something that will benefit companies looking to grow. Innovation in the terms we are discussing here refers to the creation of products, services, processes and ideas that can help not only your business to succeed but represent a new type of thinking in your industry.
Having defining this, you could argue that we are ultimately still talking about ideas that will make the business money through sales. But the truth is that many innovations require a great deal of time and financial input - and not all of your innovations, sadly, will be successful. This can discourage companies from pursuing innovation, as despite the potential upside, there can be no guarantee of success.
Thankfully it is well established that innovation is a fantastic thing - not just for businesses themselves but for the industry, the economy, and for society in general. As such, the government has a scheme that it is designed to reward companies for innovating them - reducing their tax bill if they are in profit, or reducing their losses if they are not.
There are two main types of tax relief offered by the government: research and development (R&D) tax credits and Patent Box tax credits. These can be fantastic ways to make the best financial use of your innovations and ensure that your company is rewarded for the work it is doing.
But there is a problem: many organisations are not claiming the kind of R&D tax relief that they could.
There are two main types of tax relief offered by the government: research and development (R&D) tax credits and Patent Box tax credits.
There are actually many reasons that companies might not be claiming what they are owed through R&D tax credits. Firstly, it is a complex procedure to claim back R&D tax and some companies may have attempted it in the past and actually found the whole job too confusing. Even standard accountants struggle when dealing with R&D tax relief and will outsource some of the work to those with more specific expertise.
It’s no surprise then that less experienced businesses are finding it challenging to claim tax relief. But there is another issue too.
“Unfortunately, it is the case that many businesses assume that they can’t possibly be eligible for R&D tax relief," says Simon Bulteel of R&D tax relief specialists Cooden Tax Consulting. “They might assume that R&D purely refers to the field of science – however, this is a misconception. Actually, R&D refers to innovation across a wide variety of sectors”.
Lack of understanding of what R&D tax relief is meant for can play a huge role in the fact that businesses aren’t taking advantage of the tax credits they are owed. Companies across industries as varied as entertainment, marketing, transport, construction and many more apply and get R&D tax relief every year.
Innovation is a vital tool for growth for businesses across many different industries, especially under the present circumstances where making further sales and growing your business through profit may not be feasible. If businesses are missing out on valuable R&D tax credit relief it is because they are not working with specialists who can help them.
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It is advisable for any organisation that carries out any kind of innovation as a part of their business to speak with experienced professionals in R&D tax relief, who will be able to guide and advise them on whether it is possible for them to claim.
Failing to do so is missing out on money and isolating your businesses from a very legitimate form of growth.
In its Monetary Policy Report for the month of May, the Bank of England presented scenarios for the UK economy, predicated on lockdown measures being eased from June to September.
These scenarios suggested that, though the economy contracted 2.9% in the first quarter of 2020, it could fall by an astonishing 25% in the second quarter, ultimately shrinking by 14% over the course of the year. If accurate, this would equate to the economy’s sharpest contraction since 1706, according to BoE’s figures.
Further projections in the report include a rise to 9% unemployment – greater than the 8% unemployment rate that was experienced during the last financial crisis.
Also on Thursday, BoE’s Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously to keep interest rates at their record low of 0.1%, though a 7-2 majority voted against increasing the latest round of qualitative easing to £300 billion up from £200 billion.
Adrian Lowcock, head of personal finance at investment platform Willis Owen, commented on the report’s release: “The Bank's latest forecasts are the stuff of nightmares”.
“The only good news today is that the Bank expects this economic bombshell to be short-lived, and for the economy to bounce back rapidly. However, the MPC itself concedes it is flying blind to a large extent, warning that a pandemic like this is "especially difficult to quantify.””
Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey expressed optimism when speaking with the BBC, emphasising that the economy would likely recover “much more rapidly than the pull back from the global financial crisis”.
Professor of Corporate Finance, Sophie Manigart, and post-doctoral researcher, Thomas Standaert, found that governments that invested but had no input were more successful in stimulating growth in companies and providing more resources to the private risk capital market.
Whereas, the researchers found that governments that invest directly in a company and have complete control of all of the decisions tend to yield the poorest results. Businesses that raised funding this way did not grow faster than companies that raised no funding at all.
The research findings came from a previous study on both literature on government investments, but also from a dataset of 345 Venture Capital funds established between 1996-2017. The researchers analysed how a number of European companies developed after receiving venture capital through four different models, ranging from full government control, to government investment, but independent decision-making. The researchers compared the performances of each firm, up to five years after the initial VC investment.
The four key investment models that the researchers analysed were:
Professor Manigart says: “Government intervention in the risk capital market is needed in Europe and worldwide, but governments should respect the role of private players and not become dominant decision makers. Governments who simply provide this funding, but let the firm work independently and autonomously are much more likely to see growth, which can only be a benefit for investors, the firm, and customers alike.”
"Governments who simply provide this funding, but let the firm work independently and autonomously are much more likely to see growth, which can only be a benefit for investors, the firm, and customers alike.”
The researchers state that governments need to apply the fourth method more often in order for the target companies to be more innovative and successful. A good example of this model being implemented successfully is the Canadian government, who pioneered this model with the launch of the Venture Capital Action Plan, which has resulted in over $900 million in private investor capital being added to the ecosystem.
Government aid is genuinely effective for businesses, even companies like Apple and Tesla would not have survived without government funding. If there’s no financial help, then it could be argued that there would be no high-tech developments and innovations in society. Therefore, it is important that governments look to invest in the most effective way possible for growth in these companies, so that high-tech, social projects and high-employment companies have the greatest chance of growth and survival.
Analysts had originally predicted that the economy would continue to flatline at 0.1% growth, all the way into November 2019, as had been in previous months. However, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) says the MoM drop happened as a consequence of fall shorts in the production and services sectors. A fall in the pound has consequently led to overall pessimism when it comes to a pending recession.
31st January is the official Brexit deadline, and somehow the UK has managed to avoid recession, but slow growth is pushing the UK in this direction.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Gertjan Vlieghe, of the BoE Monetary Policy Committee, said he would vote for lower interest rates if data doesn’t show the economy picking up. Markets commentators also believe increasing hints that the Bank of England will cut interest rates is likely to prompt investors into overseas financial assets.
Nigel Green, chief executive and founder of deVere Group said: “This is the third senior Bank of England official within a week who has hinted that a rate cut could be imminent.
“In direct response, the pound has come under pressure, as you would expect when relative interest rate expectations change, and it has surrendered its $1.30 level.”
He continued: “The Bank appears to be confused about which risk to fear most.
“Is it a recession and deflation, caused by a no-deal Brexit at the end of this year and decreasing corporate investment over last few years?
“Or is it an overheating economy and inflation caused by a wave of relief if an EU trade agreement is signed that offers minimal disruption to business, combined with a splurge of government borrowing to pay for the Prime Minister’s increased spending plans.”
As well as the issues of cultural and language differences, there are also challenges of positioning yourself successfully among competitors and marketing your brand so that it stands out. However, the main issue that you will have to address is that of your budget. It might be easier than ever to expand your business reach, but that doesn't mean that it comes without costs. Knowing the cost of international expansion makes it easier to get right, and keeps your business safer. If you're considering international expansion, remember to factor in the following expenses.
There are going to be many costs to take into account, but the big three should be your priority. Make sure that you understand:
Take the time to understand how the big three work in your new geographies and your financial planning will be more realistic and much healthier. Never assume that everything is the same from country to country. In some nations, costs will even vary by municipality, so you’re going to need to dedicate some time to some serious and in-depth financial planning.
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While it is possible to start selling your product around the world from your existing office, many countries will require you to have a physical outlet in their country. Knowing the local laws and getting your premises organised before you even start to sell is essential. Renting a property can be a big cost so you need to know if it’s needed. You will also need to decide whether you’re going to hire local workers to run your international branch. That will mean knowing the laws regarding wages and working hours. Look for help from those that can assist you. Companies like INS Global can make sure that you have got your budgeting right when it comes to paying the right minimum wage in China, which can be made very complex very quickly due to different municipalities having different minimum wages. Always find people, services, and resources on the ground and you’ll make it easier to leverage your position in a new market.
One of the main cost considerations that many first-time entrepreneurs overlook is the cost of closure. Not every new business expansion is going to be a success, and it’s not good practise to simply pack up and head elsewhere. A budgeted exit plan is essential, even if it’s something that you end up never needing. You might find in some countries that closing a business is a lot more expensive than opening one, so your research is going to be essential. The last thing that you want is to lose more money than expected through the exit process. That can affect your already established brand security at home, and that’s an unnecessary risk that can be avoided with some simple foresight.
From e-commerce companies that are working from a home office to mega-corporations extending their reach further than ever, accessing the global audience has never been easier. However, as with any business growth, there are inherent risks. Budget is going to be a major factor in terms of your success, so make sure that your research is robust and that you have the finances needed to cover every aspect of your predicted expenses. Get your bottom line right and your international growth will be safer, more natural, and more profitable.
It's best to look for other sources that can help you reach your business goals, so take a look below at some of the alternative methods of fundraising you can do.
These retired business gurus or successful entrepreneurs can be your ticket to salvation when you need funding. They are people who take a keen interest in your work and activities, making them huge supporters who want you to succeed and grow. Also, they can offer their advice and business expertise to make you a better player in the market.
When people think about loans, they consider personal or business ones, but no one would ever expect to get funding from your inheritance money. Some owners have a lot of money coming in but the probate process gets delayed and drags. That's why loans for heirs can be very appealing when you want quick funding for your startup or company. You get a considerable amount of the money entitled to you, and you can pay the debt off when the courts finally issue your money.
This is a good way to utilize the digital world to your benefit. There are several reputable platforms with different investors that can provide you with the money you need if your business activities pique their interest. Countless investors are on the lookout for decent companies that offer something special and useful to the community, so investing in your company can be beneficial for them, too.
So, if you are looking for such crowdfunding, arrange a Meeting of investors and venture capitalists at a club. This will be really fruitful for you
This can be very handy when you find a provider that can front you some money on the invoices that you’ve already billed out; it's good for companies that constantly provide products and services to customers, and you will pay it back once your customers have paid the bill in full. It's a simple method that keeps your business running and projects operating without waiting for long periods of time for consumers to pay up.
This stands for Community Development Finance Institutes. They are private financial organizations that deliver affordable lending options, making it very easy and advantageous for many businesses that are in need of quick funding to save them from tight situations. Many businesses don't get a chance to thrive or grow because of restricted money-raising methods, so this can be the answer to their capital needs to fund their business.
Managing your finances can be a little tricky, but with the right mindset and the willingness to find better and reliable sources for funding, you can make a huge difference in your company's success. You can't just sit there and wait for your company to crumble; choose the right path for you and get the best funding that suits your needs and goals.
It’s estimated that 81% of finance teams are currently undergoing finance transformation, yet research by Gartner reveals that seven out of 10 finance transformations fail.
This article, authored by Laura Timms, Product Strategy Manager at MHR Analytics, based on the new finance analytics guide from MHR Analytics, will reveal the benefits of adopting analytics to supercharge your efforts and help ensure that your finance transformation is a successful one.
Transformation is more than simply hitting a financial goal. It’s about being able to respond to the current and future needs of the organisation – something that can only be achieved when finance is connected to the wider business.
Unfortunately, with all of the demand that finance teams receive, it can be easy to fail to recognise how financial activity translates into everyday business.
This can lead teams working introspectively, which can quickly translate into silos, with poor communication of information, lower levels productivity and consequently a less valuable finance team.
To prevent this from happening, the financial strategy needs to be aligned with activity across the business, and analytics provides the platform to do exactly that.
Using a data warehouse, data from across the organisation can be synced to give finance teams real-time insights into how changes in one area of the business will impact the course of action they take.
This means that finance teams are able to steer away from getting caught up in metrics like historical spend and industry benchmarks, and are instead grounded in how the finance strategy relates to the unique needs of their business.
Using a data warehouse, data from across the organisation can be synced to give finance teams real-time insights into how changes in one area of the business will impact the course of action they take.
According to Gartner, 56% of companies are in the evaluation phase of adopting AI to automate accounting & finance processes. By 2020 it’s estimated that 31% of companies will have actually implemented this into their business and 26% in “operating” mode, where AI is actively used in accounting & finance processes.
But what does this mean for finance transformation?
Well, AI technology is providing a platform that is changing the role of finance teams at a rapid pace. Through automating tedious financial processes, finance teams no longer have to spend their time buried in spreadsheets.
Everything from cash disbursement, revenue management and general accounting could be automated through leveraging analytics – in fact, it’s estimated that up to 40% of financial activity could be automated, and another 17% mostly automated.
Research goes on to reveal that for an accounting team with 40 full-time employees, with an average salary of £60,000 would save around 25,000 hours and nearly £72,000 that would have otherwise been wasted on team members carrying out repetitive tasks.
This time saved can instead be spent on higher-value tasks that facilitate business transformation and allow finance to act as a trusted strategic partner to the business.
Sometimes it can feel like finance are caught in the middle, with demands left, right and centre of the business. And with eloquent justifications from each department explaining why their project should be prioritised, it can leave finance teams stretched under the pressure to please everyone.
Analytics works to hand back the power to finance teams.
Through interactive dashboards that display performance across the business, finance teams are able to easily identify the key value drivers of financial growth.
This means that they’re able to present stakeholders with “the facts” and justify financial activity, only spending resources on activities that generate the most financial value, whilst cutting unnecessary costs.
On top of this, finance teams can look internally to see what they’re spending their own time and resources on. This can help them to define their list of roles and responsibilities as a department to ensure that they don’t get caught up in low-value tasks.
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At the core of any finance transformation is the need to adapt finance practices to meet increasing business demand.
Despite this, many finance teams are still relying on outdated methods to carry out financial processes.
Relying on spreadsheets to communicate and understand what’s going on in the wider business is a common theme amongst finance, but using manual methods alone leaves room for human error. In fact, research shows that nearly 90% of spreadsheets contain errors, and this can make it tricky to make decisions with confidence.
This approach also means that teams are often forced to spend hours analysing data and pulling reports. This can lead to lags in getting all-important insights, which delays decision making and can result in “in hindsight” discussions with stakeholders.
Analytics works to streamline financial processes to provide teams with fast and accurate insights at the touch of a button. Through real-time data and automation of once tedious processes, teams can see bumps in the road way in advance and have greater confidence in their decisions.
Sources: https://emtemp.gcom.cloud/ngw/globalassets/en/finance/documents/trends/cfo-journal-new-digital-workforce.pdf https://www.gartner.com/en/confirmation/finance/trends/new-digital-workforce https://emtemp.gcom.cloud/ngw/globalassets/en/finance/documents/insights/hallmarks-of-winning-finance-transformations.pdf https://www.gartner.com/en/confirmation/finance/insights/finance-transformation https://emtemp.gcom.cloud/ngw/globalassets/en/finance/documents/insights/defining-the-scope-of-fpa-analytic-support.pdf https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/Deloitte-Analytics/dttl-analytics-us-da-3minFinanceAnalytics.pdf [2] https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/operations/our-insights/new-technology-new-rules-reimagining-the-modern-finance-workforce https://www.blackline.com/blog/account-reconciliations/3-audit-benefits/?ite=1192&ito=1771&itq=b820f4c8-2db4-44be-bdbf-1230cc9fa177&itx%5Bidio%5D=522393 [1] https://emtemp.gcom.cloud/ngw/globalassets/en/finance/documents/trends/cfo-journal-new-digital-workforce.pdf [3] https://www2.deloitte.com/gr/en/pages/finance-transformation/topics/finance-transformation.html https://openviewpartners.com/blog/finance-transformation-the-art-of-getting-more-from-your-finance-team/#.XSxsDuhKiUk https://www.gartner.com/en/finance/insights/finance-transformation
The Financial Institutions Sentiment Survey, now in its fourth year, canvassed the views of more than 100 senior decision makers at a broad range of organisations – from global banks and insurers to intermediaries, investors and asset managers – to explore the key themes shaping their sector.
The report found that more than half of firms (58%) are expecting growth in the UK economy to slow down in the next 12 months – twice as many as held that view in 2018 (29%). Two-thirds of them (67%) expect domestic growth in the coming year to be weaker than G7 peers.
These views were broadly mirrored in respondents’ expectations for the UK financial services sector with 55% forecasting that growth would deteriorate during the year ahead, up from 27% in 2018.
Similarly, most senior executives (54%) said they have become less optimistic about the future of their industry in the past 12 months, up from 40% in 2018.
Meanwhile, two-fifths of firms (40%) expect their own revenues to increase – albeit down from 64% last year – with only 17% seeing income falling next year.
More than half of firms feel they are prepared for the UK’s departure from the EU, with 59% stating they are ready for a ‘no deal’ Brexit with little or no dependency on a transition period and no further extension.
The remainder of firms surveyed are dependent to some extent on a transition period to complete their contingency planning, with almost a third (29%) saying that they have a limited dependency and 12% saying that they have a significant dependency.
Despite the focus these preparations require, the sector continues to invest in the UK, with a third (31%) expecting investment to increase during the year ahead (compared to 24% in 2018). Only 10% of respondents forecast a reduction in investment in their UK business over the next 12 months.
The three most significant risks cited by survey respondents remained unchanged on last year, with the UK’s departure from the EU top (58%), followed by economic uncertainty (36%), and new regulation (31%).
Significantly, the risk posed by cybercrime (29%) has leapt from eighth place to fourth since 2018.
Last year 46% of respondents said one of their firm’s top three technology investment strategies for 2018 was to improve cybersecurity, behind improving customer satisfaction (49%) and reducing operating costs (48%). In 2019, cybersecurity moves to top of the tech agenda and with greater prominence – 70% are now prioritising it as an area for investment.
Robina Barker Bennett, Managing Director, Head of Financial Institutions, Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, said: “The past year has presented many challenges for businesses. Against a backdrop of on-going global economic turbulence, it is unsurprising that sentiment among financial institutions towards the sector and the wider economy is lower than in previous years.
“That said, the responses to this survey show the sector’s resilience during difficult times and it is especially encouraging to see that firms plan to continue investing in the UK.
“In 2019, firms are arguably more dependent than ever on technology. With this rapid advancement, the risks from cybercrime are increasing, placing extra pressure on financial institutions to change the way they operate.”
Data shows that almost half of those working in Britain have financial worries (40%) and this is linked closely with stress and depression.
The research by Salary Finance, a financial wellbeing solutions provider, surveyed over 10,000 British workers. Of the group with financial worries, a huge 73% reported to suffer with stress, and 46% with depression. Overall the data showed stress levels were 380% higher and depression levels 490% higher than those who did not have financial worries.
And of those that earned more than £100,000 per annum, over half (55%) stated they suffered from anxiety and panic attacks, and 53% stated they suffered from depression.
Anxiety and panic attacks have a fourfold higher occurrence among working people with money troubles. Sleepless nights were also reported nine times more frequently, while 41% of those surveyed admitted that their quality of work was affected by unease about the state of their finances.
The data also revealed that the nation’s financial situation is a concern - with 18.6 million working people in the UK (53%) lacking financial resilience and 11 million regularly running out of money between paydays.
Asesh Sarkar, CEO at Salary Finance, said: “As April is National Stress Awareness Month, we wanted to further highlight the issue of financial stress and the impact this can have on people – particularly in the workplace. This added level of stress is something that employers need to address by removing the taboo of talking about money worries in the workplace.
“It is not a matter to be taken lightly, but interestingly is something that people are happy to share with their employers. In our research 77% of respondents said they trust their employer to treat their financial situation as confidential. This puts employers in a great position to really help their staff become more financially stable and therefore happier in their everyday lives.”
The findings also reflected on how this impacts people during the working day. The group with financial worries were shown as eight times less likely to finish their daily tasks, and almost six times more likely to report troubled relationships with co-workers.
They also take 1.5 days a year off work due to their financial stress and are more likely to be looking for a new job. This can have a great impact on employers in turn. A recent Harvard Kennedy School study reported that the cost of losing an employee is between 16-20% of annual salary.
The overall impact on British business is estimated at £39-51 billion annually, equating to almost 2.4% of UK GDP. This is greater than the budget for defence and more than half the education budget.
Asesh added: “We are passionate about the role that employers can play in helping staff get their finances in shape.
“Employers are in a unique position to provide support, through financial education, salary-deducted savings, advances and loans, to help employees increase their financial fitness and ultimately improve their financial wellbeing. The added dividend for businesses comes in the form of a happier, healthier and more productive workforce.”
(Source: Salary Finance)
