Learn from the leaders building financial wellbeing at scale

For many years, financial wellbeing sat in the “too difficult” pile. Important, yes – but complex, localized and often hard to scale. What’s changed is not just the world of work, but the world of money itself. Financial pressure is now one of the most consistent drivers of stress globally, cutting across health, performance and engagement.

As our CEO and Co-Founder - Tim Perkins puts it,

“Financial wellbeing was, in some people's eyes, perhaps neglected, forgotten, it was in the too difficult pile, but financial health is now recognized the world over to be critical to business success.”

As organizations become more global, more distributed, and more diverse in the roles they employ, the question is no longer whether to invest in financial wellbeing – but how to do it in a way that actually works at scale. Drawing on insights shared during a recent discussion with Brandon Diersch – Director, Global Financial Benefits at Microsoft, several themes emerged that are particularly relevant for Reward and Benefits leaders designing global programs today.

1. Financial wellbeing is a performance issue, not just a people issue

One of the most consistent learnings from large global employers is that financial wellbeing is deeply intertwined with business outcomes. Financial stress doesn’t exist in isolation – it affects mental health, physical health, decision-making and productivity.

Crucially, supporting employees to make better financial decisions is not a zero-sum game. As Diersch suggests, “It's not a zero-sum game [when it comes to financial wellbeing]. Our employees making better personal finance decisions don’t necessarily mean it's a trade-off for the business. It actually is complementary.”

Helping employees reduce stress, plan more effectively, and feel confident about money doesn’t come at the expense of the organization. In practice, it complements organizational goals by supporting performance and workforce resilience. For leaders building the business case, this framing matters. Financial wellbeing is part of how organizations enable people to do their best work.

2. Global scale reshapes your workforce

As organizations expand globally, complexity shows up in more ways than geography. Alongside different retirement systems, tax regimes and labour laws, many employers are now supporting workforces that extend well beyond traditional knowledge-worker roles.

For global employers, this often means one workforce that includes software engineers, operational roles, skilled trades and professional services – all with very different financial needs and decision points. In that context, uniform financial education quickly loses relevance.

The implication for reward leaders is structural: global financial wellbeing programs must be designed to work across different roles, life stages and financial realities – not just different countries. As Diersch states, “being able to make sure that you can meet them where they're at becomes paramount.”

3. Localization is what drives engagement

While scale defines the challenge, localization is what makes programs work.Employees engage when financial education reflects their lived experience — whether that’s a country-specific retirement system, or a clear call to action tied to an immediate decision. Without this, even the most sophisticated global platforms risk becoming static content libraries rather than tools that influence behavior.

4. Simplicity is a strategic advantage

In a world of increasingly complex benefit ecosystems, simplicity has become a differentiator. Employees are far more likely to engage with financial wellbeing when:

●    there is a single, trusted place to start
●    entry points are clear and accessible
●    assessments are short and unintimidating
●    next steps are obvious

Leaders who prioritize simplicity in design see stronger uptake, deeper engagement and more sustained behavior change over time.

5. Education scales; advice does not – but they work together

Employees consistently say they want personalized financial advice. The challenge for global employers is that advice is difficult and expensive to scale, particularly across multiple jurisdictions.

What leading organizations are increasingly doing instead is using financial education and guidance as the foundation, delivered through scalable digital platforms. This approach supports the majority of employees with confidence and informed decision-making – while helping identify where 1-2-1 support is genuinely needed.

6. Data should shape your program

One of the most underused aspects of financial wellbeing programs is insight. Understanding what employees are engaging with, where they’re struggling, and which topics matter most provides a powerful input into program design. Diersch said about nudge’s insights,

“[nudgenomics] was really informative as far as identifying areas of interest for our employee base. A lot of the topics tended to be more around savings and investment and tax.”

For global reward leaders, this data can:

●    inform which topics to prioritize by region
●    highlight gaps in existing benefits
●    guide where to invest in deeper local support
●    help evolve program over time rather than treating them as static

The most effective programs are not “set and forget”. They are responsive, evidence-led and continuously refined based on real employee needs.

7. Start with knowing your people

For organizations earlier in their global financial wellbeing journey, one lesson stands above all others: start with your workforce. Understanding your demographics, financial pressures, life stages and regional differences is the foundation for everything that follows. From there, leaders can decide what to build, what to partner for, and what level of sophistication is genuinely required.

Global financial wellbeing is not about copying what another organization has done. It’s about designing something that works for your people, in your context, at your scale.

The opportunity ahead

Financial wellbeing is one of the few areas where organizations can create meaningful impact at scale – improving lives while strengthening the workforce.

As Perkins states, “One of the reasons that I love this industry so much is the opportunity that we have to create impact at scale. Money is intimidating, it's dangerous. And there is so much missed opportunity, so to be able to support so many people through one global program."

For reward and benefits leaders, the challenge is no longer convincing stakeholders that this matters. The challenge is designing programs that are global and human, scalable and relevant, simple and effective.

As Diersch states, “It’s inspiring to see the growing momentum in financial wellbeing across the industry. When employees feel more confident in their financial lives, it strengthens every part of the wellbeing ecosystem — and ultimately benefits both our people and our businesses.”

Those who get this right won’t just reduce financial stress – they’ll help build healthier, more resilient organizations for the long term.

You can listen to the full conversation on-demand here.