How Loud Budgeting can aid cost of living conversations
As businesses and their employees continue to struggle with inflation and the cost of living crisis currently impacting the UK, a ‘positive thinking’ trend recently went viral on social media, that could provide an answer to how we can best support staff at this time.
What is Loud Budgeting?
So, first to address the elephant in the room – just what is loud budgeting?
The loud budgeting trend kicked off on TikTok from creator Lukas Battle who did something very few of us do publicly – especially in the workplace – that is, talk openly about our finances in a bid to help others understand their own situation.
Not only can loud budgeting help the viewers feel secure in knowing the struggles others are going through, but it can also directly help the creator. In some cases viewers are able to identify ways that the individual could save money on their own regular outgoings – like switching to better mobile phone deal or utilising a tax relief tactic they previously didn’t know about.
How can Loud Budgeting help our HR efforts?
The premise of loud budgeting is all well and good, but how does a trend on TikTok have a tangible impact on our HR efforts?
The answer comes through communication and transparency.
Honesty in communications should be a primary objective for any business organisation, but no matter how hard we try, sometimes the message doesn’t come across in its purest form.
This could be for a genuine reason, like a poorly-worded email to remote staff not fully explaining a situation at the office, or it could come in the form of a more manipulative reason, like the management team or board altering internal communication copy to put a more ‘favourable’ light or alternative view to a particular company update.
The key for HR teams, and what we learn expressly from loud budgeting, is the importance of keeping employees aware of the current company performance and of what support the company is providing in today’s tricky market.
If the current economic struggles are having an impact on the business, say so in a transparent fashion. Your employees are smart and know that times are difficult for everyone now, so by being open in your communications to them, it not only helps them to set realistic expectations for future pay-related updates, but also helps avoid rumours and uncertainty spreading.
How can we better support our employees financial needs?
So, onto the next element of loud budgeting’s positive example for HR teams – how to support employees during the cost-of-living crisis in a way that tackles the difficult conversations head-on.
It’s easy to have one-to-one conversations with employees when things are going well, performance appraisals are all positive and pay reviews result in pay rises and bonuses, but the reality is many UK businesses won’t be able to provide that in the current climate.
Instead, as mentioned before, the difficult conversations need to be held with clear communication and with a transparent attitude towards providing financial support in a way that might not be possible with pay increases.
A few ways this could be addressed include:
Providing employees with access to financial tools or advice to help them save money or reduce overspending on their highest bills
Provide guidance on how to budget sensibly, save and invest their earnings
Provide an open environment to share each others’ financial goals – and therefore benefit from advice from colleagues
Provide opportunities for staff to share ideas how to help the company’s financial position giving them more empowerment
Provide positive goals to look forward to in order to support future planning and promote an optimistic mindset
These areas of support could be best delivered by ensuring one member of the business is put in charge of leading these discussions and creating an open environment. They don’t necessarily need to be someone from a department ‘directly’ related to budgeting (i.e. finance, HR, management) but they will need the skills to be able to both identify and distribute useful guidance on personal budgeting ideas and be able to coordinate conversations within the organisation to ensure clear communication takes place.
Of course, implementing a form of loud budgeting itself doesn’t need to be part of a successful strategy for addressing budget concerns in the current cost of living crisis. However, we can learn a lot from what the trend has informed us about sharing individual details to improve the collective good.
A company can only expect their employees to trust them if they operate and communicate in a transparent manner – particularly when it comes to financial concerns.
When we openly share our problems, like the original loud budgeting trend, we finally empower our teams to support each other and build trust in the business to work towards a better future.
If you want to see how you could implement a ‘loud budgeting’ strategy for your business or simply want to improve your communications, you can contact Dolen HR and we’ll find the best solution to suit the unique nature of your organisation and staff.