Financial Fitness Show – we want to do to finance what Joe Wicks did to fitness

Employee benefits and financial wellbeing specialist Secondsight has today announced the launch of the ‘Financial Fitness Show’, an online Talk Show style programme designed to engage and educate employees on all aspects of personal finance.

The programme is a product of increasing demand from employers seeking a practical means of helping staff to combat financial stress and to boost their wellbeing, both financially and mentally. Secondsight’s latest research found that 63% of employers felt staff would like more financial health support.

Inspired by Joe Wicks’ lockdown fitness sessions ‘P.E. with Joe’ at the start of the pandemic, Secondsight first created the ‘Financial Fitness Fridays’ webcasts – a way to support the nation during a time where people were being furloughed, having to take pay cuts and even losing their jobs.

Each session covered a specific financial topic, delivered in a Talk Show style, as opposed to a traditional presentation, keeping the audience engaged, whilst injecting fun into topics often seen as dull. The main objective was to empower people to develop good financial habits and take positive steps towards improving their financial wellbeing.

Following an overwhelmingly positive reception, Secondsight delivered three more series covering different topics and, based on the positive feedback, has now launched the ‘Financial Fitness Show’ which is a customised version of the webcast series.

While the topics and underlying content of each programme will be designed in line with the individual needs of an employer’s workforce, themes may include topical issues such as buying a property, planning for retirement, how to start investing and estate planning.

Each session will feature an expert panel including a specialist guest speaker such as a qualified financial planner, mortgage broker or employee wellbeing expert. Employees will have the opportunity to engage with the experts directly through the live Q&As, with any personal questions not answered during the session being followed up by the specialist and answered directly to the individual.

As well as assistance with internal communications and promotion ahead of each session, employers will also be provided with a report including an analysis of their employees’ feedback to help them better understand potential areas of concern, target areas for improvement and ensure maximum value for all involved.

There are also a number of options to make the experience even more personalised for employees, including tailored branding and micro sites, depending on the employer’s requirements and objectives.

Darren Laverty, Partner, Secondsight, commented: “Employees are the most important assets to any organisation. But getting them to open up about their money issues can sometimes be difficult, and when it starts affecting their mental health, it can be even harder. Therefore, it’s vital that employers have the tools and resources they need, to be able support their employees’ financial needs and empower them to make positive decisions about their money.

“At the start of the pandemic and inspired by people such as Joe Wicks who were engaging the nation in areas of their lifestyle such as fitness, we challenged ourselves to do the same thing with finance! We created a format that was different to any of the straight webinar sessions we had run before, making it more fun, more interactive and more of a conversation for people to take part in.

“The feedback and engagement levels we saw were incredible so we’re delighted to now bring a more bespoke version of the programme to employers. We hope that by being able to tailor sessions directly to the needs of their workforce, providing direct access to industry experts, and doing so in a more informal and engaging format, we can inspire organisations and their employees to take the steps needed to feel confident with their finances.”

If you would like to find out more about the Financial Fitness Show, please visit this page.