Most business owners will do everything they can to make their customers happy. You understand that providing a great customer experience is essential to getting repeat purchases and building loyalty. Have you considered applying the same line of thinking to your staff? If you want to get the best out of them, you should treat them as well as you treat your customers.
While customers pay the bills and keep your business operating, you can’t run a business without capable people. Employees are an essential part of every organisation, particularly in the service industries. Low paid, hourly workers engage in some of the most demanding, customer-facing work, and are often unappreciated. Any line of help you send their way will remind them that they are valued and important to you.
Overcome Shift Challenges and Provide Much-needed Flexibility
The appropriate level of minimum wage has been a topic debated for decades. The current national minimum wage is $19.84 (plus loadings) and rising every year. As wage costs increase, particularly in this tough current environment, small businesses who run on tight margins need to figure out ways to keep their costs down. How can you pay your employees enough, without going too far and risking your profitability?
A typical way to do this is by dropping hours, staff, or only calling on certain workers when it’s busier than expected or understaffed for any reason. Not such a great solution, as hours are not guaranteed and your staff lack certainty around their work commitments and their pay. If employees are expected to be flexible with their shifts, it’s only fair for employers to be accommodating with their payment schedules. Paytime’s Earned Wage Access solution, also commonly referred to as salary advance or early wage access, provides your workers with additional peace of mind, knowing they can access their earned wages when they need to, instead of being tied to their next payday.
Payday Versus Bill Schedules
Bills don’t care when your payday is! They are due when they are due. While personal budgeting and financial planning may make meeting their requirements easier, it can still be hard to make ends meet – particularly to low-income workers or those living paycheck to paycheck. Paychecks may vary from month to month, and it is not always straightforward to predict how far it will go.
Paytime allows your employees to access their earned wages before payday, or whenever their bills are due. It allows them to see how much of their paycheck has been used, and how much remains for them to access. This flexible view allows your workers to manage money differently and proactively manage their personal cash flow.
Unexpected Expenses and Emergency Bills
Unfortunately, emergencies happen to all of us. While some are financially well prepared – with sufficient savings to weather most storms – a large portion of Australians are not. Estimates from ME Bank show that over 40% of Australian workers are living paycheck to paycheck – a number that has likely risen substantially in the months following the survey, especially given the implications of COVID-19 (e.g. reduced hours, reduced pay) . People living by their next paycheck will find it near impossible to meet unplanned expenses.
While this is a more significant issue than just the timing of pay, on-demand access to earned wages will undoubtedly help deliver some flexibility in funds until the next payday arrives. If your staff can not access their earned wages when they need it, they may have to turn to more expensive lending products, such as credit card debt or payday loans. Paytime is a great tool to establish financial wellness in your employees, helping them avoid the dreaded ‘Debt Trap’.
Increase Employee Morale
All employees want to feel heard and valued. Workers in high turnover roles, such as in the service industry, are generally limited in the benefits and praise they receive for their work. With high customer service responsibilities and high-pressure, fast-paced environments, the morale in your teams can often be lower than ideal.
It’s often challenging to boost morale by rolling out expensive perks and incentives so keep in mind that small changes can still go a long way. Implementing Paytime into your payroll process is one way to contribute to your staff’s morale. It has a 3-step easy implementation process and can be free for your business to use, only charging the employee a small, fixed, platform fee (like an ATM fee) when they choose to access their earned pay before pay day. However this fee can also be covered by you under an ‘Employer subsidised’ model if you wish.
If your company wants to empower your employees and improve their financial wellbeing by enabling flexible on-demand access to their earned wages, contact Paytime today for a demo!
